In a Nutshell: Still the lowest-priced automotive Scrooges in the American market, and still a bargain, but not quite the terrific bargain they were with the last generation models.

With the recent rise in gasoline prices, of course, has come a new and more widespead interest in small, inexpensive high-mileage cars in the U.S. market once again.....one of the reasons why today we have not only the Scion xA, Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, Suzuki Verona / Reno, and Chevrolet Aveo, a micro-sized Nissan on the way, but also two brand-new redesigns from Hyundai and Kia as well....the third-generation U.S.-market Accent and the second-generation U.S.-market Rio. ( Really, they're the same car, as I will illustrate later ). I plan to review both the Fit and Yaris as well, but the Fit is extremely high demand / low supply and simply is not available at dealerships. dealerships have limited allotments, and just about every one coming off the truck is pre-sold. As of today, though, Accents and Rios are available at dealerships but not in great numbers. I thoroughly reviewed a sample of both cars, but because the Rio and Accent, under the skin, are so much alike, sharing platforms, chassis, drivetrain, and even many interior parts, I decided not to write up two separate reviews, wasting both time and CAR CHAT screen space. It made much more sense to combine the two into one general review, so you as a potential shopper can compare them both right here.

The new 2006 Hyundai / Accent / Kia Rio is the latest versions of basic economy cars that go back some 15 or so years...the Accent more than the Rio, at least in the U.S market. The original Hyundai Accent ( a coupe version was called the Scoupe ) quickly developed a richly deserved reputation for quality almost as bad as the terrible Excel that it replaced.....as did the first U.S. market Kia Rio as well. I still remember that the first Rio I test-drove, had, even brand-new right off the dealers' lot, squeaks and rattles all over the interior and a misaligned rear door that would not shut properly.

But boy, how times change. Quality on both cars rapidly improved, year by year, after about 2000 or so, and the assembly quality of the latest-generation of these two cars, IMO, rivals that of Toyota and Scion....although the doors of the 2006 Accent do not appear to be as solid-feeling or sounding as those of the 2005.
There were some differences between the 2005 Rio and Accent, despite both having the same drivetrain, but in most areas the two new twins are as alike as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. The Accent's GLS interior ( there is no more Accent base verison...it has been dropped ) is, at least to my taste, better done than that the equivant Rio LX, and there are some minor differences on the outside as with Rio's large, black anti-scuff / anti-scratch bands on both front and rear bumpers, and the Rio's underhood insulation pad....both are missing on the Accent GLS, but for the most part, mechanically, these two cars are identical. The Rio offers a slightly more expensive Rio5 SX, a 5-door hatchback with better trim inside that is a little more comparable to the Accent's. The Accent has a limited-production, somewhat sportier 3-door GT hatchback, but it is not built in large numbers and is designed for a different purpose despite the similiar engine. For a true Hyundai 5-door hatchback you have to move up to the more expensive ( but still bargain-priced ) Elantra GT. Both the Accent GLS and Rio LX four-door sedans have EXACTLY the same body, chassis, tires, drivetrain, and interior dimensions, so these were the two versions I decided to review and compare. Prices, as expected, have risen somewhat over the 2005 versions, and neither model is quite the Miser Scrooge-mobile the 2005 models were, but the Rio, unlike the Accent, still offers a lower-priced Base version starting between $11,000 and $12,000 for skin-flints, those with poor credit ratings, those who don't mind shifting for themselves in heavy traffic, or who otherwise just don't want to want to spend much on a new vehicle or who want a new car at a used-car price. All U.S.-market Hyundais and Kias, including these two, fortunately still carry the superb 10 year / 100,000 mile drivetrain and 5 year / 60,000 mile total-car warranties ( transferrable to immediate family members upon resale ) and fairly long ( for the price ) list of standard equipment, although neither car had the optional power package.....you wound up your own windows, locked your own doors, and adjusted both mirrors the old-fashioned way. It shows you how spoiled we've gotten in today's society...I can remember well when you had to buy a luxury or near-luxury-level car to get these things.

OK....enough introduction for the Bobsey twins here.....let's look at them in detail:


Models tested: 2006 Hyundai Accent GLS 4-door sedan, 2006 Kia Rio LX 4-door sedan.

