Things aren't looking great for the family sedan here in the US. The car-buying public has turned against the traditional three-box silhouette, preferring the crew-cab truck, SUV, and crossover instead. Sedan sales are down for most automakers, and Ford has even taken the drastic step of abandoning it altogether in the very near future. So the 2018 Honda Accord might have a tough road ahead of it when it comes to finding buyers. That's a real shame, as Honda's engineers have done a great job. In fact, I'm not sure any new car has surprised me quite as much this year.

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Jonathan Gitlin

Mindful of my reaction to the fully loaded Toyota Camry XSE I failed to gel with earlier this year, I asked Honda to send me whichever Accord had the lowest sticker price. (I was actually most interested in trying the Accord Hybrid, but that one hasn't made it to the press fleet yet.) So I booked a week with the 2018 Accord Sport. This was the 1.5L version, yours for $25,780, not including the delivery charge. And unlike your average press fleet ride, this one didn't fall out of the options tree and hit every branch on the way down. Every feature from the infotainment system to the adaptive cruise control was standard equipment.

Things got even better when the car arrived and I discovered it had a manual transmission. Make no mistake, the stick shift sedan really is becoming a rare thing. A continuously variable transmission is available at the same price, but come on—this one says "Sport" on the back in small chrome letters.

This Accord is the 10th generation of car to bear the name. And it sticks pretty close to the tried-and-tested formula: front-engined and front-wheel drive, with seats for two up front and room for three in the back, with all their stuff packed in the trunk. But this one is almost all-new where it counts. It's shorter than the outgoing model in length and height, but it's slightly wider and—this part is important—it has a much longer wheelbase (by 2.16 inches/54mm in fact). There's more use of ultra-high strength steel in the construction, but the car is lighter than the 9th-gen Accord—between 110-176lbs (50-80kg) depending on trim—while having better torsional and bending stiffness.

The engine under the hood is an all-new 1.5L turbocharged inline four-cylinder. It has a 16-valve design, with direct injection, dual variable timing control, and VTEC. For such a small engine, it packs quite a punch: 192hp (143kW) at 5,500 rpm and 192 ft-lbs (260Nm) between 1,600-5,000 rpm. It's pretty efficient for something with almost 200 horses; the EPA rates it at 26mpg in the city, 35mpg on the highway, and 31mpg combined. Opting for the two-pedal CVT instead and city mileage goes up to 29, but if fuel economy is your primary goal, the cheaper LX and more expensive EX trims are where you should look (30/38/33mpg); maybe even the Hybrid (47mg across the board).

Somewhat unusually, I actually found it pretty easy to match those official numbers. Even when I gave in to speedy temptation, it only dropped to about 24mpg in town. And there was a lot of temptation—it does say Sport on the back and it did come with a six-speed manual. It's not quite in the same league of "fun to drive" as a Civic Type-R, but that's why Honda builds a Civic Type-R.

As a family sedan, the Accord is sheer pleasure. The suspension gives it a supple feel on the road, and it's effortless to drive; the clutch, gear shift, and steering are all light but never sloppy or mushy. The driver's seat is comfortable but supportive enough. And the tires aren't the last word in grip, so cornering is more about conserving momentum and taking the optimum line. It adds up to a car that delivers driving enjoyment at legal speeds in a refreshingly honest way.

Even stationary, I enjoyed being in the Accord. The new cabin is airy, and the design never feels overwrought. The leather-wrapped wheel and gear knob are a nice touch, as are the metal-faced pedals. And Honda's engineers have done a marvelous job with the main instrument display. On the right is a big analogue speedometer. To the left sits a 7-inch TFT panel that has a number of customizable views—navigation if the car is so equipped, range, trip computer, and so on. My preferred setting was that of a tachometer, or rev counter. It matches the clarity and look of the physical dial right next to it perfectly, and the needle sweeps smoothly across the gauge.

It's not quite as showy as Audi's Virtual Cockpit, but to my eyes, it's the next best digital version of a physical dial gauge I've encountered after that much more expensive system. I checked in with Honda to see if the company could share some of the more technical details, like whether it was running at 60fps, for example. While Honda wouldn't disclose specifics, it told me the refresh rate is roughly double that of its previous digital tachometer, and it uses a precise digital filter to balance accuracy against excessive needle movement.

The 8-inch infotainment screen on the center stack didn't blow me away in quite the same way, but the Accord's infotainment is certainly less aggravating than those seen in many OEMs. CarPlay and Android Auto are both standard; the former continues to annoy me in multiple cars and has almost got me thinking about a move to Android, but the news that Waze and Google Maps are finally coming to the platform will probably let me stick with an iPhone.

From the rear seats, it's clear where much of the increase in wheelbase went. You almost feel like you're an entire zip code from the people up front; in actual numbers, there's 40.4", or 1.26m of leg room back there. And the trunk is similarly voluminous at 16.7 cubic feet (473L).

Finally, Honda has seen fit to make its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)—called Honda Sensing—standard equipment across the entire Accord lineup. That means forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning and lane keep assist, and adaptive cruise control. The optical sensors also recognize traffic signs like speed limits and will display them prominently on the dash for you. Higher-spec Accords also get blind spot monitoring, parking sensors, and rear cross-traffic alerts so you don't get into a crash when backing out of a space in a crowded parking lot. Happily, I never had to experience automatic emergency braking. The forward collision warning was slightly overprotective, which is common with systems like these, as you'd prefer the occasional false positive to the alternative. The adaptive cruise control worked well even though I was in charge of the gears, and overall it's a good ADAS suite.

If you're looking for a vehicle to transport a family, don't automatically assume that SUV or crossover is your only option. There's more than enough room in the back of this Accord for the kids, and all your stuff will fit in the trunk. In fact, with so much space in the back, plus that good fuel economy and its easy-driving nature, this is a vehicle just calling out to be taken on cross-country road trips.