2012 Hyundai Accent 1.6 GLS A/T vs 2012 Ford Fiesta Sedan 1.6L Trend PowerShift

[trucker111]

Which of the two do you think is the best buy in terms of

1. FC
2. Easy to maintain / availability of parts
3. Features
4. Resale value
5. Riding comfort / Handling
6. Looks

[brf]

Based from owner's feedback regarding fc, warranty/service, parts availability and performance, it's Ford Fiesta.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[GTi]

Which of the two do you think is the best buy in terms of

1. FC
2. Easy to maintain / availability of parts
3. Features
4. Resale value
5. Riding comfort / Handling
6. Looks

Personally, I find the Fiesta sedan butt ugly. Even the Mazda 2 sedan looks better. The looks alone would make me think thrice. The trunk looks like an afterthought when compared with the great looking Fiesta hatch. The Fiesta is not known for fuel economy either, and that Powershift transmission is more sales-gimmick than real time performance. Transmission programming isn't the best and there's actually no manual shift override so the dual clutch function seems to be rather useless. In highway driving, the two extra gears should give the Fiesta better gas mileage, but in city driving, the difference shouldn't be very significant. Besides, the Accent's Blue Pack should be able to win back some more gas mileage. The Accent is very softly sprung which means a comfy ride but with greater tendency of bottoming out, which also means handling advantage goes to the stiffer Fiesta.

[jut703]

Hyundai Accent 1.6 GLS, no doubt.

Sobrang panget ng Ford Fiesta sedan, kahit gaano pa kaganda specs at drivetrain niyan, I wouldn't consider it.

Pero by itself maganda naman talaga yung Accent and I'd get it if I were in the market for a comfortable subcompact. Good engine, lots of features, class-leading space and looks really good (the 16" rims do A LOT to improve its appearance).

Now if you were looking at the Ford Fiesta Sport hatch, that would be a different story.

[GTi]

The Accent, without all those engine knocking woes, makes it a formidable contender. Its up there with the best in terms of interior space, ride comfort and outright engine performance. So far, besides the overly soft suspension (which can be easily corrected), I see nothing else wrong with it. Oh, and that's besides the underbone motorcycle-like horn.

[trucker111]

The Accent, without all those engine knocking woes, makes it a formidable contender. Its up there with the best in terms of interior space, ride comfort and outright engine performance. So far, besides the overly soft suspension (which can be easily corrected), I see nothing else wrong with it. Oh, and that's besides the underbone motorcycle-like horn.

OT
how do you correct soft suspension?

[GTi]

I suppose stiffer aftermarket shocks and springs should do the trick.

[mikey177]

I don't own an Accent, but I do own a Fiesta 1.6 A/T sedan and a Vios 1.5G M/T sedan.

1. FC - my route is 90% highway and 10% city. I travel from Pangasinan to Manila every week. At present I get almost the same fuel economy from both cars, around 17 km/liter. The Fiesta has the advantage on the highway. It's sixth gear is not just a marketing gimmick. 100 kph with the Fiesta gives me about 2,500 rpm while the same speed with the Vios already makes the engine churn at almost 3,000 rpm. The Vios only regains some ground in city traffic because of its VVTi technology.

I have no idea of what kind of mileage the Accent gets. It was among the sedans we were considering when we were shopping for a car, but the engine knocking issue was a real deal breaker for me.

2. Easy to maintain / availability of parts - Service interval for the Fiesta is every 10,000 km. I'm already at 22,000 km on the odometer and nothing has broken so far.

3. Features - I am not very picky on features. All I need is a working HU with AUX input and I'm good to go.

4. Resale value - I keep cars for around 8 to 10 years at a time, so resale value is not a big factor for me either.

The Continental tires on the Fiesta however are very bad. Two of them have suffered from bulges in the past 10 months as a result of going through the rough roads we have in the province. Mind you, none of the other tire brands we use (usually Bridgestone, Michelin, Dunlop) have had this problem even if they are subjected to the same road conditions. The Korean Kumho tires on our Starex van, on the other hand, had a tendency to experience blow outs along the highway, so those were one of the first things we replaced years ago. Does the Accent use Kumho or Hankook?

5. Riding comfort / Handling - I didn't test drive the Accent, but again, comparing the Fiesta and the Vios, I prefer the driving characteristics of the Fiesta over the Vios. It feels more surefooted on the highway and the suspension is rigid enough to make me feel well-connected to the road.

6. Looks - The trunk of the Fiesta could have been better executed, but I didn't buy it for its looks but rather for its large capacity.

The looks of the Fiesta sedan have grown on me over time. I didn't like the looks of the Vios either when we got it two months ago, but I like looking at it now because it's my ride and it gets me and my loved ones to where we need to go in comfort and security.

[jut703]

but the engine knocking issue was a real deal breaker for me.

The 1.6 GLS Accent does not share the same knocking issues as the 1.4 Accents.

Does the Accent use Kumho or Hankook?

Newer batches of Accents use the Hankook Optimo K715. Older ones had the Kumho Solus KH17.

[basti08]

Hankooks bursts twice on an MB100 van I rode. Very dangerous. Good thing it burst twice on a halt from highway speed.
Kumho Solus on my stock Accent is very slippery. I can attest to that. So slippery, the Yokohama Aspec seemed grippier in comparison. (Yoko Aspecs are slippery but seemed less so compared to kumhos)