2023 Honda Accord Hybrid vs. Toyota Camry Hybrid: Is One of These an SUV Killer?

Honda's 2023 Accord is, by and large, a heavy reskin of the previous-generation model. Its biggest step forward after its tamer, more upscale styling and slick new interior is Honda's conversion of more than half the lineup to hybrid power. Previously, Accord shoppers could choose nearly any trim level and opt for either gas or gas-electric hybrid power. Now that decision is made for you, with gas-only options relegated to the entry-level Accord LX and EX trims; the rest, including the Sport, EX-L, Sport-L, and Touring come standard with Honda's unique hybrid setup. In keeping with our sexier, sportier sedan theme, we lined up a $34,970 2023 Honda Accord Sport-L, which includes 19-inch wheels, black body accents, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a digital gauge cluster, 12.3-inch touchscreen, heated front seats, and leather seating for this showdown.

Like before, the Accord Hybrid blends a 2.0-liter I-4 connected to a motor-generator with a more powerful electric drive motor that drives the wheels. At higher speeds, a clutch engages the gas engine to directly drive the car through a single-speed transmission. The rest of the time, the engine acts as a generator providing electricity for the primary drive motor to whisk the Accord around by its front wheels. As such, the Accord feels like an electric car that happens to have an engine somewhere on board, rather than a gas car with electric assist. Look at the powertrain's stats: The gas-fed, Atkinson-cycle 2.0-liter I-4 contributes 146 hp and 134 lb-ft of torque, while the drive motor delivers a punchier 181 hp and 247 lb-ft—nearly as much horsepower and more torque on its own than the Accord's entry-level 1.5-liter turbo I-4. Total system power stands at 204 hp.

Honda improved the engine's noise, vibration, and harshness this time around and programmed in simulated "shifts"—rises and peaks in the engine rpm while you accelerate—to give the powertrain a more natural feel, where the engine's speed better matches the vehicle's acceleration. (Before, the gas engine would rev out of sync with how much you pressed on the gas pedal while the electric motor did most of the motivation, lending it an odd, disconnected feel.) Much of the time, though, when you're not standing on the gas pedal, the Accord's engine stays off or keeps the revs low, leaving the big electric motor to provide smooth, quiet motivation at city speeds. This is backed up by the EPA-estimated fuel economy figures of 46/41/44 mpg city/highway/combined, the bigger city number being the tell that the electric motor does most of the work at low speeds. These numbers also are an improvement over last year's Sport Hybrid model (44/41/43 mpg), which also rode on 19-inch wheels. Once again, the Accord EX-L Hybrid gets better mileage thanks to its smaller 17-inch rims.

Toyota's Camry was last clean-sheet redesigned a few years ago and will likely be replaced with a new model next year. But you wouldn't know it by looking at this four-door. The extroverted styling remains fresh, especially in the XSE guise we put up against the Accord Sport-L. (In Toyota-speak, SE and XSE trim levels bear sportier styling and suspension tuning, while L, LE, and XLE variants wear more subdued "traditional" styling and have a greater focus on comfort.) To keep things fair, we're comparing a 2023 Toyota Camry XSE Hybrid, which starts at $35,715 and came optioned to $40,055 for this test thanks to a $925 two-tone paint treatment, a full suite of driver assistance tech, built-in navigation, and more.

It might seem like you see Toyota Camry Hybrids everywhere, but they only make up 16 percent of the sales mix. Regular Camrys are powered by a 2.5-liter I-4 or a last-of-its-kind 3.5-liter V-6, but every Camry Hybrid, regardless of trim, is powered by the same 2.5-liter I-4 with Toyota's dual-motor hybrid system, which combines a starter-generator and larger drive motor via a planetary-type continuously variable automatic transmission. This produces an Accord-beating 208 hp combined and spectacular 44/47/46 mpg city/highway/combined.

Where the Accord feels like an electric car, the Camry makes it obvious that it's fed by fossil fuels. Its 2.5-liter engine is growly, and although it can wink off for longish periods, lighting a small green "EV" indicator in the gauge cluster and sailing along on electrons alone, in most driving situations it is noticeably, audibly "on." To accelerate the Camry from a stop in silent EV-only mode, you must feather the gas pedal with extreme care. We found that the engine went dark more often once the Camry was up to speed at a steady cruise on flat ground. This is borne out by the stats: The engine is more powerful than the electric drive motor (176 hp and 163 lb-ft compared to 118 hp and 149 lb-ft) and therefore is relied on more for general motivation, whereas in the Accord, the opposite is true.

We gathered the 2023 Honda Accord Sport-L Hybrid and 2023 Toyota Camry XSE Hybrid in Dallas and steered them down I-35 toward Austin, Texas, to balance our test data with real-world commuting evaluation. We then hit the wonderful, bendy Texas Hill Country roads around the capital city to see how sporty these midsize leaders have become. After all, the modern sedan must not only stand out for its style, but also prove more engaging than an everyday SUV on a good road.

The highway-heavy commuting test is not kind to the Honda, where it posts consistently lower fuel economy figures than the Toyota—as predicted by the EPA figures—and also louder cabin volumes. The din comes on like someone flipped a light switch right around 55 mph—the highway speed limit in many places. At slower paces, the Honda seems hushed inside, a sensation backed up by its well-damped suspension, which absorbs bumps with a muffled composure. Crank up your speed, and it's as though a volume knob cranks up the tires' song, particularly on Texas' preferred surfaces of aggregate or pressed concrete. It's too bad, because again, with its settled ride and the steering's strong on-center feel, straight-ahead tracking is a joy. The Honda's adaptive cruise control and lane keep systems function similarly well; if not for the noise, this would be our go-to pick among these two sedans for a road trip.

