Value
Hyundai’s Accent CRDi is quite simply the lowest cost diesel engined car on our market. When the Accent CRDi was introduced in January 2012 it immediately replaced the Ford Fiesta LX TDCi as the least expensive turbo-diesel model in Australia.
This new oil burning Accent comes as a four-door sedan and a five-door hatchback, both at the same starting price of $19,490.
That’s a $2500 premium over the manual petrol Accent but much of that added cost will be recouped from the significantly lower fuel consumption.
Low running costs are impressive, but keep in mind you’re spending an extra $2500 to achieve the fuel savings. Some of this added cost will be recouped when the time comes to trade up.
Technology
The Accent's 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel delivers 94 kW of power, and a very healthy 265 Nm of torque all the way from 1900 to 2750 rpm.
Hyundai Accent CRDi has official fuel consumption measurements of 4.4 litres per hundred kilometres in the manual sedan and 4.5 litres for the hatch. In the glove compartment we found a box of 10 latex gloves for clean diesel filling.
Design
Our review Hyundai Accent diesel was a neat looking hatch with what Hyundai calls its `fluid design'. There are no hard edges and many who saw the flowing shape during our test period loved its lines.
We like the current Hyundai Y-shaped dash design theme. It’s clean, easy on the eye and functional. Bluetooth and MP3 are standard and there are audio controls on the steering wheel.
The front seats are comfortable and supportive. The rear seats offer good legroom and reasonable headroom and are reasonably supportive. However, the centre seat is firm to the point of being hard and has less headroom than the others. There's no storage in the rear doors.
The rear 60/40 split seats fold flat with a one-touch action. The large boot is easy to load and has a security screen.
Safety
The Accent turbo-diesel has a five-star ANCAP rating and has six airbags, stability control, traction control and ABS brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution.
Driving
Turbo-diesel engines produce a lot more torque than non-turbo petrol engines, making the Accent CRDi easier to drive. Fifth and sixth gear are highly geared for economy. In sixth gear the Accent CRDi simply lopes along at 110 km/h barely hitting 2000 rpm.
During our open road driving we found the car to be using four to five litres per hundred kilometres when driven with economy in mind. Harder driving and hilly roads could see this rise to the five to six range, but that’s still excellent. Around town we would also expect the Hyundai Accent CRDi to use fuel in the latter range.
This Hyundai Accent handles nicely, has minimal body roll and no bad road manners that we could find. It is as well suited to city driving as open roads with the turbo diesel and high gearing making it simply lope along in the bush.
Verdict
Hyundai Accent CRDi is a good looking car that doesn’t give the appearance of being a stripped down economy special. It’s simple to drive and park and its low purchase price seems assured of success in the Australian sales race.
Hyundai Accent 2012: Active CRDi
Engine Type | Diesel Turbo 4, 1.6L |
---|---|
Fuel Type | Diesel |
Fuel Efficiency | 5.6L/100km (combined) |
Seating | 5 |
Price From | $6,820 - $9,680 |
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