MC Accent

An all-new design offering more space, strength and safety, the 2006 MC Accent, in hatchback and sedan guise, replaced the six-year old LC Accent range.

A five-door hatchback MC variant won’t be made available.

The four-door Accent sedan returned after a three-and-a-half-year absence, while the single-specification hatch rose in price to make space between it and the smaller Getz series.

All MC Accents offer anti-lock brakes, four-wheel disc brakes, dual front airbags, remote central locking, power windows, electric and demisting mirrors, pollen-filter air-conditioning, CD/MP3/WMA/radio audio, a tilt-adjustable leather-trimmed steering wheel with remote audio controls, and an alarm/immobiliser.

Much of the MC Accent’s platform has already been seen underneath the second-generation JB Rio released locally in September last year.

It boasts a 60mm-longer wheelbase and 35mm wider track that, combined with 15mm wider body that’s also 75mm taller than before, delivers increased occupant space dividends.

Plus, add the MC’s 39 per cent stiffer body-bending properties, uprated front-end perimeter subframe and beefier floorpan and firewall, and you’re left with a more comfortable ride and better handling attributes than any previous Accent, according to Hyundai.

The highly conventional suspension retains the previous model’s McPherson strut front (complete with an anti-roll bar), and a new coupled torsion beam, coil spring and gas shock dampers rear suspension, set-up.

Driving the front wheels is a revised version of the Alpha series 1.6-litre four-cylinder with power and torque outputs topping 82kW at 6000rpm (up 4kW from the LC Accent) and 145Nm at 4500rpm (a 2Nm rise) respectively, aided by Hyundai’s CVVT variable-valve timing technology.