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I am presently in the panhandle, but thinking......hmmm.
van
thanks again,
van
* Six-speed manual transmission (shifter looked big and meaty, with a short throw)
* "4x65" air conditioning with continuously variable airflow (i.e., roll-down windows and the airflow depends on your speed)
* Handy place in the middle of the dash to place reminder post-it notes or your favorite photo (i.e., a black plastic cover over the hole where the audio system would normally be)
* Tasteful plastic wheel covers that almost look like alloys (almost...)
Seriously, it does have all the key safety equipment and the two-tone interior doesn't scream "low rent" (not after you pop an aftermarket radio into the dash, anyway).
I also was a bit surprised at how good the black plastic mirrors and door handles looked on this car. It was a medium red, and the mirrors and even the door handles looked just fine to me, as they blended in with the black trim around the windows. Another advantage of unpainted mirrors is, if they accidentally get scuffed (which they invariably do at some point), it's easy to make them look good again with a little Armor-All. Now, on a white car, the black door handles would stand out like a sore thumb. But on a darker color such as red or blue or black or grey, not bad at all.
Surprised that the hatches won't be here for a month or two, since others have reporting sightings at dealerships already.
* While the interior is nicely trimmed overall, the armrests on the doors are HARD PLASTIC! No padding whatsoever. And this is a $17,500 car. Really needs a little padding to protect the elbows.
* The cargo area is roomy, but there's a step-up at the back of the seats--like on the Versa, although not as high. I can see that being a pain when trying to slide big boxes and other long cargo in back.
* The cargo floor is not flat. That's not uncommon these days, except Hyundai knows how to fix it: my 2004 Elantra has seat bottoms that fold forward to create a flat load floor when needed. (My 2010 Sentra has that feature too, fwiw.) It would add a few bucks and maybe a few pounds for the mechanism, but why not make cargo hauling as easy as possible in a hatchback?
* There's no center armrest in back. Which is odd because the previous-gen Accent had one, at least the sedan does. Again, maybe a few bucks to add that, but this is a $17,500 car now, not a $13,000 car.
* Vanity mirrors are not illuminated. OK for the base car, but this is a $17,500... ok, I already said that, didn't I.
I'll have to drive the car (probably shoot for the GS stick) before I make a final judgement, but it's little things like that which would have me gravitating to something else for that much money.
It's harder to redesign the rear seats and cargo area. I am wondering if the Rio5 will have the same problem, since I expect it will share the platform with the Accent hatch. Does the current Rio5 have a flat load floor? It's been nearly 6 years since I drove one, so I forgot.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
But as I've said before here, I would go out and buy a spare for a car that didn't have one, e.g. Elantra or Accent, or order the optional spare with a Cruze. It's just something I'm used to having.
Personally I'll take a smooth ride over razor-sharp handling, if I have to choose. I drive over frost-heaved, pot-holed roads every day, and there's no mountain passes to carve in the Upper Midwest.
Positives are always better than negatives and my impressions of the car are very positive! But, I'll mention just a few "gotchas."
Agreed, the legroom in the back is lousy, but I think very few people are buying this car to seat four adults. I doubt I'll ever have more than two passengers in this car.
Rear visibility isn't great, but is improved some by removing the center back headrest.
The cruise control doesn't like steep grades and disengages unexpectedly when climbing steep hills. I contacted the dealer to say I think this is dangerous, suddenly losing power on the freeway, and was told it was completely normal. "Don't use cruise on steep grades" I was told.
There are very few cubbyholes for storage. There's only the glove box, front door pockets, center console (SE only?) and under the "floor" in the back, where there should be a spare tire. Surely Hyundai could put a few pockets here and there (in the sides in the rear end, for instance.)
I'm not a smoker but there isn't even an ashtray for storing coins or small bits of trash.
These minor issues aside, I'd say I'm impressed with the overall quality of the car, the look and feel of the dash, the quiet ride, fun handling, and I hope to be impressed with gas mileage!
As for the tire and jack, the tools for my Elantra Touring are very lame. Don't even think about being on a surface other than pavement. Also, the lug wrench will barely budge my lug nuts even when they are torqued to proper tension. Moreover, the crank is pathetic. You get exhausted just trying to raise the tire an inch or two. While it is unthinkable that they did away with the tools and spare tire, the tools H are giving out are worthless. I went and bought a floor jack just to rotate the tires myself. I also had to use my heavy duty lug wrench (X) to get the nuts off. I'm hoping this same lame tool set doesn't come with the Sonata since i plan on the i40 being my next car.
