Road Test: Honda Accord 2.0 i-VTEC ES GT 5dr

In this current age of eco-friendly friendliness, lots of car makers have recently added change-up lights to their ranges that flash at you to tell you you’re burning far too much fuel. You wastrel. But the 2.0-litre petrol Accord takes this to a whole new level, because if you follow it to the letter of the light, you’ll be in sixth gear at 28mph.

Nanny-state overload that may be, but it also shows how impressive this engine is. Even if you accelerate away from that sort of speed, there’s little of the kangaroo petrol you’d expect. It’s not rapid by any stretch, but there’s none of the judder that you often get from a petrol at low revs. It’s smooth, and you find yourself driving to that light, if only to turn the wretched thing off.

Still, all this doesn’t stop it being a little weedy in the Accord. The whole diesel-taking-over-the-world thing makes much more sense when you drive a petrol car in this sector. It’s quiet, refined and reasonably economical, but there simply isn’t enough punch to make rapid progress. Overtaking is but a faint memory of happier times. Not that the light would let you rev it that much.