2008 Hyundai Accent Base model review from North America

Nothing.

I use this site to research vehicles I am considering the purchase of, and am considering buying an '08 Hyundai Accent. As there are not yet any reviews for them on this site, I will give my opinions about my test drive today of both the automatic and manual transmission models.

Today I drove both, and these comments apply to both the standard shift and the automatic. I like the car a lot. For its size, it's roomy, the controls seem to be arranged nicely, it's comfortable, it drives and rides very well for a compact car, feels tight going down the road, the doors and hatchback open and shut precisely, the rear seats fold down nicely to allow for hauling cargo.

I live in PA, and test drove the car on the highway as well as hilly secondary roads. The 1.6 liter never felt strained or inadequate, especially with the manual shift. I would imagine that the standard shift, as usual, will get much better gas mileage than the automatic, as that eliminates a lot of unnecessary shifting.

If you enjoy driving a standard, as I do, this car is fun to drive. The shift pattern is tight and precise, just plain fun to drive. Reverse is before first gear, and requires you to pull up the lever on the shifter, just like the older VW's. I drove it and was looking for reverse at the end of the shift pattern, like I'm used to, and then noticed that it's on top, and is slightly different than a standard H pattern.

I do have one complaint about the standard shift: at 60 miles per hour, the car runs at about 2900-3000 rpm's. The car shows the redline at around 7000 rpm's. I'm just concerned with long trips at 75 or 80 miles per hour on major highways; I didn't have the chance to get the car up to that speed to see what the tachometer reads, but I surely will if I buy this car. That was the only issue I had with the car during my brief experience with it in a 15 mile test drive. This car seems to be well worth the price, at first glance, and I probably will end up buying it.