Redesigned and slightly enlarged for 2000, Hyundai's smallest and least-expensive model also featured fresh styling. Wheelbase grew by 1.6 inches. The new Accent was about 5 inches longer than before, almost 2 inches wider, and up to 192 pounds heavier. Interior and cargo volumes were little-changed. Hyundai's front-drive subcompact competed against the Chevrolet Metro, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra, Mitsubishi Mirage, Toyota Echo, Daewoo Lanos, and Kia Rio. Two body styles were offered: a two-door hatchback in base or GS trim, and a four-door sedan that came only in top-level GL guise. The 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine produced 92 horsepower, with a standard five-speed manual transmission. A four-speed automatic transmission, optional in GS and GL models, featured Hyundai's Adaptive Logic, which was designed to limit unnecessary gear changes on grades or while decelerating. Hyundai claimed that the new-generation Accent was less noisy, smoother, with a better transmission. Reinforced A- and B-pillars were installed, and the cowl crossbar was strengthened. Double-sealed doors also were installed. Head, leg, and hip room were said to be improved. Accents got a 60/40 rear seat, new instrument panel and gauges, and a new steering wheel. GS and GL models included a tachometer, tinted glass, clock, and five-way adjustable seat. Options included air conditioning, power windows, power locks, power mirrors, and CD player. Accent was one of the few mainstream passenger cars that did not offer antilock braking. The low-end L edition didn't even have power brakes as standard equipment, but all models had power steering. Hyundai offered one of the industry's longest warranties: 5-years/60,000-miles bumper-to-bumper, and 10-years/100,000-miles for the powertrain.
2001 Hyundai Accent: Some Accents got a bigger engine this year. Supplanting the GS two-door hatchback, the base Accent L kept the previous 92-horsepower, 1.5-liter four-cylinder. GS and GL models got a twin-cam, 1.6-liter engine that produced 105 horsepower. Topping the line was the GL four-door sedan. An automatic transmission was optional in all but the L model, which came only with manual shift. Power brakes now were standard in the L.
2002 Hyundai Accent: Air conditioning became standard on GS and GL editions and optional for the L this year. The Accent lineup again included the base L two-door hatchback with its 1.5-liter engine and manual shift, plus the GS hatchback and GL four-door sedan with a 1.6-liter four and either manual or automatic transmission.
2003 Hyundai Accent: All models got a mild facelift with revised front and rear styling. Base hatchback now uses the same 1.6-liter 4-cyl engine as other Accents. It comes only with manual transmission. Side airbags were added to some models late in the model year.
2004 Hyundai Accent: The accent is unchanged for 2004.
Back in the 1980's, Hyundai made a name for itself in Canada as a builder of affordable small cars, but with its earliest models being plagued by less-than-stellar durability, the word "cheap" became one of the most common adjectives used to describe Hyundais.
Hyundai spent the better part of the 1990s working to change the driving public's opinion of its products, and the second-generation (2000-2004) Accent is one of the fruits of that effort.
Korea's largest automaker Hyundai concocts a bargain deal with its subcompact economy car, Accent, offering some of the lowest price points in the new car market.
With revamped models, Hyundai delivers a larger Accent for 2000 rigged with more interior room and more features plus refinements for its structure and powertrain.
Yet pricing for all versions has been confined to the level of last year's smaller Accent. And they're protected with the best warranty in the business. In effect, Hyundai found a way to build a far better car than the former Accent
Just as the first generation Accent (1995-1999) was a step up from the old Excel, the 2000 model was a slightly more mature small car that offered a little more refinement and slightly nice interior appointments for what was still very little money.
Model History and Safety features
A driver's airbag is standard equipment. A passenger airbag as optional as part of a safety package.
The front seat belts have pretensioners to reduce slack in the event of a crash. The front seat belt buckles are mounted on the seats and the upper anchorages are adjustable. These features improve the fit of the seat belt.
The Accent is a good value on the used market. The Canadian Red Book price for a 2002 Accent GSi is $8,400, or about 58 per cent of its value when new. Similar money will buy a used Chevrolet Cavalier, which offers slightly more interior space and similar levels of refinement, but the lack of a hatchback option makes it a less versatile choice. Toyota's Echo has only been available in hatchback form in Canada since 2004, and it has far less cargo space than the Accent. From a safety point of view, all 2000-2004 Accents feature an airbag for the driver as standard equipment, but ABS was never available, even as an option. In U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash tests, the 2000-2004 Accent received at least a four-star frontal crash rating for driver and passenger. In side impact testing, early models of the second generation Accent didn't fare well, earning three stars for front seat occupants, and just two for rear seat occupants. Revisions to the car halfway through the 2003 model year earned later versions of the car improved side impact ratings to at least four stars for front and rear passengers.
