Car Review: 2019 Honda Accord 6MT 1.5 or Why You Can’t Force Love
One of the simplest ways we learn as children that true love is a truly difficult thing to conjure and obtain, is when we watched the Genie telling Aladdin that one of the rules of making his 3 wishes is that you cannot wish for someone to love you (and vice-versa, I’d imagine)
Imagine that, not even the all-powerful Genie of the magic lamp can make love happen from your wish. It is truly something no one else can conjure but yourself. That is a very simple, but often denied truth. Love cannot be forced or wished for.
Back in the start of COVID days, (Aug 2020) I was shopping for a car for my son heading to college. Back then was the last days of the Pre-Covid days of plenty of cars and low cost credit. At a Toyota dealer, we found a very nice priced 2018 Civic for him. And there was also at the same time a 2019 Honda Accord, Blue, with the 6MT and the 1.5T engine. Also the car had been deeply loved. Had well-fitted leatherette covers over the cloth seats, an aftermarket sport exhaust, front spoiler lips. Looked really nice, only had 26,000 miles. And the price was a very attractive $19.5K…. remember those days?
I love the shape of the last generation Accord. I’m going to miss it as the current gen starts now in 2023, it loses some sharpness on the lines. I didn’t need the car, but it was an amazing deal, so I convinced myself that I would sell my daily driver 2000 Saab Viggen and other old cars of my fleet, and enjoy the last year of the manual Accord for a long, long time. I loved the color. The car had tasteful upgrades from the get go. It was a 6MT manual, what could go wrong?
Nothing really on the car. The 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine produces a decent 192 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque. The manual transmission allows for more control and engagement with the driving experience. However, some reviewers have noted that the engine can feel under powered at times, especially when accelerating at higher speeds or when carrying a full load of passengers. The base model had no nav, but did have rear camera option. Very spacious.
In terms of specs, the 2019 Honda Accord 1.5T with a manual engine has a fuel economy of 30 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on the highway.
But it was very, very sedate. If there was a turbo underneath the hood, Honda engineers removed all the feeling out of it in the 1.5T. Is it the weight? Doesn’t the Civic SI have this engine too? A measly turbo boost gauge in the dashboard would have helped. The shifter is still Honda crisp. But didn’t connect to the driver in output or feeling. The car drove great but there was no more ‘life’ coming from the shifting of the gears vs. an automatic. Even at the top of the revs, there was no drama or feeling.
I’ve even considered a digital boost gauge via OBD and bluetooth for a placebo effect. The aftermarket exhaust added some character but wasn’t enough. I started to continue driving the Saab more and more. And the Accord less on a daily basis. It also failed to convince my wife to drive manual, we tried for 3 weekends straight to get her to drive manual practicing in the Accord. She could not see no difference on why go the extra effort, if automatics exist, and in this car, it was hard to disagree.
At the end about 10 months later and only 1,000 miles driven, the prices of vehicles started to go way up. I also needed to reduce some expenses as Covid had us with very little work and less money. The initial Covid related production delays on new vehicles had changed the market in a matter of months, and now the car could be sold to CarMax for $23K for a complete payoff and spare change left in my pocket. They sold the car for $27K a week later.
I really tried to enjoy the Accord, I really tried to fall in love. Make this accord my next ten year car. but kept enjoying the Saab Viggen more. Perhaps not a fair comparison. I was trying to mend my ways of loving 20-30 year old cars for the modern experience. I’d imagine the 2.0T is better, but I wonder how much better. Perhaps sometimes I’ll try and see. But the Genie was right. Cant conjure love out of a wish.
