LAUNCH activity in the upper-medium sector has been rife for the last six months. First there was a new Mondeo, followed by a revised Passat, then a new Laguna and soon a new Citroen C5. While all this has been going on, Honda has discreetly sharpened up the Accord range with mainly minor detail changes plus the launch of two new fleet-friendly models.

At the top there is a new 2.3 litre Type-V to go head-to-head with the premium V6 models in the segment, while at the lower end the new 1.8 VTEC Sport takes styling cues from the high-performance Type-R, but offers the same running costs performance as the entry level 1.8 S. We took the new Honda Accord 1.8 VTEC Sport on a 1,500-mile round trip to the Geneva Motor Show to see how it squared up against the opposition.