Hyundai Getz
05 May 2006
Paul Gover
Business in baby cars is booming. People are looking for something super-compact and super-frugal, and the trend has even seen small-car sales drop slightly as customers switch to the light class.
These are the smallest and cheapest cars, priced from a mere $13,490, with engines as small as 1.3 litres and baby-sized bodies.
Hyundai helped create the class with its original $15,000 Excel, now superseded by the funky little Getz and ageing Accent. It is still a powerhouse, though GM Holden has tapped its own South Korean connection and is doing big business with its new value-priced Barina hatch and sedan.
The Getz is now second in the segment, romping along behind the pace-setting Toyota Yaris and comfortably ahead of the Holden Barina and Suzuki Swift.
Sales numbers for March are 2079 for the Yaris, 1716 for the Getz, 1367 for the Barina and 1073 for the Swift.
And the year-to-date figures show Australians bought 27,027 light cars in the first quarter of this year, 11.5 per cent more than in the first quarter of 2005.
But Hyundai is not sitting on its Getz and Accent hand. It has introduced a Getz hero car as part of a major update and is preparing a new Accent for the second half of the year.
The Getz SXi is the new star, though its $16,490 price puts it well above the $14,490 bottom line of the starter car, which has a 1.4-litre engine. All Getz models have more safety features, an upgraded cabin and smoother nose.
Engines sizes have grown from 1.3-litres and 1.5 litres to 1.4 and 1.6, and Hyundai says its Alpha design now gives more power and torque with improved economy.
It is putting more emphasis on the 1.6-litre models in the range, which also have anti-skid brakes, electronic brakeforce distribution and active front head restraints.
Hyundai is also pushing its "Getz Protectz" pack: electronic stability program, traction control and side airbags for $1290.
But the Getz is still pretty much as it was when it arrived in Australia four years ago — a city-focused youth car. This explains why it is available only as a three or five-door hatch.
Sedan buyers can take the Accent, which is seen as the car for older customers.
The youth push with the Getz ranges from its styling to small things such as MP3-compatible CD sound.
The SXi has alloy wheels, a small rear spoiler and fog lamps.
ON THE ROAD
The baby Getz has always been good, but never great. Our first drive, four years ago, showed Hyundai had the right style to lure younger buyers who had moved away from the Accent after enjoying the Excel, but the car was let down by a basic chassis and a cabin stuck in the South Korean time warp.
Not much has changed this year. The Getz still looks good, we love the safety focus, the new nose is less boxy, but the car is still not close to the class leaders on driving refinement or cabin quality.
Plenty of people will be lured by the $13,490 starter price, and we would definitely take the Getz over the new Barina hatch, but it is way behind the enjoyable Ford Fiesta, refined Toyota Yaris and the sporty Suzuki Swift.
We have seen a lot of improvement in Hyundai quality in the Elantra and impressive new Sonata, but not the Getz.
The plastics look and feel cheap, the interior fit-and-finish work is nowhere near a Yaris.
We were also disappointed by the car's lumpy ride and board-hard, unsupportive seats.
Our test car was an SXi and it looked good, with the bright red splashes through the cabin and the five-blade alloy wheels. The alloy-look on the trim also lifted the cabin and baby car braggers will like the spoiler and fog lamps.
The latest 1.6-litre engine is surprisingly strong, pulling from just above idle with good torque. It runs flat beyond 5500 revs, which has been a characteristic of most Hyundai motors, but gives the car fairly lively performance with good economy.
The five-speed manual shift is good, and considerably better than the Kia Rio which is up against it with the same running gear.
We like the anti-skid brakes and electronic brakeforce system, which will make a large difference to safety, and believe that Getz buyers should go all the way with the Protectz pack with stability control.
But we would also like to see Hyundai's engineers do some more work on the suspension, which is still too bouncy and mismatched front to rear.
It doesn't take much of a bump to set it rocking and the company can do better, as we know from the Elantra.
Hyundai is not making a big prediction for SXi sales but believes the car will be a good bait for the brand at a time when the competition has never been tougher.
It will definitely draw people, but they are more likely to go for a Getz starter car than the SXi if they shop and drive it against a Fiesta, Yaris or Swift, which still have a big break over the South Korean baby.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The Getz is good value, and Hyundai is doing an excellent job pushing baby-car safety, but it still trails the class leaders
70/100
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Hyundai Getz the thrift message
Hyundai Elantra: runs cheap, feels cheap
Hyundai Elantra
25 August 2006
Stephen Corby
HYUNDAI'S new Elantra ticks all the economy car boxes, but safety comes at too high a price.
Some things just feel instantly comfortable - an old pair of jeans, a fat roll of $100 bills in your hand, the driver's seat of a Ferrari.
Then there's the new Hyundai Elantra.
From the very first minute, this car like wearing socks with sandals.
The seats are flat rather than flattering, the steering wheel has all the tactile feel of a garden hose and as you attempt to drive off you find the accelerator pedal is touchier than a domino expert at the end of a long day.
The instantaneous thrustiness gives a misleading impression that this is something of a jackrabbit in the acceleration department.
Obviously, the Elantra is a budget mid-sizer, not a sports car, but while it boasts an engine size advantage over some of its 1.8-litre competitors, the 2.0-litre powerplant produces just 105kW and 186Nm.
