While the Accent might not be the most exhilarating car on the face of the
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| To illustrate how important this vehicle launch was, there were three men in blue, 'er, yellow, escorting the Accent entourage out of town. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, American Auto Press) |
planet, it is very important to the Hyundai family and due to its low window sticker, much more relevant to the majority of consumers than some high priced exotic. To illustrate how important this vehicle launch was, there were three men in blue, 'er, yellow, escorting the Accent entourage (not refering to the upcoming on-again, off-again Hyundai Entourage minivan) out of town. I thought, "All this for a pack of subcompacts?" Yes. Perhaps the police knew that a clan of crazy journalists couldn't be trusted on their own, even with barely more than 100 horsepower each at our disposal, and might run amok while racing around town. Hmmm... most likely not. The police escort was there to keep us in line, literally, for our voyage to the ferry terminal, so that we could uniformly load onto the ferry and embark on our Pacific Northwest island adventure.
While police escorts and birthday banter makes for interesting gossip column fodder, I'm sure it's the car you want to hear about. At first glance, the redesigned Accent is easily recognizable. The exterior boasts some healthy new curves and a few fresh features, like a chrome-accented
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| The exterior boasts some healthy new curves and a few fresh features. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, American Auto Press) |
grille, aerodynamic headlamp clusters, larger wheels and tires, and body-colored door handles and mirrors. While it might not look all that much larger from the outside, it is. The wheelbase has increased by 2.3 inches and the track has been widened to 57.9 inches in the front and 57.5 in the rear, making a total increase of 1.4 inches.
Not only have its outside extremities been stretched, but resultantly it's larger inside too. The Accent has class-leading interior volume, with 104.6 cubic feet (100.9 cubic feet in the previous model year). The driver's seating position has also been raised by 2.0 inches to optimize visibility and comfort. Furthermore, the new Accent comes with a two-tone color scheme and large analog instrumentation, tilt steering, and best of all, an 8-way adjustable driver's seat with fold down arm rest. Its combination of features makes the Accent's interior cozy and convenient at the same time.
