|
By
EWAN KENNEDY
17 July 2006
The new Hyundai Accent has just been launched in Australia and
represents yet another major step forward for this ambitious Korean car
maker. It has moved upwards in refinement and equipment levels and has
taken the company to a new personal high in build quality. More about
the latter in a moment, though.
Once its lowest cost model, the Accent now sits
above the big-selling Getz in the Hyundai range. It has gone up in
price as well as aforementioned refinement, with the four-door
sedan we tested this week starting at $17,490. Add on-road costs
and you’re staring at about $20,000 before it’s sitting in
your driveway. With another $1890 if you want the convenience of a
four-speed automatic transmission.
The Accent takes its own path in style, a path
that gives it a real European look, though it’s on the
conservative side in four-door format. This is not necessarily a
bad thing as this car appeals to buyers more interested in
functionality than fashion. And the three-door hatch, launched at
the same time as the sedan, does have a lot more pizzazz in its
looks.
Interior room is good, with space for four
adults with no real need to compromise on legroom. The new Accent
has a huge boot that’s simple to load and a convenient shape.
Power for the four-door Accent comes from a
four-cylinder 1.6-litre engine. This time around it’s a
(relatively) high-tech unit with variable valve timing to spread
the torque output over a greater rev range.
The engine is quiet and smooth in operation and
pulls well at all normal revs. However, it’s not all that happy
on moving up to the high end of the tacho. But that area is seldom
going to be used by the average driver so is seldom likely to be a
worry.
The gearbox ratios in the manual have been
revised to make them better suited to Australia urban driving.
This has been done by looking at individual gears rather than by
simply lowering the final-drive ratio. Thus there's decent
zippiness in the lower ratios while top (fifth) gear sees the car
doing just over 3000 rpm when cruising at 100 km/h. This gives it
a nice relaxed feel on motorways and also sees fuel consumption at
reasonable levels.
Our testing saw it typically using eight to nine
litres per hundred kilometres in country driving and 10 to 11
litres per hundred around the suburbs. You would expect the
four-speed auto to use five to ten per cent more fuel than the
manual.
Quality problems reared their ugly head in the
five-speed manual we tested. It may simply have been that the
clutch was out of adjustment, but it was difficult to make smooth
gearchanges without putting a lot of concentration into them. On
several occasions the car jumped out of reverse gear – never a
pleasant feeling if you’re involved in intricate reverse-parking
manoeuvres.
Noise and vibration dampening received
particular attention during the design of the new Accent. It works
well, even putting paid to a lot of the racket often created by
coarse-chip surfaces.
On-road behaviour is relatively neutral for a
front-drive car and unless the Accent is really pushed hard
there's no understeer worth talking about. Some may find the
steering a bit too light, but most will be happy with its feel and
feedback.
It’s good to see that Hyundai fits the blinker
lever on the correct side of the steering wheel for Australians.
Many other makers save money by leaving it on the other side of
the wheel. Which can be a real irritation when driving a manual
car, so our thanks to Hyundai for doing the right thing.
Also on the correct side of the car for
Australian drivers is the power and volume knob on the stereo, a
nice touch and one that’s appreciated by those who care about
attention to detail.
Since it changed its name from Hyundai Excel to
Hyundai Accent in 2000, this car has struggled to gain the huge
heights reached by its predecessor. Nor do we expect this new
model to outsell Commodore and Falcon (as did the Excel in one
famous month).
However, we do expect the new Accent to carve
out a handsome niche for itself in this market segment – one of
the hardest fought of them all in the Australian market.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
Accent 1.6-litre three-door hatch - $15,990
Accent 1.6-litre four-door sedan - $17,490
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard in both models
Air Conditioning: Standard in both models
Automatic Transmission: $1890 option in both models
CD Player: Standard in both models
Central Locking: Standard in both models
Cruise Control: Not offered
Driver Airbag: Standard in both models
Passenger Airbag: Standard in both models
Front Side Airbags: Not offered
SPECIFICATIONS (Hyundai Accent 1.6-litre
four-door sedan)
ENGINE:
Capacity: 1.599 litres
Configuration: Transverse, four cylinders in line
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 10.0:1
Bore/Stroke: 76.5 x 87.0mm
Maximum Power: 82kW @ 6000rpm
Maximum Torque: 145Nm @ 4500rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Front
Manual Transmission: Five-speed
Automatic Transmission: Four-speed
Final Drive Ratio: 4.056:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4280mm
Wheelbase: 2500mm
Width: 1695mm
Height: 1470mm
Turning Circle: 10.1 metres
Kerb Mass: 1134kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 45 litres
Towing Ability: 453kg (1100kg with braked trailer)
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: Independent, MacPherson struts, coil springs,
anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Semi-independent, coil springs, torsion beam axle
Front Brakes: Ventilated disc
Rear Brakes: Disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 10.8 seconds
Standing 400 Metres: 17.7 seconds
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
Fuel Type: Petrol 91RON
Fuel Consumption - Combined Cycle (ADR 81/01): 6.8 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Five years/ 130,000km
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
|
