Compare the2024 Honda AccordVS 2023 Infiniti Q50

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 Infiniti Q50 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 Q50 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 Q50 doesn’t offer knee airbags.

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 Q50 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Accord and the Q50 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, 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, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Accord its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 36 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Q50 is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick.”

There are over 5 times as many Honda dealers as there are Infiniti dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Accord’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Infiniti vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Honda above average in initial quality. With 22 more problems per 100 vehicles, Infiniti is rated below average.

On the EPA test cycle the Accord gets better mileage than the Q50:

Regenerative brakes improve the Accord Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Q50 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. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip (1.5T only). The Q50 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 Q50 requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Accord has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Q50 doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Honda Accord higher (7 out of 10) than the Infiniti Q50 (3). This means the Accord produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Q50 every 15,000 miles.

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 Q50 doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Accord has a standard space-saver spare (not available on Hybrid) so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the Q50; it requires you to depend on its run-flat tires, which limits mileage and speed before they are repaired. If a run-flat is damaged beyond repair by a road hazard your vehicle will have to be towed.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Accord is 2.3 inches wider in the front and 2.1 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Q50.

The Honda Accord may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 450 to 500 pounds less than the Infiniti Q50.

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 Q50 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 Q50 doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Accord a Large car, while the Q50 is rated a Mid-size.

The Accord has 5.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Q50 (105.7 vs. 100).

The Accord has 2.2 inches more front hip room, 1.2 inches more front shoulder room, .5 inches more rear headroom, 5.7 inches more rear legroom, 2.9 inches more rear hip room and .4 inches more rear shoulder room than the Q50.

The Accord has a much larger trunk than the Q50 (16.7 vs. 13.5 cubic feet).

The Accord Touring has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, navigation instruction and driver assistance information readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Q50 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 Q50’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Accord and the Q50 have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Accord is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Q50 prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Accord’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Q50’s headlights are rated “Marginal.”

Both the Accord and the Q50 offer available heated front seats. The Accord Touring also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Q50.

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Accord Touring keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Q50 doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

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 Q50 doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Honda Accord and the Infiniti Q50, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Honda Accord outsold the Infiniti Q50 by over 32 to one during 2022.