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I asked about buying a spare tire and jack "kit" from Hyundai for the new Accent and was told none was available yet. The car salesman suggested Discount Tire, saying it would be a lot cheaper anyway.
The new Elantra doesn't come with a spare either but there is a spare tire "kit" available for it at extra cost.
The extra weight of a spare is not likely to decrease gas mileage very much but that's the line the salesmen have been fed. Since there is hardly anyplace in the car to stash stuff, I'm not sure I'll buy a spare, although I'd feel better if I had one.
My overall impression was: WOW, what an improvement over the previous-generation Accent! No comparison in NVH, smoothness, power, fuel economy, interior quality, and safety features. The car feels very solid and substantial, not a hint of a rattle, very smooth ride for a small car even over rough roads (my test course includes a badly rutted road). I confirmed that the Accent is plenty of car for my needs so it's high on my shopping list for my next car--but I'll have to drive a stick to see if I'll go that route.
The test drive was on suburban streets, urban freeway (65 mph limit), and that rutted back road. As I said, the ride was smooth and quiet even on the rutted roads. Handling, including on a sharp U-curve exiting the freeway, was not exceptional, but did not invoke any drama and was very acceptable. (I'll take a smooth ride over pot-holed roads vs. razor-sharp handling but a harsh ride any day.) There was only a little tire noise and A-pillar wind noise (could only hear it when I turned off the HVAC system). The car tracked straight and did not require constant corrections on the freeway, which tells me Hyundai did a good job tuning the EPS. The 6AT shifted imperceptibly except when I floored it to get onto the freeway. Acceleration was adequate with the automatic--much better than in the old Accent. It would be better with the stick no doubt.
For those who might be worried about whether the Accent can meet its EPA FE rating: don't worry. At 65 mph on a relatively flat freeway and almost no wind, the car was in the upper 40s mpg. For the entire test, it did 42 mpg. That was on a brand-new engine of course. Figures are from the trip computer, but even if it were a little optimistic the car would be beating its EPA ratings. So I have no doubt that when driven moderately, the fuel economy will be fine.
Ergonomically, I have only one complaint: the arm rests on the doors need some padding. Other than that, I felt very comfortable behind the wheel. The wheel doesn't telescope but was at a comfortable reach. The driver's seat felt firm but supportive in all the right places, including lower back and thighs. Seat adjusts for height. There's a swing-down right armrest for the driver that to me felt more comfortable than the typical center console armrest (SE has one of those).
The controls had a quality feel, especially considering the price of the car. The turn signal was smooth. The HVAC mode and fan knobs rotated smoothly; the temperature knob a little less so. The dash and center stack layout is a big improvement over the old Accent's, IMO, and doesn't scream "economy car!" And this was without the SE's piano-black trim.
In back, space is just adequate when sitting behind myself (I'm 5'9", 32" inseam). Would be fine for small adults and kids, or bigger people for short hops. Headroom was good front and back. With seats up, there's still a decent-sized storage area in back. There is a step-up in the load floor with the seats down however.
Overall I think the GS is a nice package for the money. It has all the key features I need, including cruise (which the GLS sedan doesn't have except when loaded). It doesn't have Bluetooth, but I don't consider that feature to be a must-have. It does have aux and iPod jacks. The standard plastic wheel covers are pretty good looking, so I don't feel I have to get alloys just to be able to look at the car. I priced a GS stick on trueCar and found the best price for my area to be around $14.5k. I am hoping prices drop a bit more by the time I am ready to buy in 2013.
FWIW, the same dealer had a couple of 2012 Rio EX hatches on the lot. They were just a little less money than the loaded Accent SE hatches, yet had 15" steel wheels and fairly basic equipment. They also looked less roomy in back than the Accent.
