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Hyundai Accent
Blue Thunder
It took Dinzo Tabamo some discussions with Hyundai to understand their unique accent, it was all worth it
Photography by Chino Acosta
"God Bless, practice safe sex, and drive hybrids if you can" – Jessica Alba's acceptance speech upon winning the 2006 MTV Movie Award for Sexiest Performance in Sin City
At this point it might make sense to segue into how fuel consumption consciousness is seeping into the glitz and glamour of Hollywood where the only automotive attributes that matter are along the lines of luxury, exclusivity, excess, etc. But those attributes are eclipsed by the simple fact that
Jessica Alba is just so damn sexy in that striptease rope scene that her body is a sin city in itself.
While not as sinuous as Ms. Alba, the Accent can also be a very willing accessory to sin. We'll get to all the usual review bits later; what you need to focus on is the 236Nm of torque the 1.5-liter common rail diesel powerplant generates. That's more than double what the base engine Jazz and City put out, and it's more torque than a BMW Z4!
Acceleration with the manual
5-speed is simply astounding. You just keep on shifting, and all the time being pushed to your seat, and the surge doesn't stop until the speedometer reads past 120kmh.
It can be disconcerting the first few times it happens. You look at the plain sedan interior, the unbolstered seats not hugging your frame, and the Civic SiR you just left in the dust, all of it sinking in and you realize: whoa.
While it highlights the Accent's quick acceleration, Hyundai doesn't market it as a sports sedan of any kind, focusing instead on its price point, and the fuel economy you can get from its CRDi engines without sacrificing power. It's a shame for two reasons, first because the Accent has one thing a lot of ‘sports edition' models lack: sheer power. And the other reason is, once the car reaches speeds in excess of 140kph, it doesn't feel as firmly planted and could benefit from some ground effects to keep the car more planted on the road.
Some body kits certainly won't hurt the looks, although the Accent doesn't look bad at all in stock form, with its swept-back headlights and well-proportioned design. Judging by those who were turned off by the Jazz' ‘radical' looks (although we don't get it, the Jazz looks great!), the Accent is just the right amount of cute that could help it generate sales. In fact, people I don't know but happen to park nearby keep asking me what car I'm driving, and to my untrained sales instincts at least, they felt like the kind of serious inquiries that could lead to a sale.
The interior has nice fit and finish, but you can almost feel the materials trying to overcome the limits of its P768,000 list price, but falling just a bit short.
However Hyundai has an ace up its sleeve: before you start nitpicking the interior you press a button on the head unit and the DVD/MP3 player's LCD display slides out and up. Whoa again. Sure it doesn't have an über-cool Japanese logo, but it played all the DVDs we tried with no complaint.
And if you want to add some serious ICE (in-car entertainment) to your Accent, meaning the whole subwoofer, amps, and enclosures setup, it will lead you to another discovery about the Accent. It has a humongous boot that will swallow your car audio upgrade and still leave you with enough space for sports equipment. Upon perusal it reminds you of (ahem) Jennifer Lopez, cooped up in the trunk of an American car with leading man George Clooney in the film Out of Sight. Insert trunk joke here.
Speaking of ICE, and what reinforces the Accent's strength as an ideal urban commuter, is the ice cold air-conditioning it is equipped with. The first fan level is enough for most people, level two is for the more hot blooded, level three will overcome the most punishing summer our climate can dish out. Level four is for those who want to be preserved in cryogenic suspension and be defrosted along with Elvis 400 years in the future.
I also discovered an interesting quirk of diesel engines in sedans, especially those with manual transmissions. Every now and then, maybe about once or twice a day I would be shifting from 1st gear to 2nd gear and just when a sliver of the clutch is about to be released I press the gas early and the Accent shudders noticeably. It startled me at first, until I adapted my driving style to it.
Still, I contacted Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) and told them about the situation. Soon after, Don Sta. Aguda from their Technical Department contacted me to discuss the issue, and to make a long story short, it may occur and it might be disconcerting, but simply pressing on the clutch will stop it and your driving habit will adjust to the situation before you know it. It's difficult to call it a flaw in the Accent in the same way that's it's not right to fault a 4x4 for having a stiff ride, that's just the way they are.
Besides the tradeoff is well worth it. Imagine having the economy of diesel and the grunt – no, more grunt than gasoline. All in a cute package with a DVD player and in-dash LCD.
| Hyundai Accent |
| We say: A smooth charmer that will not empty your pockets. Look out, Honda Jazz. |
Price: P768,000
Engine: 1.5 DOHC CRDi
Power: 110bhp
Torque: 235Nm
Transmission: 5-speed MT
Layout/Seating: FWD/5
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We can only imagine what this car would be like if we built it to our specifications. More supportive seats, lowered springs, meatier tires and rims, Momo steering wheel, maybe an upgraded stereo to complement the DVD/LCD player... Ooohh. We're getting slightly ahead of ourselves.
The point is, this car has a lot of potential it is worth seeing beyond any prejudice you might still have regarding Korean cars. The support from HARI is topnotch, and not just because we're jounalists (if they ignore you let us know). If you feel a lot of cars at this price range all offer the same things, the Accent has some solid features that could position it as THE ideal city car.
Click on the thumbnails to view larger image
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Top Gear Philippines - October 2006
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