The 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring.

The Honda Accord is what the late David E. Davis, Junior, the man who more than any other, made me want to write about cars, would have called "A G--damn paragon of virtue".  Few cars can equal it in terms of value, fuel economy and overall excellence.

But what if the EPA-estimated 27 miles per gallon in the city and 37 miles per gallon in the highway provided by the four-cylinder Honda Accord is just not enough?

2017 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring.

Well, if that, then this.  This being the 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring.  A fully-loaded (leather, premium audio system with subwoofer and Apple CarPlay, Honda LaneWatch, dual-zone climate control, heated front and rear seats, power moonroof, rain-sensing wipers and more) that comes at a fixed price ($35,955---$36,790 when you figure in the $835 destination an handling fee) and delivers an EPA-estimated 49 miles per gallon city/47 highway.

That, planet-lovers, is only five miles per gallon less in the city and three fewer on the highway than a Toyota Prius (not counting the hypermiling Prius Two Eco the Phoenix Bureau tested this past summer).

2017 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring interior.

With the Accord, you get more car, more features, more room, more comfort and more power.  You also get what some would argue (especially in light of last year's re-design of the Prius) to be a more attractive car.

We have wondered before why the Honda Accord Hybrid hasn't crushed the Prius in sales.  It strikes us as the car that has everything...and that extracts the least amount of a trade-off in search of lower fuel consumption and emissions.