Hyundai claims a 0 to 100km/h time of 8.9 seconds, but they must have had a cyclonic tail wind of when they recorded that time. It's also noisy and rough sounding.
Then there's the steering, which is about as talkative as Humphrey B Bear. The lack of feel would be mildly annoying, but it's actually worse than that. There seems to be a disconnect between the steering-wheel position and the reaction of the wheels.
In fact, it gives new meaning to understeer. Not only does it exhibit this tendency in the traditional sense, it actually is literally under steered.
Throw in the generous amount of bodyroll and you've got a car that doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
When my colleague and I swapped places I discovered that these feelings weren't entirely my own as she apologised for wandering around the road like a drunken wombat. She couldn't get to grips with the Playstation-like steering either.
To be fair, on smooth freeways the Elantra's ride, with its new rear suspension, is reasonably supple and indeed, amid the mundanity of everyday driving, the car's failings would hardly be noticeable.
It's roomy, with a decent back seat, it's got a sheen of classiness and the exterior styling, with the “curvaceous character line” along its waist will no doubt turn heads.
As will the pricing. The base SX model of what Hyundai calls its “very big small car” is $19,990.
But at that price you miss out on some things - like steering-wheel adjustment, side-impact airbags, curtain airbags and buttons on the wheel for the stereo.
The rest of the range, which tops out at $28,990, gets all that and more, including a very capable ESP (Electronic Stability Program) system.
Buyers of the SX, who will make up the vast majority of customers, have the option of paying for a Protectz Pack, for $1790, which adds ESP, traction control and the curtain and side airbags. While this option is a potential life saver, safety just isn't sexy and realistically people are more likely to shell out for alloy wheels.
Hyundai already offers a similar pack for its Getz and out of the 1800 units it sells a month, only 10 to 15 buyers have chosen to Protectz themselves.
The company tips a similar take-up rate for the Elantra, which it expects to sell between 750 and 800 a month when it goes on sale in October.
It's a real shame Hyundai couldn't have made ESP standard across the range, but a sub-$20K price is a far better selling point.
The other attraction for buyers will be the claimed fuel consumption of just 7.4 litres per 100km (7.8 in the auto). Strangely, though, our car on the launch drive returned a less impressive average of 8.7 litres per 100km.
Even so, at least drivers will get a good feeling from the Elantra when they get out of it to approach the bowsers.
Polishing up a new accent
Hyundai Accent
05 August 2006
David Fitzsimmons
Hyundai has put a new accent on its Accent. The car that has made a significant contribution to establishing the Korean brand in Australia now comes in two distinct styles: the three-door hatch and the five-door sedan. Each is pitched at a different market.
The hatch is aimed at young buyers who want something remotely sporty and good looking, despite their limited funds.
The sedan, says Hyundai director of sales and marketing Theo van Doore, "is more suited to small families and older and more conservative buyers".
And it shows.
While the sedan boasts a host of new features, being bigger and offering more interior space — including a good-sized boot — than the previous model, it is not going to win prizes for its looks.
It is definitely suited to more conservative buyers who are looking for a steady and comfortable car to get them about town with a minimum of fuss, reasonable economy and a maximum of reliability.
The new Accent is powered by an upgraded version of the 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine that now has Continuously Variable Valve Timing for improved performance.
It does 0-100km/h in 10.2 seconds, which is respectable for such a car but is not intended to break records. All-important fuel economy is good in the Accent, as would be expected for a car of this size.
Blocked Ad The manual sedan tested has a combined claimed economy rate of 6.8 litres per 100km, the best of all the Accent variants.
It has a 45-litre tank that should equate to up to 660km travelling. And with the Sydney price for unleaded hovering around $1.35 a litre it will cost about $60 to fill.
Safety is also becoming a major issue for small car buyers. The new Accent gains ABS with electronic brake force distribution and improved brakes. The discs are bigger on the front and the old rear drums have been binned to make way for rear disc brakes.
The previous model Accent rated an overall three stars (five is the best) for crash safety in Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) testing but the new car has not yet been tested by them. The most serious
problem noted with the previous model was a high risk of chest injury for the driver in a side-impact crash.
Hyundai says the new car has a stronger and stiffer cabin cell structure along with stronger doors including strengthened side-impact beams to reduce impact injury.
Inside, the Accent is well-equipped with a leather steering wheel and gear knob and power windows on all doors, although the plastic finish is plain.
The CD-player/radio system is MP3- and WMA-capable and plays through six speakers.
A lot of work has gone into improving storage space inside the car, which includes a larger glovebox, a sunglasses storage area overhead, four cupholders, storage space in the door capable of taking bottles and even a recess area under the steering column that is designed to take a folded-up umbrella.
However, it could do with more space and is particularly let down by not having a centre console. Leg room is good in the front and the rear will seat two adults or three children fairly comfortably.
Accent handles city driving pretty comfortably. The manual gearbox is a smooth shifter with light changes and clutch movement.
Wind and road noise levels are reduced from the previous model but are still quite noticeable. The manual sedan is priced at $17,490 with metallic paint an extra $350.
It will cost an extra $2000 for the auto, which will account for more sales.
In comparison, the three-door hatchback starts at $15,990.
A big plus for Hyundai buyers seeking minimum-fuss motoring is the warranty, which stands at five years/130,000km.
