The AC in the Accord may need to be recharged. As for the drag on the engine, all AC compressors rob the engine of a couple horses or so... but you generally don't feel the loss in a larger, more powerful engine like you do in a 4-cylinder. The drag on today's more powerful 4-cylinder engines, however, is less noticable. I have heard from more than one source that Japanese air conditioning systems are a bit differently engineered than those of domestic brands... so this may have something to do with it. I never had any trouble with the AC in my 96 Accord, it cooled off in a timely manner and always kept me cold. In 270k miles, I never had to service or repair the system. I did feel the drag on the engine every time the compressor cycled, even when cruising along on the highway at 70 mph. Now, comparing the AC in my 06 Accord to the recently purchased 2000 Buick Park Avenue, the air in the Accord is noticeably cooler. Regarding your gas mileage, I averaged mid 20s in the city and mid 30s on the highway in the 96 Accord, which was mechanically similar to your 92 (96 had a few more horses) Which was acceptable in it's class, at the time.

Just a note. The 2005 Odyssey will be a long awaited redesign so you may want to wait until Sept. (I think) to see what it is all about. There is an Odyssey forum at the link below, and everyone there is guessing what new features it will have. Rear windows that actually go up and down, power gate, stow and go third row seating, better fuel economy, power antenna????? I bought the 2004 Odyssey, despite that the Sienna was slightly larger and slightly better equipped, because it came in the color I wanted (yeah, cuz that will make me "cool"). Anyway, I love the Odyssey but wish it had a power rear-gate. I'm a little short and it's a little heavy for me to get it down easily. I have the seven-seat configuration with the access row on the side because I have three car-seats and that was the best configuration. People go on and on about the seats that fold flat in the floor. My third row does, but you really need to think about how often you would need a completely flat long bed, before going with a van with second row fold flat. Here is a link that might be useful: 2005 Odyssey Forum

Four cars in my family and four drivers. My Toyota Corolla, DH Honda Civic, DD20 Mitsubishi Gallant, and DD19 Ford Explorer SUV. We generally have three to drive and one in the shop for repairs-this week it's the Mitsubishi's turn. Handy having an SUV. For Mother's Day I bought two Adirondack lawn chairs. Borrowed the SUV to get them home. Also used it to haul bags of manure for my garden. Don't tell, she'll freak if she knew cow poo was in her SUV.

I never could afford a "dream" car, but my best liked, all around family car was the 1964 Dodge Dart, Automatic, with the 264 cubic inch V8 engine. I drove that one to 100,000 miles and would have kept it longer except the body was rusting out due to our winter laden salted roads and I needed a replacement for our growing family. It had a good balance between power and economy, a smooth running trouble free engine, and was a good long distance driver. Visibility was good. What was unique about it? This little V8 was based on the larger 318 engine, but had thin wall castings for weight savings. Many of the internal parts were interchangeable with the 318: Crank shaft, cam shaft, cam chain, distributor, and oil pump. The spacings between cylinders were indentical so the engine could be made on the same line as its big brother 318. The pistons were smaller but the designers used a large heavy wrist pin to make the piston-wrist pin combination weight the same as the larger engine. That way, both engines could be run on the same engine balancing line. The all time most smooth engine I ever owned was a 1954 Dodge Red Ram V8 (its a hemi). It was not a particularily powerful engine, but so very smooth and quiet. One day, we were shuttled into a roadside safety check. The officer made the inspection and laid his clipboard on the hood to make the final entries, AND the he asked me to start the engine. The enigine had been running all the time. I had to jazz the throttle to convince him. He did not feel it while writing on his clipboard which was on the hood and he could not hear it over the street noise.