On a side note, FreebieShark.com had the $50 coupon for the Focus test drive. Have been trying to snag one for weeks now and this morning...there it was. Printed it and all we need to do is test drive before 11/11/11...which we'll do. Showed the wife the brochure Ford sent me this week and it is a good looking automobile especially in the 5 door version...but she prefers the sedan. Either way, we'll test both the Focus & Fiesta while there just to see the difference between vehicles, as she's not made up her mind over the compact/sub compact size still.
Great timing, as our computer has been down most of the week due to our switching to AT&T U-Verse for our internet from regular dsl. Apparently, there was a problem with a rotten wire outside the house plus a setting on the computers was wrong...something with the sleep/hibernation setup. The inside guy fixed that problem on the 4 laptops on his 2nd visit, as the kids Mac had the correct setting and the outside guy found the problem very quickly. All is good now and it's a better set up than the dsl...better connection & faster download speed. So, the wife and kids are now happy! Chaulk up another situation dad took care of...sometimes being home most days comes in handy. My wife made me her "office manager" so I now handle things like this and all her phone calls...great hours though the pay could be a bit better...lol!
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Just looking at the two cars, it appeared to me the Accent is significantly bigger in back, and that's what the numbers show:
Rear passenger room: Accent 38 cu ft, Rio 35 cu ft
Rear cargo room seats up: Accent 21 cu ft, Rio 15 cu ft
Rear cargo room seats down: Accent 48 cu ft, Rio 28 cu ft
I was pretty impressed by the sales rep who helped me except he goofed on one thing. I was pretty sure the GS stick didn't come with cruise, so I asked him if that was the case. He said, no, both the stick and automatic come with cruise. Turns out only the automatic comes with cruise. So that could be a reason to ultimately go with the automatic. However, if I really like how the stick drives, I could live without cruise. I'd use it less than once a month.
Now, since I've been driving the Accent much of the time, I miss the cruise control but am making due. It's funny that I had to drive the Civic for a couple of days this week, but the power the Civic has over the Accent...no contest there. And compared to the Mazda 3s, there is no comparison on the get up and go. The 3 takes off like a rocket with so much low end torque which continues seemlessly through all the gears, simply amazing. And even the Ciwith a cd playervic gets the better mileage figures over the Accent while being a bigger engine and a bigger car. The Mazda has the 2.3 engine so it's mpg's are much smaller. Really thought the last generation Accent would have had better mileage figures...but it seems Hyundai has corrected that problem with the 2012's...a great move! But I will still happily drive her Accent to keep the miles off the Civic. It has the auto tranny, a/c and a cd player which makes me a happy camper. And since it's got low mileage, around 11.4k on it, she doesn't mind me driving her around and putting some miles on it.
We'll test the Elantra and Accent as the wife's last test drive, as I really think she'll end up with one of those. But, she could throw me a curve ball and buy a 3 Series BMW, something I could really live with!
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
The white Rio5 I saw today had a black/grey interior. Not too interesting.
I bought the SE and backy, I'd agree with nearly everything you said. It's a very solid car and a lot of fun to drive. I do, however notice some drift on straight sections of freeway. It just doesn't track well compared to every other car I've ever driven. I hate the "piano black" accents (glossy black plastic that's easily scratched) so I wouldn't miss that if I bought the GS. I'm a little disappointed in fuel economy so far but the jury is still out on that. I had hoped to average above 35 mpg but so far it's not happening.
Small gripes aside, I love the car! It's very comfortable, quiet, has a good sound system, looks good inside and out, and rides great.
Ever drive any other car with EPS... like the Sentra for example? The Accent tracks better than that car for sure (it's what I have now). I did my "look ma no hands" test at 65 mph on a flat freeway, right lane, light wind, and it tracked perfectly straight. Also I noticed I didn't have to constantly correct the wheel. But the GS has different tires than the SE you have.
I can imagine those piano black accents picking up smudges and fine scratches easily... looks great when new, but hard to keep that way.
In order to average over 35 mpg you'd have to do mostly highway driving. I was glad to see 42 mpg at the end of my test. It was mostly highway, but with some stops and slower driving and a big hill (but I went down that hill, too). 42 is the best I've seen on that test, ever, and I've driven a lot of cars over that "test course" in the past 15 years. And one of those drives was in a Prius! (But in winter, in light snow.)
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No, I don't think I have. Regardless, if I did the no hands test with my car, I'd be off the road in about five seconds. It's not a serious pull, left or right, but it requires regular correcting. It'll help keep me awake on long trips, I suppose.