Base Prices: Accent GLS: $12,455. Rio LX: $13,185

Major Options: Accent: Automatic transmission, $850, A/C $800 (standard in the Rio)
Major Options: Rio: Automatic transmission $850

List Prices: Accent GLS: $14,105, Rio LX: $14,035

Exterior Colors: Accent, Wine Red. Rio, Clear White
Interior Colors: Accent, Two-tone Black / Silver cloth. Rio, Black Cloth

Drivetrains ( both cars ): FWD, transverse-mounted 1.6L inline-4, 110 hp @ 6000 RPM, 106 ft.-lbs torque @ 4500 RPM, 4-speed automatic transmission with push-button overdrive-off feature.
( Interesting......for some unknown reason, the Accent is EPA - rated at 28 / 36 MPG Highway and the Rio, 29 City / 38 Highway, despite the fact that the two cars are aerodynamically and mechanically identical, the tires were the same on both cars, and the final-drive gearing didn't seem to be any different either )


PLUSSES:

Low price

High value

Well-designed power steering

Good overhead engine accessability despite plastic engine cover.

Relatively good safety ratings for a small car.

Rio: 5-door hatchback available

Accent: Attractive interior

Good stereo by entry-level standards

Rio: large protective side and bumper mouldings

Good driver comfort...more so with Accent

Multi adjustable seats...unusual in this price range

Good assembly quality

Superb warranties

Sharp handling and steering response

Rio has some nice paint color options...especially on the hatchback.



MINUSES

High road noise.

Somewhat rough ride.

Tight rear-seat room

Small trunk openings in the 4-door sedans

Rio LX interior too plain-looking

Lack of engine torque with automatic and A/C.

Accent paint colors too dull.






On the outside, the two new cars are noticeably taller than the ones they replace, which of course make getting in and out somewhat easier. This also, not surprisingly, helps headroom as well...at least in the front seat. Neither car, though, despite the hoopla written in the brochures, will seat large adults comfortably in the rear....rear legroom, while not the worst I've seen, is quite short, and it was exceedingly difficult to get my big size 15 shoes through the small space between the B-pillar and the rear wheel arch. Rear headroom, while OK for small adults, doesn't cut it for 6' 2" guys my size......the downward-tilt of the new roofline in back scrapes the top of your head, especially with the traditional baseball cap I always wear. ( Yes, I wear that for a reason...never mind why ). These cars, with automatic, also don't have the torque for carying a full load of large adults...more on that later.

Up front, there is plenty of room ( by small-car standards ) for even large adults to get comfortable. The dash, gauges, and controls are nicely ( and almost identically ) laid out in both cars. The gauges are black with white numbers, quite legible, and have nice red and silver needles. All primary and secondary controls are also nicely laid out, work well except for the too-soft return spring in the turn-signal control stalk ( I noticed this too in the more expensive Hyundai Entourage minivan ) , and appear to be made out of nice hardware. The Accent's center-mounted stereo and climate controls looked like an almost perfectly scaled-down version of the larger Sonata's and Azera's....and the stereo in both cars had identical controls and sounded just about identical, though as mentioned, the Accent's looked a little richer in its trim. The Accent's climate controls, for some reason, also looked, felt and worked a little slicker than the Rio's, even though the basic layout was identical. The front seats in both cars seats were cloth...the Accent's, IMO, somewhat nicer cloth than the Rio's, and the Accent had a nice pull-down Captain's Chair-style armrest ( for the driver only ) which looked and felt well-made........I don't recall seeing that feature in the Rio. Both cars had nice, easy-to-use ( even with the doors closed ) manual twist-wheels for adjusting the level of both the front and back of the drivers' seat cushion....unusual in this price class ).

