2012 Hyundai Accent 5-Door Overview Change Vehicle

This 2012 Hyundai Accent 5-Door review explains changes for the model year, provides a summary of the 2012 Accent Hatchback, and includes Hyundai Accent Hatchback safety, reliability, and fuel economy ratings.

The word hatchback is somewhat verboten in America, where it carries the connotation of cheap, underwhelming little vehicles. Never mind that it really means vastly increased versatility to carry around your belongings. But that’s what the five-passenger Accent 5-Door is, the subcompact hatchback version of the Accent sedan. Thankfully, this hatch is spunky and stylish as well as practical.

The Hyundai Accent 5-Door, along with its sedan brother, is all-new for the 2012 model year. It’s bigger and more stylish than the previous generation Accent, and is full of features that you don’t expect for a vehicle of this price point.

The 2012 Hyundai Accent 5-Door gives you your choice between two trim levels, the GS and SE. The GS is equipped with 14-inch steel wheels with hubcaps, air conditioning, a rear defroster, a 60/40-split folding rear seatback, a six-speaker stereo system with satellite radio and an auxiliary input jack, and power door locks, windows and mirrors. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard, but an automatic transmission may be chosen to ease your driving experience.

We would pony up for the SE model if only for the 16-inch alloy wheels. It also provides you with cruise control, Bluetooth, steering wheel-mounted controls, upgraded interior trim, fog lamps and a rear spoiler.

Hyundai doesn’t offer any option packages for the Accent 5-Door, but if you really want to pay extra for some more features you can get an auto-dimming rearview mirror with a HomeLink universal remote, floor mats, or an iPod cord.

A 138-horsepower, 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine motivates the 2012 Hyundai Accent 5-Door. Note that the engine is of the direct-injection variety, which helps maximize power and fuel economy to the tune of 30 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway. Power is directed to the front wheels via your choice of a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic. In the subcompact class, all of these numbers best those of Hyundai’s competitors.

Safety and Reliability

Standard safety equipment for the 2012 Accent 5-Door is quite comprehensive, and includes an army of airbags: dual front, dual front side, and dual side curtain. Electronic brake-force distribution and brake assist fortify the four-wheel-disc antilock brakes, and the Accent includes traction control and stability control as standard equipment.

At the time of this writing, neither the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) nor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have performed crash tests on the 2012 Accent 5-Door.

Same story for Consumer Reports and J.D. Power and Associates; neither has rated the 2012 Accent 5-Door for predicted reliability. However, Hyundai’s 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty protects owners against engine defects for a long, long time.

With 21.2 cubic-feet of cargo space with the rear seats in use and 47.5 cu-ft with them folded, the 2012 Hyundai Accent 5-Door is quite a bit more spacious inside than its competition in its price class. Hyundai even says it can carry more than an Infiniti EX35. So even though it’s in the subcompact field, the EPA classifies it as a compact vehicle.

Note that the Accent makes 138 horsepower and weighs about 100 pounds either side of 2,500 lbs., depending on equipment. That means it should feel quite lively for a small car. And its direct-injection engine helps it achieve a 40-mpg rating on the highway, which makes it the fuel ratings leader in the subcompact class.

The subcompact automobile has been vilified through the ages as the crappy vehicle that you have to buy because you can’t afford to get anything else. But with the advent of fun, fast (if you know how), funky cars like the Ford Fiesta, Honda Fit and Mazda 2 – models that also happen to be easy on the wallet – the stigma is effectively shed. The 2012 Hyundai Accent 5-Door not only joins their capable ranks but also helps the cause with styling that’s more sophisticated than its bug-eyed competition.

By Liz Kim