Expect decent reliability from these cars. Hyundai's work to improve its products shows in these cars, and while they may not match the levels of refinement and reliability offered by a small Honda or Toyota, the Accent offers a lot of utility and dependability for a very reasonable price.
The 2000 model continued to be offered in 3-door hatchback and 4-door sedan configurations. The hatchback is the value leader of the line, offering a basic and uncomplicated means of transportation. The GS hatchback came with skinny 13 inch tires and manual steering, and a radio was optional on earlier base models. The GL four-door featured power steering and a CD player as standard equipment, and the sportier GSi 3-door a sunroof as standard equipment. The GSi also featured a few attractive body add-ons, including side skirts, a rear spoiler and fog lights. It also got a slightly firmer suspension and 14-inch alloy wheels and tires. Creature comforts like air conditioning, automatic transmission, 14-inch wheels (in place of the standard 13s) and power windows and locks were offered on most models. While all 2000 Accents shared the same 1.5 litre 12-valve SOHC 4-cylinder engine (92 hp) that powered previous generation cars, a 106-hp, 1.6 litre 16-valve DOHC motor (106 hp) was made standard equipment in all but the entry level hatchback model in 2001. The 1.5 litre powerplant was dropped from the model line completely in 2004. While the 1.5-litre has proven to be a fairly durable engine, the extra horsepower offered by the larger engine makes the Accent just a little more fun to drive. For 2000, a chiselled, more aggressive look replaced the soft, rounded lines of the first-generation model. Size-wise, the changes were subtler. Overall length grew from 4103 mm to 4200 mm for the 3-door, while the sedan grew from 4117 mm to 4236 mm. The wheelbase increased by 40 mm to 2440 mm while width increase 50 mm to 1670 mm. Curb weights increased slightly too (by about 30 kg), due to the aforementioned improvements in sound isolation. The small changes to the car's exterior dimensions yielded a similarly small increase in interior space over the previous generation, meaning the Accent is a reasonably comfortable means of transport for two passengers. Two people likely won't mind riding in the back for a short time, but they might start to complain after a couple hours of seat time.
The sedan's trunk, at 334 litres, is plenty big enough to carry a week's worth of groceries, or luggage for two for a weekend out of town. The hatchback is the star in terms of cargo capacity though, with 480 litres of cargo space with the rear seats in place. Fold them down and this little car will haul a lot of stuff: camping gear for two for a weekend or a small armchair will easily fit through the large hatch opening.
Overall Evaluation: 3 Stars
The HYUNDAI ACCENT perform reasonably well in the offset crash test (score 10.76 out of 16 ). The passenger compartment held its shape well except for dash, firewall and pedal movement. Head and chest protection were good for the driver and airbag contact was stable. The passenger did not have an airbag but head protection was good. Protection from serious leg injury was marginal for the driver.
The vehicle performed slightly better in the side impact crash (score 10.96 out of 16). Chest protection was marginal.
2000 accent hyundai trouble The best thing about
Having gone as far as I could in regard to performance with the stock components of the model, I thought I'd try some Cartrix 19X9mm ''Special Rubber'' slick tires (ref.1123) to see how they went. These tires are a very soft, pliable rubber compound, they are very well molded and fit most rally type rims/cars from the various manufacturers (there's a tip for you scale rally enthusiasts, I wish I had them last week for the Rally leg of the Summer Challenge!). An additional benefit with these tires is that being a smaller diameter to the standard rubber (20X11mm versus 19X9.5mm), they will effectively reduce the overall gearing** of the model (stock 22.62mm per rev, versus 21.55mm per rev). In most instances I have found the stock gearing on various models to be over geared for our layout, the Maxi-Tuning being no exception (marginally). Cosmetically the smaller rear tires provide a more scale appearance to the Hyundai, as the full sized version in Australia comes in front wheel drive only, therefore negating the need for big rubber on the tail end. After sanding them very lightly to clean off any excess molding flash, I proceeded to run the little beast around for some ten lap brackets.
The passenger compartment held its shape well except for dash and firewall movement. The front part of the driver's floor was pushed rearwards 10cm and was severely folded. The brake pedal moved rearwards by 15cm. The accelerator pedal had swung across in front of the brake pedal and was pushed against the driver's left leg causing a severe gash in the dummy's "skin". The dash moved 14cm towards the driver. The roof held its shape and the width of the driver's doorway shortened by 5cm. All doors remained closed during the crash. After the crash high manual effort was required to open the driver’s door.
The airbag cushioned the head of the driver and protection was good. The head started rolled off the side of the airbag but recovered. The driver's left knee hit the steering column adjuster, which applied a localised load to the knee. The passenger's head did not hit anything and protection was good. Chest protection was adequate. The passenger's knees hit the glove box and dash. There was a stiff bracket near where the right knee hit the dash.
