My new toy

[Catfish]

Bought this `96 Accent GT today as daily driving car and especially for winter driving.
Don't want to make too much kilometers on the XD or drive it in winter...

[Doohickie]

Very nice; I like the RD-inspired grill.

[bdiggy]

Sharp little ride and in great shape for a 96'. Congrats!

[2000 elantra]

congrats.very clean for a '96.

[SuperGLS]

So no plans on a Beta swap then, huh?

You need to at least get the '97 taillights (I think that's the year where they are red and clear only).

[Munky]

Good buy, looks to be in great condition.

[ArunSenior04]

This is isnt a flame against you or anything, but I always wondered why ppl buy a dd for a car that is prolly worth around $4K.

[Catfish]

I just ordered the f/l taillights :D
Some smaller mods will come soon, like white sidemarkers, strutbar, shortshifter, taking out the orange plastic of the front turn lights.

Later, when I finished my plans on the XD, I would like to have the Accent turbocharged... A dream for long time now. 200hp (crank) in a car under 950kg :D

[Cypher]

reece i doubt that accent is worth 4k. you can get a used 02 accent with 80k on it for 3k

[ArunSenior04]

I was talking about the Elantra.

[ricerrx7]

reece i doubt that accent is worth 4k. you can get a used 02 accent with 80k on it for 3k

He meant why spend money to keep miles off of the cheap econobox? Buying a DD so you don't have to put the miles on your Ferrari is one thing, but trying to keep the miles off of an elantra is something different.

[robs02elantra]

I believe that it's the same in Germany as it is in England. Newer model Hyundai and Honda, as well as Fords to some extent, are actually viewed as rather nice cars. So when you get into a car that's the size of the Elantra, knowing that a lot of the cars are a lot smaller...it's actually a well liked car.

[ghrpdx]

This is isnt a flame against you or anything, but I always wondered why ppl buy a dd for a car that is prolly worth around $4K.
I was wondering the same ... it's not like the Elantra is so valuable that you're running the depreciation into the ground by driving it daily. I ran the **** out of my Elantra every day then traded it in.

I will admit, that Accent is in quite nice condition. What comprised the GT package back then? Spoiler and fog lights or were there any suspension upgrades from the standard model?

[xdforme22]

Nice looking! I was wondering though about the single light in the rear bumper. Is that a rear fog light? If so why not put one on both sides? Dumb detail but non symmetrical things like that bug me a little bit (and no I don't have OCD).

[ArunSenior04]

He meant why spend money to keep miles off of the cheap econobox? Buying a DD so you don't have to put the miles on your Ferrari is one thing, but trying to keep the miles off of an elantra is something different.

Thats what I was trying to say.

[caseinajar]

if you like your elantra and you want to keep it for awhile then save your warranty and pick up a daily driver. i saved almost 1500 dollars on insurance costs so my dd payed for itself pretty much. plus i have another car to play with!

[SuperGLS]

The GT package I believe has the alloys and some suspension upgrades (probably a couple of interiors things as well). Yes, that is a rear fog light. I think Hyundai went with a single light on the older Hyundais is to cut cost (one light is cheaper than two). Also, I might be wrong, but I think most of the cars with rear fog lights in Europe and Australia only have the fog light on one side anyway, even when it's integrated into the regular taillight assemblies.

[kylemorg]

Cool! Good choice.

I bought a silver '96 Accent GT new in 1996 and drive it until 2002 when I traded it in on my Elantra GT.

If I remember correctly, the engine is a DOHC for the GT rather than a SOHC for the standard Accent for somewhere around 106 HP versus approx 98 on the SOHC.

It also had a shorter final gear ratio to make it feel more sporty.

The interior fabric was different, and it had a leather wrapped steering wheel and shifter knob.

It had fog lights, side skirts and a rear spoiler that weren't available on the non-GT.

It also had 14" alloy wheels rather than the stock 13" steelies.

It had disk front and rear brakes, while the Non GT had rear drums.

I think it said "sport tuned suspension" but I'm not sure what that entailed.

It was a fun, nice looking small car that felt very nimble on windy back roads. It rode a little jittery at low speeds on bumpy pavement, but handled well at highway speeds. The irony about highway driving is that even though the suspension felt good, the engine was revved way up even in 5th gear due to the short final drive ratio.

I typically got 25 MPG in it for mostly city driving.

My US-spec Accent GT only had front fog lights, none on the rear.

[TEK30001]

Looks good

[KeWLKaT]

The single foglight is something common in europe, everyone hates the look, but it's a law... Can't do anything against it.

[Ugzz]

we brake laws all the time here.. why not over there too?

oh wait, some of their laws might actually be properly enforced.. nevermind

[Catfish]

I think the single fog-light is just to save money...
I hate the look, but I think I will put in a second one from a right-hand Accent :D

[kylemorg]

What do you think of the handling of the Accent GT versus the Elantra?

I always thought that the Accent GT handling felt more sporty, probably because it is a lighter car, but I'd like to know what you think.

[xdforme22]

we brake laws all the time here.. why not over there too?

oh wait, some of their laws might actually be properly enforced.. nevermind

Hahahahahahahahaha:abovelol: Good one.

[Catfish]

I think the Accent drives much more sporty than the Elantra.
My girlfriend owns a 1.3 Accent for 6 years now and I love to drive it (when she lets me) :D