For moderate cruising, deceleration and low engine loads just three cylinders operate, giving an effective engine capacity of 1.75l. The engine has variable cylinder management and there’s a small green Eco notification in the instrumentation cluster to encourage you to use it by reminding you when you’re being a lead foot.

Does the i-VTEC scream like a real VTEC should? Those expecting a VTEC howl and the ability to wrap it around to an 8000rpm redline will be disappointed - the Accord tops out at around 6800rpm, and judicious use of your right foot liberates a smooth V6 roar.

It sports 18-inch wheels, but going up an inch in size would fill the arches better because the body kit gives the car a very inflated presence near the ground, with its sculpted lip and angular rear skirt that houses the quad tailpipes.Ī car like this shouldn’t be all show and no go, so there’s a 3.5-litre i-VTEC V6 engine on tap. With an ostentatious body kit - some of it is carbon fibre - this Accord V6 Mugen allows people of my generation who now hold corporate jobs to have a sensible, businesslike car while recapturing some of that mid-90s, ‘clear taillight’ flavour. What we have here is the grownup’s version of those iconic cars. Many of these arrived in New Zealand with a Mugen sticker somewhere on the flank, or hidden on a piece of body kit. If you were a fan of front-wheel drive and VTEC, though, it was the Integra Type R, the CRX and the Civic Type R that would have caught your attention.

Mazda Familia GTR and RX-7, Nissan Skyline and Silvia, Subaru Impreza and Legacy, and Mitsubishi Evo satisfied the rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive market. If, like me, you purchased your first car in the early or mid-1990s then there’s a good chance you will have lusted over the Japanese rockets that started coming into New Zealand cheap at around that time.

Honda accord 3.5 v6 vtec horsepower