The Accent took out Australia's Best Cars honours in the small car class in 2000 and 2001. Its combination of a powerful 1.5 litre engine, plenty of space and better than average manners on the road, plus Hyundai's usual sharp pricing, won the contest. The new model is better again, but the Accent is now showing its age, particularly compared with its Getz stablemate.
Value for money
Pricing
At the time of writing (May) Hyundai had just introduced drive-away-no-more-to-pay pricing on the Accent, (like the old Excel) which includes about $2,000 worth of on-road costs. It's priced at $15,490 for the five-speed manual; a four-speed automatic is an extra $1,863.
Warranty
Five years/130,000km, the longest on the market.
Standard features
Standard equipment includes airconditioning, four-speaker in-dash CD audio, tachometer, immobiliser security, driver's airbag and front seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters.
Mirrors and doors are manually operated and no central locking - key or remote - is included.
Retained value
The Accent retains 50 per cent of its new price after three years, which is average for the class.
Design and function
Ergonomics
The dash is efficiently laid out and the switches and controls work with Japanese style finesse. A simple three-dial airconditioning control panel is a snap to use, though the air knocks a bit off the engine's performance.
The Accent has several useful touches not always found at this price.
Strong AM and FM reception, plenty of oddment storage space, rubber mats in storage bins, durable, easy grip rubberised door handles and levers, stepless variable intermittent wipers and two shopping bag hooks in the boot are features which help make it easy to live with on a day to day basis.
The driver's seat has only basic adjustments and you sit quite low. Short drivers may want a seat height adjuster, while tall ones would find some reach adjustment for the wheel of greater use. The wheel is height adjustable.
Innovation
The Accent is conventional in its design and engineering, with no particularly innovative features.
However the 2003 Accent has had a substantial overhaul. The previous model's 76 kW 1.5 litre engine has been bored and stroked to 1.6 litres, gaining only a couple of kilowatts but 10 Nm of torque, which now peaks at 143 Nm/3000 rpm.
Fourth and fifth ratios in the manual have been lowered, the automatic has also been re-engineered to boost performance and refinement, the power steering has been recalibrated and larger 14-inch wheels with wider, lower profile tyres are fitted.
Many other worthwhile improvements have also been made to reduce noise, vibration and harshness, refine the drivetrain electronics, make the airconditioning/ventilation more efficient and stiffen the rear suspension.
Safety
The previous model scored three stars out of five in ANCAP tests.
Security
An immobiliser is fitted, however as mentioned previously there is no central locking.
Comfort
The driver's seat is generously padded, with a long, supportive cushion. Greater lumbar support would improve comfort on long drives.
Space and practicality
The back seat is conveniently accessed via a one lever tilt and slide mechanism on the driver's seat. It's also no problem to get out of the back; the passenger's seat has a foot operated lever which does the same thing.
Two adults can travel comfortably in the back, with better than average leg and head room and an adequately padded, though flat, seat cushion. Three head restraints are now provided; the centre seat belt remains lap only. The side windows are fixed, but airconditioning vents are now fitted in the footwells.
The Accent has plenty of boot space and you can extend the floor using the 60/40 split/fold rear seat back. Three child restraint anchors are under the tailgate, so if fitted, restraints will compromise the boot's usefulness. A full size spare is under the floor.
Build and finish quality
The Accent's body is reasonably solid. The cabin, while hardly the Ritz, is spacious, attractively presented in light grey tones, and up to scratch in fit and finish quality.
Only a persistent noise from around one of the rear window frames, and the usual low grade Korean budget upholstery marred the test car.
On the road
Fuel efficiency
The larger engine - now a 1.6 - plus lower fourth and fifth gears and a slight increase in weight have increased fuel consumption, notably on the highway where the Accent returned 6.7 litres/100 km. In town, the figure was 8.4 litres/100 km. These are average for the class.
Performance
The long stroke 1.6, together with shorter fourth and fifth gears, give the Accent a wide, flexible power delivery by small car standards, and its high power output also sees it remain at the quick end of the class.
There's no need to work the 1.6 hard, or resort to constant use of the gearbox to get along. Usable performance starts from about 2000 rpm, and it will pull fifth from 60 km/h. At 100 km/h in fifth, the 1.6 is turning over at 2800 rpm, where it is acceptably smooth and quiet and has the legs to deal with undulating country.
The test car had an occasional slight hesitation when asked to work hard at low revs.
The gearbox, which on the original Accent had some problems with synchro in first and second, is still rather notchy in these gears, and quite loose in action. However the lever is light and the revised fourth/fifth ratios improve the car's overall performance.
Ride
The ride is reasonably compliant and comfortable around town and on the highway. On other country roads it can become rather lumpy, though at no stage did the suspension fail to absorb big hits.
Handling and steering
In a class where there are still some dreadful handling devices, the Accent's relatively large footprint and decent suspension tuning put it at the competent end of the field.
The suspension is firm and fairly disciplined, so stability in the rough and overall balance are fine at sane speeds. The Kumho tyres on the test car had acceptable grip on dry bitumen, but inspired little confidence in the rain.
The steering remains light and accurate, though still far from communicative.
Braking
The brakes are average in power and progression. ABS is now available as an option, packaged with a passenger's airbag for a reasonable $1,490 premium.
Smoothness and quietness
Like most small four-cylinder engines, the Accent's 1.6 gets a bit raucous and buzzy at the top end, but it's rarely necessary to venture here.
On the open road, interior noise levels were comfortably low.
Summary
The Accent has been overshadowed in Hyundai showrooms by the arrival of the Getz small car range. Hyundai now offers the 1.5 litre Getz for $14,490 drive away with air, $1,000 less than the Accent, which makes it a better buy. The Accent, though dated by newer small car designs, remains an honest and competent drive.
The writer of this report does not necessarily represent the views of the NRMA and this report is provided for you as an alternative to our own NRMA car reviews.
The writer of this report does not necessarily represent the views of the NRMA and this report is provided for you as an alternative to our own NRMA car reviews.
