2018 HYUNDAI ACCENT
Its all the sedan that many buyers need, but at a price nearly anyone can afford
Be it ever so humble. there's no car like a small car for squirting through traffic, claiming impossibly tight parking spots and avoiding gas-station pit stops. The fifth-generation Hyundai Accent delivers these and other benefits, while ensuring your bank account doesn't suffer from over-draw. The Accent has been Hyundai's answer for modestly priced transportation for many years and the 2018 edition (sedan only, at least for now) maintains that tradition. Accents make excellent first-time acquisi-tions for those starting out on life's winding highway, as well as for commuters and around-town drivers who can easily do without piloting some over-stuffed cruiser or a big and tall wagon. Add to that the Accent's D3- bust five-year comprehensive warranty and it becomes a sound alternative to buying some used vehicle of uncertain provenance. Having said that, the Accent is far from being a tortuous penalty box for adult-sized folk. The car's surprisingly spacious passenger compartment places it mildly in the compact-car class (as opposed to the subcompact group). In fact, the Accent deliv-ers as much or greater cabin and trunk volume than any qimilAr looks so much like the slightly larger Eantra sedan that from not too great a distance you could easily confuse the two. The Accent is about a half-inch longer than the 2017 ver-sion, while width has increased by more than an inch. That's not a huge change, but every little bit helps. As with the the Kia Rio (also new for 2018, and a Hyundai subset), the Accent uses a new platform that less prone to bending and twisting for a more stable and quieter ride. The suspension has been retuned and Hyundai claims the new variable-ratio steering rack is more precise. . There's greater refinement, including a smart-looking dash-board and control panel that are both as straightforward as you can get. The base car's minimal-ist five-inch display does leave the interior looking a bit barren, but an available seven-inch screen fills things out quite nicely. torque. Those numbers are down somewhat from the previous model's 188/121 rating. Hyundai says the redesigned engine is now more refined and tca-quier in the lower rev range and is also a bit less thirsty, with a com-bined city/highway fuel-econo-my rating of 82 mpg (up two mpg from 2017). A six-speed manual trans-mission is standard in the base Accent SE. while a six-speed au-tomatic is optional for that trim, CONSIDERATION I but standard with the mid-level SEL and top-line Limited. For the grand sum of $15,900, with destination charges included. the SE allows frugal buyers to enjoy a non-basic life. They get air conditioning. . Six-way adjustable driver's seat, split-fold-ing rear seat, four-speak-er audio plus the usual power-functioning items. The SEL swaps out SE's 15-inch steel wheels for alloys, the rear drum brakes for discs and the smaller touch-screen for the larger version. . Also added are heated outside mirrors, a sliding floor console armrest plus a few other niceties-. The top-end Limited comes with climate control power sunroof, heated front seats. push-button start, hands-free trunk opening and 17-inch wheels. You also get minimal active safety tech (forward collision intervention and blind-spot mom itoring) in the Limited but that falls well short of what's offered by the Accent's chief rivals. Ultimately, though, the Accent's ahead-of-the-curve size and its sophistication makes it worthy of consideration.