Once More With No Nonsense American Honda HONDA A conservative redesign preserves traditional proportions and contributes to visibility. SINCE 1976, the Honda Accord has been the car for people who don't want their car to say anything about them. It doesn't boast or gossip or tell lies. It's not glamorous, showy or racy. It's a stalwart car that does everything well except call attention to itself. The all-new and all-better ninth-generation Accord does nothing to betray that or the car's enormous, well-established and self-actualized customer base. The 2013 Accord, which goes on sale on Wednesday, is so thoroughly pleasant and capable that its buyers may even be tempted to admit enjoying it - when pressed, and only after explaining that they never think about cars, and after consuming a couple of sensible cocktails. Maybe Manhattans or Old Fashioneds. The Accord swims in the deepest part of the mainstream where the currents have led virtually every manufacturer to the same midsize sedan formula: front-wheel drive, unibody construction, a wheelbase of about 110 inches, a standard transverse-mounted 4- or 5-cylinder engine displacing about 2.4 or 2.5 liters, a base price hovering around $22,000. In fact, one of the Accord's most distinctive engineering elements, the double-wishbone front suspension used since the third-generation model of 1986, has been sacrificed on the altar of conventional wisdom in favor of a MacPherson strut system like all of its competitors. Honda says the struts are simpler and lighter and they now work as well as wishbones. After all, even Porsches and BMWs are using struts, too. As of now, only one Honda retains those once-beloved wishbones - the low-production experimental FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel-cell car. As before, the Accord comes as either a two-door coupe or a four-door sedan. The coupe is nice, but it's the sedan that sells - most often as the base LX model with a 4-cylinder engine. My test car, however, was the EX-L sedan, near the top of the line with a V-6 engine, leather upholstery and a G.P.S. navigation system - and a sticker price of $32,860. A new Touring model rules from atop the heap, at $34,220. A plug-in hybrid model will be available in early 2013 as a 2014 model, with a "two motor" hybrid to follow next summer. Honda didn't have an LX sedan with the 6-speed manual transmission ($22,470) at the press introduction here, mere blocks from my house. But it did have the 4-cylinder EX ($25,395) equipped with a new belt-driven continuously variable automatic transmission. At 2.4 liters, the in-line 4 is the same size as last year's, but now features direct injection of fuel and a new double-overhead-cam cylinder head with an integral exhaust manifold that feeds forward directly into a huge catalytic converter mounted just behind the radiator. Rated at a robust 185 horsepower, the new 4-cylinder feels strong and runs relatively quietly. The continuously variable automatic saps some of the thrust, but is one of the sweeter examples of the breed, with a Sport mode that sharpens its reflexes. Paddle shifters to manually engage virtual gears on the C.V.T. are available on the new Sport model and on all of the coupes, though it is not available with the LX and EX sedans. Honda credits the C.V.T. for helping the fuel economy of 4-cylinder sedans to rise to an estimated 27 m.p.g. in the city and 36 m.p.g. on the highway. The new sedan retains the traditional Accord proportions of a low cowl and raised rump, and the low window sills - running counter to the recent trend of bunkerlike cabins - contribute to good visibility and an airy feeling. The wheelbase has shrunk an inch while the width has increased just a bit. More heavily sculptured flanks make the new car appear more substantial while the front grille makes it seem wider. And LED headlamps make the car look more expensive and contemporary. But the Accord is still a car that blends into the sprawl like a Starbucks; you only notice it if you look for it.