Compare the2023 Audi A4VS 2022 Honda Accord

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Audi A4 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Honda Accord doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The A4’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Accord doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A4 and Accord have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A4 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Accord’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The A4 has a standard Audi Backguard System, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Audi Backguard System moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The Accord doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The A4 has a standard Secondary Collision Brake Assist, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Accord doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

The A4 has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Accord doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

The A4 Premium Plus/Prestige has a standard Top and Corner View Cameras to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Accord only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the A4 and the Accord have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Audi A4 is safer than the Honda Accord:

	A4	Accord
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	308 lbs.	431 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	277	386
Spine Acceleration	56 G’s	62 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	13 inches
Hip Force	666 lbs.	756 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

The A4 comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Accord’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The A4’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Accord’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Reliability

The Audi A4’s engines use a cast iron block for durability, while the Accord’s engines use an aluminum block. Aluminum engine blocks are much more prone to warp and crack at high temperatures than cast iron.

Engine

The A4 40 TFSI’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 9 more horsepower (201 vs. 192) and 44 lbs.-ft. more torque (236 vs. 192) than the Accord’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder. The A4 45 TFSI’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 9 more horsepower (261 vs. 252) than the Accord’s optional 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the A4 45 TFSI is faster than the Honda Accord 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder:

	A4	Accord
Zero to 60 MPH	4.8 sec	5.5 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	12.9 sec	13.6 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	5.6 sec	6.1 sec
Quarter Mile	13.5 sec	14.1 sec

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the A4 gets better mileage than the Accord:

			MPG
A4
	AWD	40 TFSI 2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	24 city/33 hwy
		45 TFSI 2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	24 city/32 hwy
Accord
	FWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/32 hwy

Regardless of its engine, the A4’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. Honda only offers an automatic engine start/stop system on the Accord 1.5T.

Transmission

The A4 offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Accord doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The A4’s launch control uses engine electronics to hold engine RPM’s precisely in order to provide the most stable and rapid acceleration possible, using all of the available traction. The Accord doesn’t offer launch control.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the A4’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Accord:

	A4 40 TFSI	A4 45 TFSI	Accord	Accord Sport/Touring
Front Rotors	12.4 inches	13.3 inches	11.5 inches	12.3 inches
Rear Rotors	11.8 inches	13 inches	11.1 inches	11.1 inches

The A4’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Accord are solid, not vented.

The A4 stops much shorter than the Accord:

	A4	Accord
70 to 0 MPH	149 feet	176 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	105 feet	135 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the A4’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Accord (245/40R18 vs. 235/40R19).

The A4’s optional tires provide better handling because they have a lower 35 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Accord Sport/Touring’s 40 series tires.

Suspension and Handling

The A4’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (56% to 44%) than the Accord’s (59.8% to 40.2%). This gives the A4 more stable handling and braking.

The A4 Premium Plus handles at .92 G’s, while the Accord pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The A4 Premium Plus executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2.4 seconds quicker than the Accord (25.3 seconds @ .74 average G’s vs. 27.7 seconds @ .61 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the A4’s turning circle is .1 feet tighter than the Accord LX/EX-L’s (38.1 feet vs. 38.2 feet). The A4’s turning circle is 1.5 feet tighter than the Accord 2.0T’s (38.1 feet vs. 39.6 feet).

Chassis

The A4 is 8.6 inches shorter than the Accord, making the A4 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Cargo Capacity

The A4’s standard folding rear seats are split to accommodate bulky cargo. The Accord LX’s standard single piece folding rear seat is not as flexible; long cargo and a passenger can’t share the rear seat.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the A4’s available trunk can be opened just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Accord doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its trunk, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

Towing

The A4’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Accord’s (3968 vs. 0 pounds).

Servicing Ease

The A4 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Accord uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The engine in the A4 is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Accord. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Honda. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 30% lower rating, Honda is ranked 25th.

Ergonomics

The power windows standard on both the A4 and the Accord have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the A4 is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Accord prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The A4’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Accord’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

The A4’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Accord’s power window (except driver window), power lock and power mirror switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The A4’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Accord’s standard intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the A4 to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The Accord doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A4 Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Accord doesn’t offer headlight washers.

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the A4 has standard cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Accord doesn’t offer cornering lights.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the A4 to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Accord doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The A4’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Honda only offers heated mirrors on the Accord Sport 2.0T/Sport SE/EX-L/Touring.

The A4’s standard rear view mirror and optional side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Accord offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

On extremely cold winter days, the A4’s optional heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the car heater warms up. The Accord doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

Both the A4 and the Accord offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the A4 has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Accord doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

The A4 Prestige’s Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Accord doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the A4 owner. The Car Book by Jack Gillis rates the A4 with a number “5” insurance rate while the Accord is rated higher at a number “8” rate.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the A4 is less expensive to operate than the Accord because typical repairs cost much less on the A4 than the Accord, including $121 less for fuel injection and $497 less for a power steering pump.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Audi A4 and the Honda Accord, based on reliability, safety and performance.

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