RallyDarkstrike's random Accent facts of the day!

"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
09/09/2019 at 09:00 • Filed to: Acccentfacts, Hyundai Accent

For years, I thought the 3-door hatchback version of the MC (2006-2010) Hyundai Accent was an export market-only car. I’d only ever seen pictures and videos of the sedan model in South Korea...until two nights ago! While looking up things about my car on South Korean websites, I learned that there was, indeed a 3-door hatchback sold in the KDM market, though it was a lot less common!

In South Korea (and other markets), the Accent was actually marketed NOT as the Accent, but as the Verna. The MC generation was marketed, at the time, as the ‘New Verna’ as the older LC (1999-2005) generation had been called the Verna. The 3-door hatchback model in my car was, therefore, called the Hyundai New Verna ‘Sporty’.....the ‘Sporty’ denoting it was the hatchback model...no joke, that was it’s name!

Makes me really want to buy that badge for my car not only for the LEGIT KDM STREET CRED YO, but also because it’s amusingly cheesy as hell. :P

KDM Accents got a lot of other features that we never got here in North America...one of which was auto climate control. All we got here, as far as I know, is the usual 3-dials...fan speed, temperature, and air direction (which is my preference for an HVAC setup anyway!), BUT South Korean market cars (and possibly other markets?) got this auto climate control setup:

AND...if you’ll note the lower part of that picture....they got heated seats as well! Another option that I don’t think the Accent ever had a hope of coming with here in North America! Here’s the usual HVAC control layout:

Another feature the KDM ‘Verna Sporty’ got that we didn’t? DIFFERENT INTERIOR COLOR OPTIONS! On North American Accents, I believe your only choices were a two-tone beige/tan with dark gray/black interior, like this:

...or light gray with dark gray/black interior (as in my mother’s and brother’s cars)...like this:

...or, lastly, a dark gray/black on dark gray/black combo such as the following, like in my 2009 Accent hatch. All three interior options here also sometimes came with silver plastic accenting on the dash and center console (which my car does not have) :

In the KDM market, though, to accentuate the Verna Sporty’s sportiness....THIS WAS AN OPTION:

Burnt-orange cloth inserts with matching stitching on the floor mats and rear seats! IT’S BEAUTIFUL...WHY DID WE NOT GET THIS HERE??? I wish I had it in my car as it would really be set off by the dark blue-gray paint! More cheap economy cars need interesting interior color combinations!

This has been another pointless edition of # Accentfacts with RallyDarkstrike! :P

DISCUSSION (15)

Nibby > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
09/09/2019 at 09:01

pip bip - choose Corrour > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
09/09/2019 at 09:17

all the ones i can see on car sales.com.au have the dial HVAC set-up. probably reserved the heated seats for upscale models, models not sold in NA markets and down under

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Nibby
09/09/2019 at 09:18

Wow....just....wow.

Nibby > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
09/09/2019 at 09:31

You like it.

facw > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
09/09/2019 at 09:40

The red ‘S’ in Sport has pretty similar proportions to (though is more uniform than ) the red ‘S’ Toyota used on the Corolla S. Given what I know about Hyundai from that time period, I suspect that’s not an accident (Side note: a 2003 Corolla S is the worst car I’ve ever driven. I know there are much worse out there, but I haven’t been behind the wheel)

facw > pip bip - choose Corrour
09/09/2019 at 09:44

Pro tip for auto manufacturers: If your car supports heated seats, and you are selling cars in Canada, make that option available in Canada, regardless of whether you consider it a luxury feature ill-suited to a boring econobox.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > facw
09/09/2019 at 09:50

It can get pretty chilly up here, lol...

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > pip bip - choose Corrour
09/09/2019 at 09:51

Yup, I think they had several features there seem to be home-market only!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Nibby
09/09/2019 at 09:51

Do you just have a file with millions of links in it to keep stuff like this at the ready? :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > facw
09/09/2019 at 09:53

Similar, but different! Toyota’s ‘S’ badge was more rounded, Hyundai’s was more angle-y! :)

Kinja'd!!!

Nibby > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
09/09/2019 at 09:59

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > facw
09/09/2019 at 10:27

The epitome of bad Corollas are the 2010-2013 (10th gen - E150- final iteration ). Horrible, horrible cars to drive. A wful ergonomics (seriously, who designed the HVAC/Radio layout in those? They should be shot. The seating position is also bad, and the seat cushions are too soft ) , half-assed, wallowy suspension tuning, terrible brakes (on-off switch modulation and nearly instant fade) , logey unpredicta ble transmission programing (and rubbery, vague shifter and completely numb clutch on manuals. F or the icing on the cake they have notoriously weak synchros and a hab it of eating input and output bearings. ) , buzzy engine with hap- ha za rd, woeful l y-non-linear t hrottle-by-wire programming , bad rear visibility, poor interior materials quality, lousy fit and finish, and they’re ugly. The only saving grace is they got pretty good fuel economy. They weren’t even nearly as reliable as the earlier Corollas (poor quality control, I think) , which is rea di l y confirmed by how relatively few of them are left on the roads, even at only a maximum of 9 years old. Even the earlier pre-2010- update E150s were better, though still a far cry from the Coro llas of yore .

The 2003 S (E130) is “fine” by comparis on, though not as good as the previous generation (E110 in US market, we never got the E120) .

Sorry for the rant. I have strong feelings about the E150 C orolla, I traveled for a living when those POSs were at their peak rental fleet infiltrat ion and given the option I would even take an early CVT equipped Altima or Sentra over one . Hell, even a Versa was better.

Tim > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
09/09/2019 at 19:58

My 2018 Accent Limited has heated cloth seats and auto climate in the US.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Tim
09/09/2019 at 20:03

Yup, that sounds about right for the later Accents. I’m talking about the MC (2006-2010) generation Accent in this context. :)

pip bip - choose Corrour > facw
09/10/2019 at 03:41

i can see a need fo r them in Canada and some US states

the only place with a need for them here is Tasmania