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  • Accent looks like a streamlined sports car that conforms to a family-friendly four-door notchback sedan or a cargo-hauling five-door hatchback

  • The 2012 Accent segments into three trims on two models — Accent GLS the price-leader four-door sedan and a five-door hatchback in GS and top-grade SE

  • The surfaces for dash and door, clad in a soft-touch synthetic material, feel refined, even sophisticated, which is certainly unexpected in this conservative class

  • The plant generates 138 hp at 6300 rpm and torque of 123 lb-ft at 4850 rpm

2012 Hyundai Accent Subcompact Sedan And Hatchback

Hyundai Accent revised with eco designs and super-low MSRPs

  • Review
  • Fast Facts

SAN PASQUAL, Calif. — On the snaky San Pasqual Valley Road, Calif. 78 as it wiggles through washboard hills in northern recesses of San Diego County, we’re goosing the throttle and plying a plump steering wheel while exploring the bounds of tire adhesion in a redesigned 2012 Accent SE five-door hatchback by Hyundai of South Korea.

Rank the 2012 Accent as completely new in body style, cabin size, mechanical components and fuel economy scores — it delivers as much as 40 miles per gallon (mpg) for cruising on a highway.

Accent looks like a streamlined sports car that conforms to a family-friendly four-door notchback sedan or a cargo-hauling five-door hatchback.

Itsy-bitsy subcompacts in the price-conscious economy club usually are a pain to drive due to physical and fiscal restraints which typically override concerns for car performance and passenger comfort.

Spend time commuting on public roads in the typical tiny economy car and you’ll feel jammed together with fellow riders in a flimsy metal cage while hurling at speed among surrounding vehicles which seen bigger and far more substantial than your car.

However, that’s not the way it feels to drive the revised Accent.

For the new design for 2012, Accent’s wheelbase — measuring the distance between front and rear axles — stretches by 2.8 inches to reach 101.2 inches, the width expands by 0.2 inches to 66.9 inches and length from prow to trunk grows by about three inches over the former version.

These expansions create modest spatial improvements within the redesigned passenger cabin, which result in more headroom for front seats and more legroom in the rear.

Those riding up front do not feel so squeezed together in a tiny compartment like you might in other economy subcompacts, due to the ring of windows and the larger and remodeled seats.

Driver sits in a comfortable form-fitting bucket which adjusts to fit even a large frame, with seat height in tall stance to set up excellent visibility through the windows.

All of the controls — handy in positions either left on the door, right on the console or ahead on the instrument panel — set in logical positions and operate easily.

The surfaces for dash and door, clad in a soft-touch synthetic material, feel refined, even sophisticated, which is certainly unexpected in this conservative class.

Another unexpected impression comes from the gutsy performance from a new four-cylinder engine that delivers some 25 percent more power than Accent’s previous four-pack yet also brings best-in-class fuel efficiency of 30 mpg city and 40 mpg highway with either manual or automatic shifter.

The dual-overhead-cam (DOHC) four-cylinder Gamma engine displaces 1.6 liters and has gasoline direct injection (GDI) plus Hyundai’s dual continuously variable valve timing (DCVVT) equipment to balance the power output with thrifty fuel economy.

The plant generates 138 hp at 6300 rpm and torque of 123 lb-ft at 4850 rpm

Shifter choices are a standard six-speed manual transmission or optional electronic six-speed automatic rigged with Hyundai’s Shiftronic mode for manual control of the gears.

For suspension all versions of the 2012 Accent employ independent MacPherson struts up front with gas-charged hydraulic twin-tube shocks and stabilizer bar, and in the rear a torsion axle with coil springs and hydraulic monotube shock absorbers.

Hyundai packs aboard each 2012 Accent a hefty load of hardware for safety. Each trim stocks passive safety systems like frontal air bags and seat-mounted side-impact air bags front and rear plus curtain-style air bags above outboard seats on the two rows.

For active safety, every issue also posts a disc brake at each wheel, with electronic linkage to a four-channel anti-lock brake system (ABS) with electronic brake force distribution (EBD).

Every Accent also carries a vehicle stability management (VSM) device to manage the electronic stability control (ESC) system and motor-driven electric power steering (MDPS) system.

Theme for Accent’s exterior design is a fluidity of lines drawn in rectangular format but with a radically raked windshield and an arching canopy over the cabin with low-slung windows and side pillars muted to forge the profile of a swift and racy two-door coupe.

The 2012 Accent segments into three trims on two models — Accent GLS the price-leader four-door sedan and a five-door hatchback in GS and top-grade SE.

Accent GLS sedan rolls on 14-inch steel wheels and stocks power door locks, a tilting steering wheel, rear seatbacks split 60/40, a trip computer and audio prep package with four speakers. The Comfort Package installs air-conditioning, power windows and mirrors, a CD player, satellite radio and iPod/audio input jack.

Accent GS hatchback adds a keyless entry device, rear window wiper plus the GLS Comfort Package. Accent SE hatchback scores 16-inch alloy wheels, foglights and a rear spoiler, leather-wrapped steering wheel and equipment of the GLS Premium Package, such as cruise control, steering-wheel-mounted audio controls and Bluetooth connectivity.

Best asset of the 2012 Accent is the MSRP: $12,445 – GLS 4-door; $14,595 – GS 5-door; $15,795 – SE 5-door.

2012 HYUNDAI ACCENT SUBCOMPACT SEDAN AND HATCHBACK

  • Description:
    • Subcompact 5-door hatch
    • Subcompact 4-door sedan
  • Model options:
    • 5-door: GS or SE
    • 4-door: GLS
  • Wheelbase:
    • 5-door: 101.2 inches
    • 4-door: 101.2 inches
  • Overall length:
    • 5-door:  162.0 inches
    • 4-door:  172.0 inches
  • Engine size: DOHC 1.6-L I4/GDI/DCVVT
  • Transmissions/speeds:
    • Manual/6/MGCF1
    • Auto/6/SHIFTRONIC/A6GF1
  • Rear/front drive: FWD
  • Steering: MDPS/rack and pinion
  • Braking: Power 4-disc, ABS/EBA/EBD/TSC/ESC/VSM
  • Air bags: 2 (front), 2 (side), 4 (side curtain)
  • EPA mileage est. city/hwy.:
    • M/6: 30/40 mpg
    • A/6: 30/40 mpg
  • MSRP, est.:
    • $ 12,445: Accent GLS 4-door
    • $ 14,595: Accent GS 5-door
    • $ 15,795: Accent SE 5-door