Leave it to Honda to change things up a bit.

Just when you get accustomed to pleasant looking, go-along-with-the crowd Honda Accords, the company throws a curve ball, in the form of sexy, curvaceous all-new coupes and elegant, BMW-like sedans.

Yes, there are new Accords this year for you to see at the auto show, and given these cars' wide appeals, you won't want to miss them.

I've often said that Accords can be the car of your dreams, no matter what you're looking for -- sports sedan, luxury sedan, family hauler. And that's even more true now.

First and foremost, the 2008 model is all about technology.

There's the next-generation variable cylinder management, in which some cylinders shut down for fuel economy during cruising. There's the "advanced compatibility engineering" body structure that maximizes the body's ability to disperse crash energy in a frontal collision. There's a new 270-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6. And that's just the beginning of the list.

But all those new features aside, all you need to know about the new Accord can be summed up in its emblem.

It's an aggressive, forward-looking design on a car that surely will open a lot of eyes with assertive, edgy fastback styling on the Accord Coupe and styling that's quite similar to the envelope-pushing BMW 5 Series. And to push the sense of aggression further, the new Accord has features that formerly could be found mainly on luxury cars.

That could mean that the new Accord will be a sales threat to a larger group of cars now than ever before. Not only will they compete against the Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry, but could also be cross-shopped by plenty of luxury car buyers who will find they'll get much the same car for less at Honda. As if to drive this point home, the new Accord now classifies as a large car, not a mid-size, by the Environmental Protection Agency.

I've spent quite a bit of time in both the Coupe and Sedan, and I can tell you that they are both sterling automobiles which come about as close to perfection as you are likely to get in something built by human beings.

The cars' biggest strength, in my view, has always been their sporty, lively driving feel. Few other family cars can match that.

A drive in the new Accord showed that the car's big ace in the hole -- fun, enthusiast-pleasing European handling, in contrast to Camry's more Americanized, softer ride -- is very much intact.

There's no body lean, no bad behavior. The car practically begs to be driven hard, and even the base 180-horsepower, 2.4-liter four cylinder was plenty spunky, with 14 more horsepower than the same engine in the 2007 model.

In fact, "fun to drive" is one of the components Honda designers and engineers decided had to be part of the new Accord no matter what. The other elements are durability, quality, reliability, safety and value.

The Accord LX four-door sedan -- the base model, mind you -- felt for all the world like a European sports model. Inside, there were nice, attractive fabric seats, along with an ultramodern dash that separates operation-related instruments on top, and information instruments on a lower level.

At night, drivers will notice that the controls are further separated by the use of color to distinguish between the audio system, done in white, and climate control, in aqua. Also notable were the classic round dials, with crisp numerals and contemporary presentation.

But it's the patina of the trim, the precision with which it's fitted, the thickness and texture of the seats and other details that separate the Accord form its competitors. Everything just comes across as higher quality.

The coupe, on the other hand, is something else. It's daring in design, particularly for Honda, and represents a complete break from the rather plain, uninteresting coupe designs Honda's used in the past. This one should compete effectively against the all-new Nissan Altima Coupe and the Pontiac G6 Coupes as well.

Even inside the coupe, there's plenty of room front and back, and, in the sedan, my feet did not quite reach the floorboard when I was in the front passenger seat. In fact, that's a hallmark of this newest generation of the Accord -- plenty of room and a huge trunk besides -- 3.7 inches longer. Overall, the 2008 Accord sedan has 3.3 cubic feet more of interior space.

The Accord will be available in LX and EX versions, with several sub-levels of trim within those two lines. Engine choices include the 3.5-liter, 273-horsepower V-6 with estimated mileage of 19/29 in the sedan with automatic, or 16/25 with a six-speed manual; a 200-horsepower 2.4-liter four with either 200 or 180 horsepower. Both the four-cylinder engines have mileage estimated at 21/31.

Prices range from $20,360 to $30,510 to start.