The IT Nerd

The 2018 Hyundai Accent GLS is a sub-compact car packed with healthy amount of technology in it. Let’s start with the safety aspects of the vehicle:

• It has a back up camera with excellent clarity and a great range of vision. It also has lines on the screen to help you to position your car when backing into a parking space or parallel parking.
• You get autonomous emergency braking which will bring the Accent GLS to a stop if it detects an object in front of it, and you take no action to avoid said object.
• You get automatic headlights so that you never forget to turn the headlights on or off.
• Six airbags are standard.

The only thing that is missing from all this safety tech is tire pressure monitoring. While not required here in Canada, it is odd in 2018 to see a car without it.

The Accent GLS also comes with a lot of technology to make life easier for you:

• Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are included which is important as there’s no built in navigation. That sounds like a negative. But it is not because most people I know who have access to Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in their cars never use the built in navigation system. Thus nothing is likely lost by its omission. It gets served up on an 7″ screen which is extremely sharp, has great contrast and is viewable in all lighting conditions. The infotainment system user interface was easy to navigate and didn’t display any lag whatsoever. That was completely in line with other Hyundai products that I’ve tried recently.
• There’s a six speaker audio system that sounds good as I had no complaints when I was listening to radio or tunes from my iPhone. You can serve up AM,FM, audio from your phone via USB (which will charge your phone) or Bluetooth, or SirusXM Radio.
• Hyundai to my surprise has included the smart trunk feature in the Accent GLS. Simply walk up to the trunk with the proximity key (as the vehicle has keyless entry and push button start), stand behind the trunk for three seconds and the trunk pops open. While you still have to flip it up to allow you to load your stuff as the trunk isn’t powered (and to be clear, nor do I expect it to be powered), it’s a handy feature.

The final part of this review will tie up some loose ends and I’ll give you my closing thoughts on the Accent GLS Sedan. Stay tuned for that tomorrow.

The interior of the Hyundai Accent GLS sedan is very functional, but it has a upscale feel to it. Let me illustrate how by walking through the interior:

The doors have pockets for bottles as well as a cloth insert. The rest is a hard plastic.

You get power windows, door locks, and side mirrors.

The door handle looks like it’s chrome, but it’s good looking plastic that adds a level of class.

The footwell is roomy with a very welcome dead pedal. Just to the left is the latch to pop the hood.

The drivers seat is cloth, heated, and six way manually adjustable. The passenger gets  a four way adjustable seat that is heated. It was comfortable though I did wish for a bit more length for my mutant thighs. Once I set my driving position, I had plenty of headroom and legroom and visibility is good as well from the drivers seat. The cloth feels nice and is grippy as well.

The steering wheel in the Accent GLS sedan is leather wrapped and has all the controls that you need to control your phone, music, and cruise control. It is heated as well.

The gauges are easy to read and there’s a LCD screen in the middle the displays additional info about your drive.

You get a 7″ screen for the infotainment system and it is readable in any lighting condition. There’s also buttons for direct access to the functions of the infotainment system. Below that is the controls for the automatic HVAC system along with the controls for the heated seats and steering wheel. There’s also the drive mode switch as well and to the left is the engine start/stop button.

You get 12V outlet along with a USB port and an aux audio port. There’s a cubby for your phone or anything else that you need space for.

There’s a pair of cupholders between the seats….

…. That fits a Starbucks Venti sized coffee with ease.

There’s  decent sized glove box on board…..

……Along with a compartment for your sunglasses.

There’s a decent sized sunroof that’s powered too.

The back seat is capable of seating three kids or two adults. I acted as designated driver for my friends during our bar night and after repositioning my seat for additional leg room for the person behind me, and getting the biggest person who was 6′ 2″ in the front seat, I was able to get two people back here.

There’s a 12V outlet in the back.

The trunk is surprisingly deep as proven by this shopping trip….

…..Two bins of groceries along with some beer fit in here easily with space left over.

The only thing that could be considered a gripe is that the interior is a sea of hard plastic in an age where soft touch materials are a “thing” when it comes to car interiors. The flip side to that is that isn’t unusual in this class. Having said that, the interior is well put together and no issues were observed during my week with it, and it looks really good and coherent. Even bordering on upscale. The bottom line is that in the case of the Accent GLS, this is a better interior that is above what you should expect in this class of car. And that is a very good thing.

Tomorrow I will take a look at the technology in the Accent GLS sedan. Stay tuned!