For all its stylish good looks, there's a really big problem with the latest Hyundai Accent: its lacklustre powertrain. The 1.6-litre petrol four-speed automatic transmission provide adequate performance, but nothing to get excited about.
There's a solution to that problem: the 1.6-litre diesel option, which boasts almost as much power as the petrol (just 3kW in it) and a whopping 104Nm extra torque, with 260Nm delivered at just 1900rpm.
Transmission? The same number of ratios, sadly, which does temper the excitement level. But fixing one problem does take the emphasis away from the other - you find yourself wanting those extra ratios less when you have so much torque to play with.
The engine is not particularly refined, but I don't mind that. Quite happy for a diesel to sound like a diesel, especially when it can chirp Korean rubber at the traffic lights and leave larger cars in the cloud of smoke our test car was emitting. Imagine how well it'll go when it gets a tune-up.
I can't talk too much about the car's handling, for the same reason our test vehicle is not the one pictured here: it was delivered (with apologies from Hyundai New Zealand) on pathetic 14-inch wheels and high-profile tyres, being an early evaluation unit delivered before the Accent was launched here. The showroom model you'll drive away in rides on 16-inch rims with 195/50 tyres.