As for gas mileage, since I averaged 27 mpg in my Subaru which was rated at 24/28, I'd hoped to average over 35 in the Accent which is rated 30/40. I suppose the Accent's rating is a little optimistic; as am I.
Keep in mind the FE will improve on your Accent as the engine fully breaks in. I've found the magic point to be around 15k miles on Beta engines... not sure what it would be on the Gamma.
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Actually, five seconds is quite a long time at 65 mph (476 feet).
No I haven't had it checked. The nearest dealer is 100 miles away and I suspect they'd test drive it and say everything is normal. My only gripe is that it doesn't track like the half dozen other new cars I've bought over the years. I can live with it and hope perhaps it will improve as the tires wear.
Thanks for your suggestion. If the car constantly pulled to the left, or pulled to the right, I'd have it checked.
Wheel Base: Accent 101.2 Rio 101,2 Exactly the same
Track: Front/Rear Accent 59.3-59.5 Rio 59.9/60.1 Rio a tiny bit wider
Length: Accent 162.0 Rio 159.3 Kia almost 3`` shorter
Width: Accent 57.1 Kia 57.3 Kia a tiny bit wider
Legroom: (f/r) Accent 41.8/33.3 Kia 43.8/31.1
Mixed bag there, Accent: Less in front & a bit more in back
Headroom: (f/r) Accent 39.1/37.8 Kia 40.0/37.6 Both cars almost same
Shoulder Room: Accent 53.7/53.4 Kia 53.1/52.1 Both cars almost same
Hip Room: (f/r): Accent 51.3/47.2 Kia 52.1/51.2 Kia (4``) wider in rear
Passenger Volume: Accent 90.1 cu.ft Kia 88.4 cu.ft.Accent 1.5 cu.ft.more
Cargo Volume, Rear Seat up: Accent 21.2 cu. ft. Rio 15.0 cu.ft
As you posted, The Accent (is) larger by 6 cu. ft, very odd?
My point is, these 2 vehicles are basically sibling twins and share pretty much identical mechanical and interior specifications. Other then the rear cargo room with rear seat up, where the Accent wins by 6 cu. ft., I`m sure with the rear seats folded down, the comparisons would be much closer as all the other interior dimensions are pretty much the same. It all boils down to which vehicle appeals most to you. For the few extra cu. ft. of storage, if that was a major deal breaker, one would (not) purchase a B-Segment /Sub Compact vehicle to begin with, would you say? Finally, on the matter of not having a Beige Cloth Interior option on either the Accent GS (or) the LE, IMO several colors just don`t work with the Charcoal Grey Fabric. I`ve seen the 2012 Kia Rio5 in Clear White, Midnight Black and Signal Red (Hyundai refers to it as "Boston Red"), and all the above mentions Exterior colors look (much) better again, IMO, with the Beige Interior. The Dark Grey looks very drab, especially in Clear White and the other colors mentioned too. If I (were) to purchase a 2012 Hyundai Accent, I would definitely opt for the Sedan over the Hatchback for those reasons depending on my Exterior Color choice plus I think the Sedan looks better too.
I didn't list them becasue they are immaterial to me. Also to you, since you have decided to buy a Rio5, right?
I only gave the rear passenger room volume and cargo volume specs because you said I was wrong when I wrote that I thought the Accent looked bigger in back than the Rio5. Turned out my impression from seeing both cars nearly side by side was accurate. I notice you didn't mention the cargo volumne with rear seats down, which is a huge (no pun intended) advantage for the Accent.
I think it's clear the two cars are not twins. They do share some mechanical parts including powertrains, but exteriors and interiors are much different, also tires/wheels and available options. The Accent has a boxier profile in back, which helps it get more cargo and passenger room back there. The Rio5 is more streamlined in back, which some people (like you) prefer. I prefer the utility of more cargo room when I need it. That's one reason I'll take a close look at the Accent, and also the Fit when it's time to buy my next car--it has exceptional cargo and rear passenger room for this class of car. Also it's supposed to have perhaps the best-in-class shifter.
Because the steering is somewhat stiff at highway speeds, it seems to take some effort to make minor adjustments. Maybe this added to my initial perception that the tracking isn't so great.