The Accent, IMO, also had a MUCH nicer-looking two-tone black / silver interior than the Rio did, which was essentially just plain black vinyl, plastic, and cloth. The Accent also had nicer trim and better-contrasting materials.
A weak point on both cars is the new doors, which, IMO, do not feel as solid on the new Accent sedan , nor shut with as solid a " thunk " as the ones on the old Accent did. The older, 2005 Accent had noticeably more solid-feeling doors than the older 2005 Rio. ( I briefly looked at, but didn't drive, a new 2006 Accent GT 3-door hatchback, and its doors felt more solid than the new sedan's)
However, it is not all one-sided. The new Rio, unlike the new Accent, has nice, big, black, anti-scuff and anti-scratch panels that not only cover the front and rear bumpers but much of the sides of the car as well.....this in contrast to the Accent's monotone paint all around which, after repeated bouts in a parking lot, is a lot more likely to get scratched up. The Kia also has an under hood insulation pad in contrast to the Accent's plain-sheet-metal hood, although on the road it didn't seem to make much difference in engine noise....more on this in a minute. The Rio, of course, unlike the Accent, also has the advantage of a 5-door hatchback design if you need more trunk space.....both the Accent and Rio have a very small outside trunk opening, although both also have 60-40 folding rear seats. The more expensive 5-door Rio5SX hatchback ( see the Kia web site for prices ) also has a nicer, sportier trimmed interior that better competes with the nice-looking Accent's.
On the road, both cars can best be described, not surprisingly, as " economy ". Torque, with the automatic, is adequate for stop-and-go driving with a light load, but forget a heavy load or steep hills...you're going to be downshifting and in the slow lane with the trucks. However, like with the Scion xA and xB, the Mickey-Mouse power levels translate into excellent mileage ratings, particularly with an automatic. This is just about as good as mileage as a conventional gasoline-powered non-hybrid automatic gets....although, as earlier mentioned, there is an small odd inconsistency between the two cars in the EPA mileage ratings despite the identical drive trains and bodies. The automatic transmission on both cars, despite not having a manual sport-shift gate, did have a feature I like.....a small button that you push to lock out overdrive on hills. It also had a sensible, no-nonsense straight front-to-back P-R-N-D-2-1 feature....none of that idiotic double-S-shaped zig-zag crap. The shift lever itself, though, to me, did not feel as solidly mounted as on the 2005 Accent.

You could literally close your eyes and be blindfolded in the two cars and not tell the difference between them in the way they drive, handle, steer, and brake...........even with my years of experience of evaluating new vehicles. Both have excellent power-steering boost levels with a lot of road feel and a significant amount of steering effort at low speeds. I like that....I can't stand power steering completely devoid of road feel like on, say, the Mercury Grand Marquis. Steering response at higher speeds, despite the nose-heavy FWD layout, was quick......almost too quick, but fortunately not as darty as the Mitsubishi Evo I reviewed last week.
Ride was another weak point in both cars, even with the 14-inch 65-series relatively absorbent high-profile tires ( the base Rio gets 70s ), primarily due to the tallness of both cars, the short wheelbases, and the relatively stiff springing that gave good response a lack of body roll but was not particularly absorbing of bumps and road irregularities. The relatively high body lines, surprisingly, did not induce much body roll but, combined with a short wheelbase, did induce a little of the SUV-style front-to-rear porpoising motions like you often get with vehicles like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CRV. Road noice was pronounced......a weak point that I have noticed in just about all new Hyundai-designed sedans, but you expect some road noise, to a certain degree, in just about all small cars.

Brakes were well-done on both cars despite the lack of space inside the small 14-inch wheels for large rotors. The pedals were firm, linear, and responsive by economy-car standards, which means adequate but not Porsche 911-style stopping distances).


The verdict? As I mentioned earlier, these two vehicles are still the automotive Scrooges of the American marketplace, at least until the new under-$10,000 Chinese cars get here, but they offer a lot of car for the money, if not quite as much so as the cars they replace. These two cars still lead the American market in the price-warranty combination. The Scion xA and Toyota Yaris, for the same or slightly higher price, offer a little better potential reliability, but with only half the warranty. The Accent and Rio are both excellent first-time car gifts for a college student...but they will have to drive carefully. At roughly 2400-2500 lbs.as tested, these cars are not battle tanks, and despite their relatively good safety ratings for a small car, they will likely come out second-best in a collision with, say, a Suburban.

Both the Rio and the Accent, fortunately, avoid the quirky center-mount gauges of the Scion xA and the Yaris..a real plus, IMO.

The BIG question mark, of course, is how the new Honda Fit, which sells in the same price range as the Yaris, will stack up against the Accent and Rio. Honda has a reputation for the superbness of their designs in small cars....I can't wait to drive a Fit, but to date have not been able to. It is still on my list whenever enough of them become available.