6,225 km - Happy as a jelly bean

I picked up the Accent from the Star this morning after taking the GO train in from the 'burbs. The driver who had it before me,  the multi-fabulous car owning Robert Herjavec, had me thinking that the wee car would be happy to be back in the hands of, well, someone who would take the GO train out from the 'burbs to pick it up.

First impressions? Adorable little jelly bean. Love the colour - a kind of orangey red.

Second impressions? Herjavec may have looked "almost apologetic when standing between his two Lambos" (according to our exalted editor Mark Richardson in his piece on Saturday), but he was a bit forgetful for   leaving *my* new jelly bean with less than half a tank of gas and  the little extra detritus in the back. See pic, as I rat out a kajillionaire ...  I'm just peeved he didn't sign the cigar box top.

Third Impressions: Hopped on the Gardiner Expressway, instantly liking the feel of this car. It's fun. It's responsive.

Gas - 27 litres to fill.
Note to Mr. Herjavec: You owe me $34.05.

6,155 km - For kids and Company?

So my time with the Accent has come to an end.

I did not get to drive it too much in the last few days as I was travelling.

All in all – this is one great car. I have never, ever in my life had a car that is so good on gas mileage – and I mean I drove it hard (started too fast on red lights, braked too hard, revved too high – all the things you should not do in order to save on gas).

I couldn't tell you the exact fuel consumption, but the needle on the gauge hardly moved. Keep in mind: in most of my cars you can see the gas gauge moving as you’re driving.

The car is fun to drive and impressive in its own way. I would buy this car for my kids or for the Company. For me, I would find it a little hard to drive every day – although that could be because I am getting soft (in all the wrong places) as I get older.

I have to admit that one day I took the car out just to drive it around – it was fun.

For the target market – and the unbelievable price of $10K – this is one of the greatest automotive bargains of all time. My biggest complaints are the same ones I had when I first got in it – uninspired interior design and color and tires that are way too small for driving enjoyment ( I cannot imagine it in the winter).

I thought it would fun to take a picture of it next to my jet.

Again – love the reaction – my pilots were more shocked at this car than anything else I have driven.

6,065 km - Off to the golf club

I took my new car to my fancy golf club for some client golf – loved all the surprised looks at my fellow golfers ( whom I know ) surprised at my choice of car.

I am enjoying the effect this car has on people and me driving it! The drive was rather long from the city – all the way up near Orangeville. The more I have the car, the more it polarizes my opinion. The things I liked initially are growing on me and the things I did not like are starting to wear on me !

The car is still lots of fun to drive. I love how it revs so easily and how fun it is to throw into corners. At highway speeds though it does become somewhat tiring driving it. I still think the tires are either too small or too narrow for the car. It just seems to want to move too much on the highway.

After driving it for some time on the highway it begins to really wear you out. In the Accent’s defence though, I do not think most buyers for this car are buying it for long highway driving (or at least they shouldn’t be). It handles and drives great below 120 km/h, but above that or around that, not so well.

The interior space in the car continues to absolutely amaze me. I took a friend to the golf course – golf clubs and luggage for two adults all fit in easily (with room to spare). Lots of cool other little features: I love the easy-to-access iPod jack. Believe it or not, out of all my very fancy and ludicrously expensive cars (some of which cost 50 times as much as this car), only one comes with a standard iPod jack (well, standard for $1,000). So it pleasantly surprises me when a $10K car comes with one!

My friend who rode in the car had some interesting observations. He has a 20-year-old daughter who I assume is the target client for this car. He liked the shape, liked the car and we both thought it drove well.

His overall impressions were similar. Even though the car is fantastically cheap, how much would it really cost to put in a second armrest (there is only one for the diver and none for the passenger – leaving him with an awkward position having to constantly look to where rest his arm). Liked the interior but could they not have "spruced it up" – and not necessarily with money. All black plastic becomes dull and ominous after a while. What about some two tone, some cool colours – something. My friend's comment was that the interior was not "cool" enough for his 20-year-old daughter. Valid point.

Final comment for this time – the necessity to lift a small circle below the gear shift knob to put the car into reverse is driving me nuts. It took me 25 minutes to figure out how to reverse the car – and I just don’t understand why this is necessary?

On the standard comment – my friend thought you just can’t sell a standard car today geared to kids. His daughter and his son (18) have 50 friends, of which none know how to drive a standard. This surprised me – but perhaps he is right.

Out of town now for some business. I'll be taking the car to my plane tomorrow, and I am sure my pilots will get a kick as I drive out onto the runway with the Accent!

