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Honda Reviews Honda Accord Honda Civic Honda CR-V Honda Odyssey Honda Passport Honda S2000
Honda
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Honda Reviews2002 Honda Accord Review
Still the best overall mid-size sedan. 2002 Honda Accord Base Price (MSRP) $15,500 As Tested (MSRP) $25,740 You'd think by now this car would be an also-ran. The Honda Accord is entering the fifth year of its current model cycle. An all new one is just over the horizon. Meanwhile, Toyota has just launched an all new Camry for 2002, while Nissan has introduced an all new and much larger Altima. And there's no shortage of competition from other automakers that compete fiercely for buyers of mid-size sedans. The volumes are high so a lot is at stake here. In spite of all this, we feel the 2002 Honda Accord is the best mid-size sedan available today. Simply put, it does everything well. The interior is roomy and comfortable, the chassis is responsive and well damped, the brakes are excellent, and both of its VTEC engines (a 3.0-liter V6 and a 2.3-liter four-cylinder) are incredibly smooth. It is remarkably easy to drive and every aspect of it is user friendly. Honda sold 414,718 Accords during calendar year 2001, making it number one in passenger-car sales, and it has been one of America's best-selling cars for the past 10 years. Not much has changed with the Accord since last year. For 2002, Honda has added a new SE trim level that adds popular features to the value-oriented LX. Another thing that hasn't changed is its quality, durability, and reliability. J.D. Power and Associates ranks the Accord's mechanical quality and body and interior quality as "better than most." An entire generation has grown up with Hondas, and 26 years of Accords have proven it to be a safe choice, a car that a family can buy and more or less forget, turning their attention to the other concerns of a daily life. We feel the Accord offers a bit more driving excitement than the Camry or the Taurus and a higher quality interior than the Altima. 2002 Honda Civic Review
Hot Si puts some performance back into the lineup. 2002 Honda Civic Base Price (MSRP) $12,810 As Tested (MSRP) $17,450 Honda completely redesigned its Civic lineup last year, coming out with all new sedan and coupe models. This year, Honda has revised the entire Civic line to further improve handling and to reduce noise and vibration. The interior also gets some upgrades, particularly to the LX trim. That makes the 2002 Civic line the state of the art in Honda compacts. Also new for 2002 is the addition of a hot new hatchback. The Honda Civic Si, a famous compact among performance enthusiast, adds some vinegar to the Civic lineup. Regardless of model, the new Honda Civics offer quality, efficiency, pleasant road manners, and a comfortable cabin. They are among the best compact cars available. Honda's engineers are masters at space efficiency. Civic sedan, coupe, and hatchback body styles were all designed to maximize space for people and minimize the room given for mechanical systems. Compared with the previous-generation Civics, the these new Civics are roomier inside, yet smaller on the outside. They are marvels of efficient packaging. 2002 Honda CR-V Review
Comfortable runabout vehicle grows up. 2002 Honda CR-V Base Price (MSRP) $18,800 As Tested (MSRP) $21,940 Honda is treading on tender parchment with its new CR-V. Is it a yet another mini-SUV? Or is it a revisionist/retro station wagon? Actually, it's neither. Or it's both, depending on your aesthetic/measurement. As such, it bests many of its immediate competitors in both qualitative and quantitative measures, while trailing in a few minor areas. At the same time, it faces off against a major, up-scale demi-ute bearing a logo more often seen on a squared-off 4X4 loping across sand dunes or winching a lesser vehicle out of a bog. The new CR-V still isn't an off-road vehicle, but it is a major improvement over the previous model. 2002 Honda Odyssey Review
More power, more features bolster a real contender. 2002 Honda Odyssey Base Price (MSRP) $24,250 As Tested (MSRP) $27,190 The Honda Odyssey is at the top of its class. It's a big van, and does everything a minivan is supposed to do exceedingly well. Nifty features such as a disappearing rear seat, a deep storage well in the floor and optional power sliding doors allow it haul to groceries home, kids to school, adults to dinner and plywood to the shop, all with equal convenience. For 2002, Odyssey will haul all those things a little faster, with 30 more horsepower than before. Amazingly, fuel efficiency has not suffered, thanks at least partly to a new five-speed automatic transmission. Backing up that newfound go-power are new four-wheel disc brakes, which come standard. Inside, Honda has added side-impact air bags, a leather seating option, a DVD entertainment option, and other refinements. Add to that Honda's hallmark levels of design, engineering and quality, and you get a vehicle that is a joy to live with on a daily basis. The Honda Odyssey gives the acknowledged benchmarks of the minivan category, the Dodge Caravan and the Chrysler Town & Country, a run for your money. 2002 Honda Passport Review
Comfortable and competent. 2002 Honda Passport Base Price (MSRP) $23,300 As Tested (MSRP) $31,340 If you're shopping for a light, efficient and reliable family car, Honda can bring 30 years of experience to the table. But for a heavier-duty, off-road-capable SUV, even Honda shops somewhere else. And that's how the Passport came to be. Passport is engineered and built by truck-specialist Isuzu; it is essentially an Isuzu Rodeo with Honda badges. And that, in no way, is a bad thing. The Rodeo/Passport is a true, versatile, dual-purpose SUV, one that can cruise the highway in comfort and style, while its dependable 4WD system and rigid truck frame let it tackle rough terrain and rural tracks as well as some of those tougher-looking SUVs. Are you surprised that Honda would go out and find a vehicle that could do all that, and still offer quietly handsome styling and downright luxurious appointments? No? Of course not. You knew Honda would take care of you, one way or another. And owning a Passport means you own a passport to Honda's service facilities. 2002 Honda S2000 Review
Life begins at 9000 rpm. 2002 Honda S2000 Base Price (MSRP) $32,400 As Tested (MSRP) $32,840 Drop the top and mash the gas and Honda's S2000 delivers an exhilarating driving ex-perience. This two-seat roadster is a technological statement from a company that has no peer in the realm of extracting big horsepower from small-displacement engines. The Honda S2000 is similar in size and basic concept to the Mazda Miata. Both are pure sports cars: front-engine, rear-drive, drop-top, few frills. The difference is that Honda's roadster costs about a third again as much the Miata, and offers performance that makes the Mazda seem tame. In fact, the S2000's performance rivals that of much more expensive sports cars, including the BMW Z3 3.0, Mercedes-Benz SLK, and the Porsche Boxster. The big news for 2002 is a new glass rear window with defroster, which replaces last year's plastic rear window that could be creased and distorted. Also new for 2002: Honda has improved the transmission for smoother and quieter shifts, upgraded the stereo, added chrome rings around the tail lights, and introduced minor refinements to make the interior more convenient. Honda Reviews
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