Despite its age, the Toyota Camry, even in sporty XSE guise, is much quieter on the freeway. The ride is a smidge smoother than the Honda's, too. The seating position is a bit off, giving the sensation that you sit too high off the floor, even with the cushion lowered fully, requiring you to recline the backrest to keep your noggin from feeling too crowded by the headliner.

The cabin in our fully optioned XSE test car arrived loaded with features the Accord Sport-L does without, including ventilated front seats, built-in navigation (though the Honda gets wireless CarPlay and Android Auto), a wireless phone charger, and a head-up display, though these items are available on the range-topping Touring. But the Accord's interior feels higher-quality and is definitely fresher and more stylish, having adopted the same full-width air-vent look and clean lines of the smaller Civic along with sharp displays that strike us as Acura-like, though the volume knob seems overly tiny. The Toyota's 8.0-inch touchscreen is smaller and suffers from older, more pixelated graphics, but the interface is easy enough to master and it has adult-sized volume and tuning knobs.

Rear-seat passengers in both sedans are treated to plenty of space, though the Honda's hind quarters are roomier, with better legroom and a higher lower cushion. Taller occupants will need to duck their heads slightly when entering or exiting, a concession to these four-doors' faster rooflines.

More striking than literal head-banging events, though, is how bare the rear-seat space is in both. The Accord's is particularly egregious—the Sport-L trim is second from the top-dog Touring level, yet there are no air vents or USB ports for rear passengers, and most of the door panel is hard plastic (mercifully, the arm rest is padded). Honda doesn't even install audio speakers on the rear doors—there is only a window switch and a door handle. Toyota also forgoes rear-seat USBs but pampers with a pair of air vents, though their eggcrate grilles date back to the 1990s-era Camry. We're not kidding.

We know we're making the argument that midsize sedans needn't be super practical anymore, but when there's so much rear room beckoning passengers back there, it's a bit odd Honda and Toyota leave the spaces so frill-free. Those planning to buy one of these for ride-share duty, be warned: You'll need to route a very, very long USB cable from the front console to the rear if you want to earn five-star reviews.

Should your commute include undulating, curving roads, neither of these sedans will let you down. The 2023 Honda Accord definitely feels more powerful, despite its output figures lagging those of the 2023 Toyota Camry, and that sensation is backed up at the test track. The Accord Sport-L scorched the Camry XSE to 60 mph, beating it by a full second with a 6.8-second performance. That advantage held through the quarter mile, which the Accord dispatched in 15.5 seconds at 88.2 mph—well ahead of the Camry's 16.0 seconds, though the Toyota's more powerful gas engine shows up in its faster 89.6-mph trap speed.

It's fascinating to experience just how different the two approaches to hybridization are. The Accord lunges forward with the immediacy of an electric car, its acceleration tapering off after a bit as speed builds, the gas engine delivering dulcet, refined noises in the background. Step on it in the Camry, and there's a lot of whirring and engine grumbling before, half a beat later, speed begins to build smoothly and steadily. Unlike in the Honda, the Toyota's hybrid powertrain doesn't run out of breath at higher speeds, but few drivers will stay in it long enough for this trade-off for the less snappy initial response.

The Honda's athleticism has seen its edge dulled slightly in this new-for-2023 version, but it remains the undisputed choice for fun-seekers in the segment. With sharp steering and good turn-in response, the Accord eagerly changes direction without drama. We noticed more slack in the Camry's steering, which also works with a lighter, more boosted action. Understeer also is far more noticeable in the Camry, whereas the Accord channels Honda's smaller Civic in the way it resists front-end plowing.

These differences don't show up in our objective test numbers; the Camry actually out-sticks the Accord on our skidpad, 0.85 g (average) to 0.84 g, and managed to out-hustle it in our figure-eight lap times. We'd expect the better grip generated by the Toyota's tires to also spell victory in our braking tests, but nay—the Accord stops 7 feet shorter from 60 mph, in 120 feet. But at the track and on Hill Country's sweet roads, the takeaway is clear: The Honda beckons you to drive faster and feels grippier, more secure, and more amusing; the Camry isn't un-fun and is quite capable, but it can't match the Accord's fun-to-drive quotient. And remember, these are hybrids—that either can be considered "fun" shows how topsy-turvy the midsize segment has become.

Although this matchup is a bit strange, with these contenders both being hybrids, this isn't about which car is the better gas-electric. You can bet the next-generation Camry will also be more heavily skewed toward hybrids—just look at the recently introduced new-generation Tundra and Tacoma pickups, as well as the Corolla Hybrid and hybrid-heavy RAV4, Highlander, Grand Highlander, and Sequoia SUVs. Instead, it's about which of these top midsizers best blends that advanced powertrain tech, style, and sheer desirability to keep the fading four-door format around for those of us not sold on SUVs' inevitability.

You might expect the newer Honda had this contest buttoned up before it began, but the results were surprisingly close. Had the Accord's road noise—an issue as old as the Accord itself—been addressed, and had its rear seat been less spartan, yes, it would have wiped the floor with the aging Camry. But even in its golden years, the current-generation Camry Hybrid is a contender, scoring genuine wins over the Honda: better real-world fuel economy (we saw 44 to 45 mpg consistently, compared to about 40 in the Accord), a smoother and quieter ride, and more features for similar money. But even though it's the wildest Camry ever and definitely not a truck or SUV, it still feels vaguely pedestrian. If we owned the new Accord, its sleek look and premium feel—again, road roar aside—and entertaining driving dynamics would validate the decision to stand out and skip on a family SUV with every commute, errand, and back-road drive.

VERDICT: On the cusp of replacement, Toyota's boldest-ever Camry still puts up a solid showing.

VERDICT: Newer than its chief competitor, the Honda ekes out a surprisingly narrow victory.