A little car turns out to be a big surprise at the racetrack
Hi everyone -- thanks for your fun and frugal suggestions. I got to drive several of the cars you mentioned and have lots of new ideas for the list, which I will post soon.
The biggest surprise of the day (well, days) turned out to be the 2007 Hyundai Accent SE 3-door. Reader Dean C. posted a comment about the Accent, in which he asked "Does it have real driving responsiveness or does it hold true to it’s econo-box roots?"
The answer is, quite simply, YES. I had a chance to drive the Accent SE on a slalom course in direct comparison against several other econoboxes, as well as several laps on the "big track" at Willow Springs raceway. On the slalom the Accent was arguably the best of the bunch (though the Toyota Yaris came pretty close). It was notably more sporty than the Kia Rio5, a distant cousin that lacks the SE's sport-tuned suspension.
And then I took it out on the track.
You'd think a small economy car would be totally lost on a fast 2.5 mile road course. Indeed, I also drove a Honda Fit and a Ford Focus on the track; both made decent showings but it was clear that they weren't designed with a racetrack in mind (and being economy cars, why would they be?).
The Accent was a different story. It felt right at home, screaming its little 110 horsepower heart out and carving through the turns so smoothly as to make even a lousy driver like me look like he knew what he was doing. And it's still a small car with a tiny body that packs in lots of stuff -- so yes, Dean, it is also true to its econobox roots.
Colin's review of the 2007 Hyundai Accent 3-door talks more about economy, safety and practicality, all places where the Accent scores strongly. But after my experience with the Accent on the track, I'll never look at it the same way again. What a remarkable little car. -- Aaron Gold
Photo © Hyundai
Looks like my SVT Foucus, They still like to copy don’t they! Of course Ford dropped the SVT cause they were think’n it might sell too well. We at Ford like to send our younger customers to the competition.
Man, that’s a sharp-looking little car. Look at that bugger!
What’s the word with the Elantra? That gonna come back as a 5-door? I was always fond of that one. Go hatches!
Dave: SVT was one of the best small cars to come along. If it was still made, it’d definitely be on the list.
Bob: The Elantra review is coming soon (finishing it has been on my “to do TODAY” list for a week and a half). As for a hatchback — Hyundai didn’t say anything concrete, but they strongly hinted that it would return to the lineup, my guess is for 2008.
if they threw a tiburon engine in that thing, it would be a beast.
When my wife and I were shopping for cars,I kept going over and looking at the Accent 3 door while we were in the Hyundai dealer, even though we weren’t in the market for that small a car. It’s elegant in it’s simplicity. Based on Aaron’s report, it would be a real gas with some minor suspension tweaking.
Hyundai needs a tuner version of the Accent where the buyer can add the performance goodies he wants with factory parts.
Aaron, I saw in the previous post list that you also took the Suzuki SX-4 out for a drive….Your impressions?
Dick: We asked Hyundai about the possibility of a “Hyundaispeed” division. Nothing concrete yet, but you never know.
Dean, re: the SX4: Loved it. Check out the review here:
http://cars.about.com/od/suzuki/fr/ag_07sx4.htm