Compare the2023 Honda AccordVS 2023 Dodge Charger

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda Accord have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Dodge Charger doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Accord are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Charger doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Honda Accord has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Charger doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Accord’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Charger.

The Accord EX-L/Sport-L/Touring has standard Parking Sensors to help warn the driver about vehicles, pedestrians or other obstacles behind or in front of their vehicle. The Charger doesn’t offer a front parking aid.

The Accord’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Charger doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Accord and the Charger have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

Honda pays for scheduled maintenance on the Accord for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Honda will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Dodge doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Charger.

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the engines in the Accord have an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of some of the engines in the Charger.

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

Regenerative brakes improve the Accord Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Charger doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Accord’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. The Charger doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Honda Accord uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Charger Scat Pack requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

The Accord has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Charger doesn’t offer a CVT.

For better traction, the Accord has larger standard tires than the Charger (225/50R17 vs. 215/65R17).

The Accord LX/EX/EX-L’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 50 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Charger SXT’s standard 65 series tires.

The Honda Accord may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 700 to 850 pounds less than the Dodge Charger.

The front grille of the Accord uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Charger doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Accord uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Charger doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Accord has .9 inches more front headroom, .5 inches more front legroom, .7 inches more rear headroom and .7 inches more rear legroom than the Charger.

With its sedan body style, valet key, locking rear seatbacks and remote trunk release lockout, the Accord offers cargo security. The Charger’s non-lockable folding seat and non-lockable remote release defeat cargo security.

The Accord Touring has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Charger doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Accord’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Charger’s parking brake has to be released manually.

On a hot day the Accord’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance with the keyless remote or at the outside door handle. The driver of the Charger can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Accord has a standard locking fuel door with a remote release located convenient to the driver. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank. The Charger doesn’t offer a locking fuel door.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Honda Accord Touring has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Charger doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

The Honda Accord outsold the Dodge Charger by almost two to one during 2022.