What's the Best Alternative for the Honda Accord Coupe?

CARS.COM — When Honda took the wraps off its redesigned-for-2018 Accord last month, the sedan’s two-door sibling didn’t make the cut. The Accord coupe, a sporty accomplice through umpteen generations of the sedan, will not get a 10th-gen redesign. The 2017 model year is the end of the road.

Related: 2018 Honda Accord: First Impressions

Fans of the coupe can cry foul, but there may not have been enough buyers to make a business case for it. Honda claims just 6 percent of all Accord sales in 2016 — roughly 20,000 cars — were coupes. So far through 2017, it’s down to just 5 percent. Still, those sales in 2016 are about as many as all sales for the Buick Regal, a car GM saw fit to redesign in a big way.

So, what’s a fan of the Accord coupe to do? Honda hopes they’ll instead buy the Accord Sport, a sedan trim that continues its run from the ninth-generation Accord. Slotting between the LX and EX, the Sport comes with either of the new Accord’s turbocharged engines — a 1.5-liter (192-horsepower) or 2.0-liter (252-hp) four-cylinder — and Honda promises to offer a bona fide manual transmission with either one. The Accord has long offered a stick shift with its higher-powered engine for the coupe, but it’s been a decade since any Accord sedan did that.

It remains to be seen whether Accord coupe shoppers will make the shift, so to speak. Some of that depends on pricing: The outgoing 2017 Accord coupe starts at around $23,000 for the four-cylinder, including destination, and tops out in the high-$30,000s with a V-6. Honda has yet to reveal pricing for the redesigned Accord sedan, but if a sedan doesn’t appeal to you — nameplate notwithstanding — consider these alternative vehicles:

Detroit Muscle Cars

Affordable mid-size coupes once dotted the automotive landscape, from the Toyota Solara to coupe versions of the Chrysler Sebring, Nissan Altima and Pontiac G6. With the Accord coupe’s demise, Detroit muscle cars are the only thing left. But they remain affordable, with impressive performance even before you get to the V-8. Consider one of them:

• 2017 Chevrolet Camaro: The Camaro coupe has a turbocharged four-cylinder and optional V-6 or V-8 engines. Even if you get the V-6 — which we clocked in a 2016 Camaro at 5.4 seconds to 60 mph with the automatic transmission — the lowest trim levels (LS and 1LT) still start under $30,000. The current Camaro handles exceptionally to boot, but anyone coming from an Accord coupe of recent vintage will find cabin materials and visibility disappointing. And, unlike in the Accord, friends you put in the backseat won’t be friends for long.

• 2017 Dodge Challenger: The Challenger has the most Accord-like practicality, with excellent cabin materials, reasonable visibility and an adult-friendly backseat. It’s big, though, at 8.4 inches longer and hundreds of pounds heavier than the current Accord coupe. But V-6 SXT models starts under $30,000, and the one we tested last year hit 60 mph in a respectable 6.3 seconds. What’s more, the Challenger is the only Detroit muscle car to offer all-wheel drive, something that could appeal to Accord fans in the snow belt.

• 2017 Ford Mustang: With its 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine, which becomes the base motor in the refreshed 2018 Mustang, the ‘Stang beat out the Challenger and Camaro in Cars.com’s small-engine muscle car comparison in 2016. With an automatic transmission, zero-to-60-mph acceleration nearly matched the Camaro (5.6 seconds). We haven’t tested the Accord coupe versus any Detroit muscle car, but Motor Trend clocked it against the 2.3-liter Mustang — and the numbers suggest the V-6 Accord coupe is about on par with this Ford. That said, straight-line acceleration is only one part of the equation. Rear-drive balance elevates the Mustang’s handling, and its cabin offers decent visibility plus an intuitive multimedia system that’s free of the Accord’s touch-sensitive buttons. Still, cabin materials in lower models aren’t up to snuff with Honda’s.

Front-Drive Alternatives

If affordable mid-size coupes are all rear-wheel drive these days, Accord coupe shoppers could go the other direction and get a compact model. Performance thresholds aren’t the same, but these vehicles pack entertaining moves of their own. Here are a few to consider:

• 2017 Honda Civic coupe: The redesigned Civic coupe has an available turbocharged four-cylinder in regular (174 hp) or Si (205 hp) outputs. The Civic sedan thumped seven competitors earlier this year, and the Si’s single-spec price — about $25,000, which Cars.com average listing prices match — offers impressive acceleration and handling for similar cash as a base Accord.

• 2017 Volkswagen Golf or Golf GTI: Redesigned a few years ago, the Golf still offers impressive refinement for a segment that’s hit or miss on that front. The higher-performance Golf GTI won a cheap-speed comparison three years ago, but it’s pricier than the Civic Si. Average listing prices as of Aug. 9 for the Golf GTI’s two lower trims (the S and Sport) were below $30,000, but higher trims (the SE and Autobahn) passed that mark.

… Or, a Honda Accord Coupe

That’s the outgoing Accord coupe, if only because you might be able to score a deal on it. If the Accord coupe comprises just 5 percent of Accord sales this year, dealers are likely sitting on a glut, as the two-door Accord makes up 14 percent of new, non-hybrid Accord inventory on Cars.com. Indeed, the 2017 Accord coupe averaged 107 days to turn in July — which is well past the month’s 86-day average for all 2017 models — so dealers might cut a deal to move the metal.

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