5,925 km - Guest driver: Rich man, poor man

As I went to get the car, I was thinking, "how had this happened." In my interview with editor Mark (Richardson), he asked me if I would consider "test driving" a car. Immediately, visions of driving the new Lambo or latest Bentley sprang to mind. My thoughts were first, a few articles for Mark, then a part time gig at Road & Track and next thing I know, I am the freelance writer testing the new Bugatti at Nuremburg! Well, it's not the Bentley or Bugatti, it's the Hyundai I got. In Mark's defence, he did warn me: "before you agree" keep in mind you don't know what kind of car it is. I suppose I imagined he was trying to temper my enthusiasm - but I still had visions of some hot exotic.

As a way of introduction, let me start by explaining I am a bit of a car aficionado. I have owned a great deal of very fast, very expensive cars in my time. In fact I used to race cars for a number of years in a semi-pro circuit series. This "addiction" goes way back in me - even when I had no money - to its current state where I have a little more means. Even though my collection is substantially smaller than it has been at times, I would still say it is extravagant. I love my cars - I love the way they look, the way they drive, the way they make you feel, the way they perform, just all kinds of things about them.

As I opened the Hyundai, several thoughts sprang to mind. Mark told me this car was $10,000 - one of my cars' rim and tire cost more than this car ( you read right - not all the tires and rims - a single tire and rim), my watch costs more than this car, my etc.... Obviously in my world - my expectations for something that is so inexpensive is not high. In fact I was almost in disbelief that someone could make and produce anything of quality for that type of money. I believe that this is the lowest cost car currently available in Canada (by a far margin).

Since it was dark I did not get a chance to view the car from the outside but my first impressions were not good. The key and lock feels flimsy, but frankly as I would have expected for a car at that price point. In fact I can only open one door at a time with a  key - there is no central lock, there are no power windows - there is not much. The car is pretty bare bones - but - it is very well laid out.

Most of mine have dials and LED's and lights and "stuff" that flashes, lights - they need a mouse to control. And frankly I never use or have any idea what it does. I remember when I first got my BMW 7 series and it came with a mouse to control basic functions - it took me 20 minutes to change the radio station.

I liked the interior layout of the Hyundai - I had my rev counter,  I had my gas, my speedo, all laid out in a pleasing colour and very easy to see. The seats were a pleasant surprise - lots of ways to move them, change them etc. And comfortable. The interior space for the driver is generous, I never felt cramped.  Mind you I am a relatively little guy ( 5'8" ) - I don't know if I was larger if I would feel the same.

Took the car onto the highway and took some side roads on the way home. Guess what? This is one fun car to drive. It revs high, sounds cool and is fun to drive. It handles well - when pushed into corners it keeps the line. Obviously the faster and harder you push it, the less stable it becomes and in fact I found above 120 km/h on the highway or going into corners a little too aggressively it felt unstable. I don't necessarily know whether it was, it just felt that way (perhaps it's a little too light, perhaps the tires are not good or wide enough ). But in normal city or even moderate highway driving, it was excellent !

As I parked the car at home, I looked back and it hit me that the reason the interior had put me off a little is that it was "cheaply" designed. I do not mean necessarily it was cheap it just felt cheap. The surfaces that my hands touched (such as the steering wheel) were of rough rubber, poor plastic, the dash design was at best uninspired, which is a shame because if the layout and roominess were  supported by a more inspired interior design and slightly better materials to the touch, it would be a substantially better package.

On the way to work this morning I loaded up the hatchback with my golf clubs and other stuff. Again - very pleasant surprise. With the rear seats down, there is tons of room in this car. It is almost amazing how much you can fit into it.

In the daylight I had a chance to view the car a little more and it is pretty cool. Love the front of the car and the headlight design, love the overall shape - very cool. Hate the rims and the tires (they just seem so unsubstantial on the car ) - it just needs a little more " fun " on the exterior (not sure how).  It is truly amazing though how well it drives and how much room there is. I compare this to some of the subcompacts out there (including a few we own) and this is just as good if not better.\

Drove the car to work this morning  with a smile on my face (it's fun). And all I keep thinking was - how can this car possibly cost only $10,000 !

Interesting observation: with all my other fancy cars, people are pleasant to me and regularly let me in or talk to me re the cars. People absolutely ignore you in this car. Depending on my mood that day , this can be a pleasant change, although no one went out of their way to let me merge into traffic with the Hyundai compared to the Lambo!

Off to the fancy golf club - and all the jokes about "how bad is business that  you are driving this car etc." My ego, while bruised, is healthy and so far that stuff has bounced off me.

Fun car to drive, looks cool (could be easily improved though for a small cost ) and unbelievable price. As good,  if not better, than many of the $30,000 subcompacts out there. Smart car or this Hyundai? Smart car looks much cooler and has that "it" factor to it, but this car is just as cool to drive (maybe better) and much more room. This is not a toy. this is a real car.

Robert Herjavec is founder and president of The Herjavec Group.