Honda Accord vs. Camry, Sonata, Legacy: Mid-Dimension Sedans In contrast

From the September 2023 issue of Car and Driver.

It’s no secret that new vehicles, especially pickups and SUVs, are suffering from ballooning prices, enlarged footprints, and swelling equipment lists. But the humble mid-size sedan soldiers on, much the same as it ever was. You probably hardly even notice these four-doors anymore. But they’re still here, serving as trusty steeds for commuters, parents, teenagers, and—perhaps most of all—the ride-share drivers and DoorDashers of America.

With a new Honda Accord having hit the scene for 2023, it was time to pit our perennial favorite against its current cohort. Everyone likes to talk about the demise of passenger cars, but even though the family-sedan segment dwindled significantly several years ago, there’s still a healthy set of mainstays that have stuck around. For this test, we targeted a price point in the low $30,000s and avoided hybrid powertrains and flashy option packages in search of affordable sedans that deliver passenger-friendly practicality and the best driving experience.

These plebeian sedans don’t exhibit the manic price inflation seen in much of the automotive market. The average as-tested price in this group is $32,550—far below the average transaction price of all new cars, which is sky-rocketing toward $50,000, making the four-door car look like a relative bargain.

The 11th-generation Accord, already the recipient of a 10Best award for 2023, is here in EX form. With the top trims now available only as hybrids, this is the highest-spec version of the Accord you can get with the base turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four. It stickers for $30,705, the lowest price in the test.

Hyundai has already revealed a less piscatorial version of the Sonata for 2024, but it wasn’t available yet, so we tested a $33,600 2023 Sonata SEL Plus model with a turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four.

The Subaru Legacy, despite finishing last in our most recent comparison of this group, returns with a 2023 refresh that brings the turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four to the Sport trim level. This time around, the Legacy is the most powerful but, at $34,915, also the most expensive.

And naturally, we couldn’t leave out the bestselling Toyota Camry. It shows up as a sparsely equipped $30,981 SE model, with all-wheel drive as just about the only factory option.

We invited some others, including the Chevrolet Malibu (the only American player remaining in this space), the Kia K5, and the Nissan Altima, but the automakers declined to participate, leaving us to decide a finishing order for this quartet. Unassuming as they are, the four sedans provide customers with an enticing combination of affordability and efficiency—some more than others, of course—that’s increasingly elusive among new cars these days.

4th Place: Subaru Legacy

If you buy a Subaru without black plastic cladding on the sides, can you still go camping in it? The Legacy sedan doesn’t look particularly rugged, but it does feature classic brand tenets, including standard all-wheel drive and cleverly integrated roof-rack mounts.

HIGHS: Potent engine, roomy rear seat, lots of features.
LOWS: Loosey-goosey handling, dated screen graphics, high price.
VERDICT: Subaru’s sedan acts too much like its high-riding Outback kin.

The Legacy won points for its comfortable rear seat, generous list of features, and quick acceleration courtesy of the Sport’s 260-hp turbo four. But that was about it.

While its sub-six-second sprint to 60 mph might appear to lend some credence to its Sport badge, one turn of the steering wheel puts the kibosh on that notion. With this much body roll, brake dive, and squat in play, maybe Subaru should just raise the Legacy and slap on a Wilderness badge like it has done with several other models. Remember the Sport Utility Sedan? Its spirit lives on here.

The Legacy unsurprisingly was the thirstiest of the group, and the CVT automatic doesn’t do a good job of managing the engine’s torque curve, exaggerating the sensation of turbo lag. Plus, the Subaru’s highest-in-test price felt egregious given its unsatisfying mixture of interior materials and its dated and cartoonish infotainment graphics. The 11.6-inch portrait-style touchscreen is the largest here, but the design doesn’t use that real estate effectively, and the onscreen buttons and menus aren’t arranged logically.

The Legacy ends up being far less than the sum of its parts. All the right elements appear to be present, but the mismatch between the engine power and the relaxed handling and chassis results in a sedan at odds with itself.

3rd Place: Toyota Camry

When someone says “family sedan,” most people think of the Camry. And for good reason. It goes down the road purposefully, as the well-tuned damping and nicely weighted steering combine for a satisfying ride-and-handling balance.

HIGHS: Composed chassis, good fuel economy, easy-to-use controls.
LOWS: Sluggish, noisy cabin, sparsely equipped.
VERDICT: An aging player that’s still in the game but not headed for the hall of fame.

