Hyundai Accent Sedan 2006 Review

7-day Test

Five years ago, Hyundai was struggling in Australia. After years of success selling cheap and cheerful, the market had moved on and Hyundai products were no longer that cheap and hence not so cheerful. Up against the competition, their average quality and ordinary driving dynamics made them less than competitive.

What a difference five years and a new company-owned distributor can make.

In the first instance, Hyundai has moved forward with every generation and products like the recently launched Sonata and now Accent are able to hold their own among the traditional Japanese rivals from an apparent quality perspective. And while they might not be quite there as far as driving characteristics go, they are not far behind.

The change in distributor to a factory-owned subsidiary (from the previous independent) has meant more control over pricing -- gone are the days of enormous discounts and drive-away deals to help move stock.

This and the abovementioned product development have played a significant role in reviving the brand. The new Accent itself augurs well for the South Korean's future in Oz.

After a shifting lineup of three and five-door hatches and four-door sedans, for the new 2006 Accent model, Hyundai has settled on a simple range of three-door hatch and four-door sedan.

Choice is limited to a 1.6-litre engine, with manual or auto transmissions. The manual three-door hatch lists at $15,990 with the sedan at $17,490 with the four-speed automatic transmission adding an extra $2000 to the recommended retail price. The only other option is metallic paint at $350.

For this test, CarPoint chose the sedan variants spending a week in both auto and manual models.

Visually, the car retains a conservative design that while completely inoffensive, is nothing to write home about. It is bigger inside and out than its predecessor offering decent space up front and in the rear. Legroom is a bit tight for adults across the 60/40-split rear bench but there is a decent amount of headroom.

With rising petrol prices, Hyundai has young families in its sights for the new Accent sedan and there are plenty of details inside that show that the package has been well thought out.

Each of the sizeable door bins has a bottle holder for small drink bottles, all five head restraints adjust for height, and there are three built-in top tether child restraint points across the rear shelf. The boot is also on the larger side for this class of car with a 390-litre capacity.

There is also plenty of evidence of a lift in quality too with textured two-tone plastics that look and feel more upmarket. They are a welcome change from the 'grey-orama' interiors of many small cars.

For the price, there is also a good list of standard kit that includes air-conditioning, power windows and heated power mirrors, remote central locking and a good quality CD audio system that will also play MP3 and WMA files with steering wheel-mounted controls.

Slipping into the driver's seat, there are, however, a couple of niggles with the steering column offering height adjustment only and the seats feeling fairly hard and flat. On longer journeys, the lack of comfort and support in the seats became a bigger issue.

Hyundai claims to have put a solid effort into reducing NVH levels for this new model and it does show. Cruising around at suburban speeds, the atmosphere inside the car is quiet and refined. Push the engine high into the rev band however and no amount of sound deadening can dull the engine noise.

The engine itself is reasonably refined at low to midling revs and feels quite perky offering a decent pull off the line. Push it over about 3500rpm and it seems happiest but overall the power delivery is nicely linear and a perfect match for the responsive and surprisingly smooth four-speed automatic transmission.

As the engine speed rises, the adaptive auto box quickly changes ratios without any fuss and under moderate throttle the shifts are barely noticeable making this one of the best autos in its class.

The same cannot be said for the manual gearshift which is vague and rubbery with a very high take up on the clutch that makes smooth transitions a challenge.

As you would expect of a small sedan aimed at the family market, the suspension bias is towards ride comfort and the little Accent delivers. It is not soft but delivers plenty of compliance to deal with all but the very worst roads. Ride comfort is helped by tall (by today's standards) 185/65 14-inch tyres.

The good ride quality is not at the expense of handling, however, with the car still feeling well-composed and quite solid on the road over undulating tarmac and through corners. It is no sportscar by a long shot but it does sit reasonably flat with no excessive body roll when pushed a little. Its predictable and well-controlled poise is really only let down by the Kumho tyres that lose traction a little too quickly.

The steering, however, disappoints, being little more than a means to turn the wheels. It's too light and too lifeless for our liking and not helped by an incredibly slippery leather wrap around the wheel.

Improvements in quality and overall refinement and a good value proposition with plenty of comfort and safety equipment -- including standard ABS -- make the Accent a worthy rival in the small car class. It's a shame its driving dynamics still aren't up the standard of some of its Japanese competition. It's better but certainly not best.

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