Vernal season

Hyundai has a spring in its step with the new Verna.

No Google Earth or Wikimapia can do justice to the place where I drove the new Hyundai Verna. On a whim, I decided to see a bird's, rather a satellite's eyeview, of the route we took from Somerset West down to quaintly named places like Gordon's Bay, Pringle Bay, Betty's Bay and Kleinmond.

But nothing came close to the view that the R44 offered in real life "" the Atlantic Ocean spread mightily to my right, rugged cliffs stood in attention to the left and the road zigzagged across mountains in front of me. And in this part of the planet "" in the Southern Hemisphere that is "" the weather can be unpredictable.

One moment, the sun was highlighting patches of road, and at other moments, I had to switch on the Verna's wipers to clear the rain off the windscreen. Oh, did I tell you I was in South Africa?

Hyundai had invited a few of us motoring journalists to check out their all-new car in the premium C-segment, a car that will not only take on the Honda City, but the Ford

Fiesta and the Chevrolet Aveo as well. The Verna is a replacement for the Accent in most countries across the globe, but in our country, both cars will take up space at Hyundai showrooms side by side.

That's because the Accent is doing pretty well by itself, and the other reason is that Hyundai has to keep producing it because it is being exported to other countries too.

Back to the new car. As I write this, the Verna is all set to be launched next week, which means the price will be announced then. But I can tell you about the rest of the car, no?

As I was saying, I was piloting the petrol Verna on the R44, later the R43, sticking to the Atlantic Ocean most of the time, passing pretty, almost doll-like fishing and touristy towns. The petrol Verna is powered by a 1599cc four-cylinder all-aluminium engine that develops 102 bhp at 5500 rpm and 14.9 kgm at 3000 revs.

It's quite a sophisticated motor, featuring double overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and Continuous Variable Valve Timing. The engine is free revving, which is good, because to extract power, you have to keep it on the boil. It arrives at 180 kph quite quickly and stays there without any effort.

However, the engine is not as refined as I thought it would be "" my expectations were high, because the Korean carmaker has done a brilliant job with the Sonata Embera's engine. One more thing: the five-speed gearbox of the Verna, though positive in its shifts, needs frequent gear changes to keep the tempo going. But redemption was just a lunch break away.

Before coming to the midway section of our 315-km drive, the road passed through some bits of civilisation. Meaning there were speed traps and limits. Time to check the Verna's interiors.

The overall design, even with the current dual-tone theme, is very conservative, but no one can find fault with the way the switches, knobs, stalks and buttons are placed "" yes, it is extremely ergonomic "" while the quality of the plastics that's gone into the Verna is brilliant. It is clear that Hyundai has taken pains to take the game up to Japanese standards.

The town of Caledon soon came up, which meant a quick lunch and a shift to the diesel Verna. And that's when things started to get better, and I am not talking only about the South African landscape. The Verna diesel is powered by a 1493cc engine, with four cylinders "" unlike the Accent CRDi!

This common-rail direct injection motor features a variable geometry turbocharger and develops 109 horses at 4,000 rpm and 24 kgm of torque between 1900 and 2750 rpm. Yes, it's more powerful than the petrol version and even the Skoda Octavia. Not just that. The variable geometry turbine that it features means that this power is delivered much more smoothly and it is virtually lag-free.

With the amazing torque on tap, the Verna CRDi was a treat to drive across the second half of the route. On the highways, it cruises at 120 kph with the needle relaxed at less than 2500 revs.

Yet you know that additional oomph is always at your disposal "" you can overtake without having to use your left hand to shift the gear lever, it's that good. And then, when the roads start getting curvy, it gets even more exciting.

The test drive route had a diversion that led to Franschhoek, a land where Protestant refugees from France had settled down during the 17th century, over time rewarding people across the globe with some of the finest New World wines. And the road to get there was out of the world.

The waters of the Theewaterskloof dam had partially submerged trees and they stuck out like ghostly sentinels, while dark grey clouds had descended ominously. The tarmac twisted up and down over the Hottentot-Holland mountains and the Verna's diesel motor was being exploited between third and fourth gear.

The easy availability of torque meant that it was powering its way through corners effortlessly. And it was on these roads that the vast generation gap between the Verna and the Accent makes itself very apparent. The Verna's dynamics are well sorted and the car feels much more integrated. What's more, the steering is also much more precise than the Accent.

All in all, the Verna seems to have everything in place "" petrol and diesel engine options, a taut body, conservative looks that will not ruffle any feathers, quality interiors and high-spec build quality. And hopefully a price tag that will tilt the scales. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a fine Pinotage waiting for me from South Africa.