But the car built around this willing chassis is starting to show its age. We were shocked to find that our car still had a physical key that you insert into the ignition switch. The dashboard layout is also a throwback, with old-school analog gauges and a small 7.0-inch touchscreen that are straight out of 2012. At least the ergonomics are sound, thanks to plenty of hard buttons and knobs. And even though the Camry’s sheer ubiquity allows it to blend in with just about any landscape, the overly complex exterior design—especially the front end—hasn’t grown on us.

With the only naturally aspirated engine here, the Camry’s powertrain always feels a step behind. The buzzy and peaky four-cylinder isn’t a good match for the eight-speed automatic transmission, which is reluctant to downshift. This, plus the extra weight of the all-wheel-drive system, means the Toyota struggles to keep up. Still, it did manage to tie the front-wheel-drive Accord in observed fuel economy.

This generation of the Camry has soldiered on for six long years, and it still behaves like a mid-size sedan should. We’re eager to see what the upcoming next-gen model has in store.

2nd Place: Hyundai Sonata

With a crisp design and impressive attention to detail inside and out, the Hyundai is the only sedan here that looks more expensive than it is. Your ride-share passenger might think they accidentally booked an Uber Black. Unlike the Accord and the Camry, the Sonata provides rear-seat occupants with air vents and a USB port. Yes, even this higher-trim example has blank buttons and a few hard-plastic trim pieces, but it makes up for those deficiencies with an easy-to-use touchscreen, HVAC controls with an upscale look and feel, and a well-integrated digital gauge cluster. We also appreciated small, thoughtful touches such as the display in the gauge cluster that pops up when you activate the windshield-wiper switch or lets you know that the car in front has pulled away.

HIGHS: Great to look at, upscale interior, strong performance.
LOWS: Engine lacks refinement, chassis lacks composure, brake pedal lacks feel.
VERDICT: The spiffiest sedan here comes up a tad short dynamically.

But the Sonata’s pizazz goes only so far. Most notably, it doesn’t extend to the driving experience. The 180-hp turbo four hits its marks on paper, achieving the second-quickest acceleration to 60 mph despite having the least horsepower in the group. But it’s not as refined as the Accord’s engine, emitting an agricultural growl under hard acceleration and sending vibrations into the cabin. The Hyundai also finishes significantly behind the Toyota and the Honda in observed fuel economy.

Although the Sonata has the best skidpad and braking performance numbers of the group at the test track, we never got into a groove with it on our handling loop. Its structure feels less stiff than the others, and it lacks the quiet composure of the Accord and the Camry on bumpy roads. Plus, the brake pedal feels wooden, and the steering lacks feedback, meaning the Sonata is competent but not engaging.

While these are hardly fatal flaws in a mainstream sedan, they prevent the Hyundai from feeling entirely coherent. As nice as it is, it’s not the sedan we’d choose.

1st Place: Honda Accord

The new Accord is still on top, but not without caveats. Obvious cost cutting has come to this latest generation, especially in the nonhybrid models. The hybrid Sport, EX-L, Sport-L, and Touring trim levels appear to be Honda’s priority now, as the company is aiming to sell half of all Accords with the pricier hybrid setup. But the gas-only LX and EX by comparison seem to have gotten short shrift. The lack of a leather-wrapped steering wheel is the most obvious example of cheapness in this EX, but the abundance of hard plastics, the small 7.0-inch touchscreen, and the barren rear seat also give off rental-car vibes. Plus, even though we like the new Accord’s smooth shape and athletic proportions, its relatively small 17-inch wheels give away that you bought the poverty spec.

HIGHS: Balanced ride and handling, smooth drivetrain.
LOWS: Some rental-grade interior materials, short on features.
VERDICT: Despite some decontenting, the Accord still does what the Accord does best.

Fortunately, there’s real substance here to offset the low-budget touches. While the Sonata gives off a few luxury-car vibes, the Accord actually drives like it belongs in the next class up—and that’s what we care about more anyway. It simply does what it’s told and adapts to every situation beautifully: The highway ride is sublime, the steering weights up nicely in corners, and the continuously variable automatic transmission is a smooth operator, effectively taking advantage of the low-end torque from the near-silent turbo four.

The Honda not only wins on its refined feel and manners but also achieves the best highway fuel economy and has the most spacious trunk in the test. Plus, it costs less than the rest, which partially excuses its lack of features and amenities. While $30,000 might buy you less than it used to, the Accord still manages to provide more car for the money than any of its competitors.