Honda Ballade vs VW Polo vs Hyundai Accent: here's our winner

The choice in this market segment doesn’t end with these three contenders, mind you: you can also get a Fiat Tipo, Suzuki Ciaz or Corolla Quest for similar money (or even less), but we’ve decided to select our competitors based on the Ballade’s price and size. This means that we’re putting an entry-level Honda Ballade 1.5 Trend against the (similarly entry-level but more expensive) Hyundai Accent 1.5 Motion and the (slightly cheaper) Volkswagen Polo Sedan in high-trim Comfortline spec. 

All these cars employ naturally-aspirated 4-cylinder engines and use manual gearboxes. Why put a higher-spec Polo up against two entry-level opponents? The answer is simple: pricing. While both the Accent and the Ballade are also available with much higher equipment levels, those derivatives are considerably more expensive, and compete in a price bracket where they jostle for sales with larger and more-powerful alternatives. Sticking to the lower-trim examples levels the playing field quite a bit, though, so that’s where we’ll focus in this comparison.

 

Facts and Figures

	Honda Ballade 1.5 Trend	VW Polo Sedan 1.6 Comfortline	Hyundai Accent 1.6 Motion
Engine size (cyl/size/fuel)	4-cyl, 1.5-litre petrol	4-cyl, 1.6-litre petrol	4-cyl, 1.6-litre petrol
Power/Torque	88 kW/145 Nm	77 kW/155 Nm	91 kW/156 Nm
Kerb Weight	1054 kg	1111 kg	1035 kg
Length (mm)	4 455	4 390	4 370
Boot volume (litres)*	510	454	389
Airbag count	6	4	2
Top Speed (km/h) **	190	190	190
Ave Consumption **	5.9 ℓ/100 km	6.0 ℓ/100 km	6.1 ℓ/100 km
Warranty	5 yr/200 000 km	3 yr/120 000 km	5 yr/150 000 km (vehicle); 7yr/200 000 (drivetrain)
Price	R 258 500	R 256 300	R 264 900

*With all seats in use.

**Manufacturer's official figures.

 

Analysis

As far as the bare figures show, these cars are very closely matched in most respects – they’re clearly designed to do the same job and appeal to the same buyers. There are nonetheless some notable differences, some of which don’t really reflect in their numbers. Let’s take a closer look.

 

Power, performance, and drivetrains 

This market segment is all about traditional engineering, so it makes sense that downsizing doesn’t really apply to any of these cars. They all use (comparatively large) non-turbo engines, but their manufacturers’ differing approaches to engine design is clear to see. The surprise car in this group is the Hyundai Accent, which features an engine of similar size and torque output to the one in the Polo, but with a higher power peak than even the (traditionally rev-happy) Honda’s engine. 

Peak outputs in the Accent are pretty impressive for its engine type, with 91 kW and 156 Nm comfortably bettering the Ballade’s 88 kW/145 Nm and the Polo’s 77 kW/155 Nm peak outputs. The Accent is also the lightest car here (76 kg lighter than the Polo and 29 kg lighter than the Ballade), which translates into a narrow victory for the Hyundai on the performance front. 

Strangely, Honda claims that the Ballade should be a slightly quicker sprinter, but we suspect that normal driving will prove the Accent to be marginally nippier, mainly on account of its torque advantage and 6-speed gearbox (compared to the 5-speeders in the other two cars). Call it a joint first place for the Accent and Ballade, then, with the Polo languishing in a distant third place in the performance stakes.

 

Economy

Determining a winner here comes down to decimal points, because there’s only 0.2 ℓ/100 km between the least- and the most economical contender here. The Ballade posts the lowest official average figures at 5.9 ℓ/100 km, with the Polo following at 6.0 ℓ/100 km and the Accent averaging 6.1 ℓ/100 km, according to their manufacturers. 

We expect these three to post similar consumption on real roads as well, albeit with slightly higher numbers than their official claims suggest. Realistically, our three contenders will return mid-6 ℓ/100 km figures in normal use, with external influences such as load and cruising speed having the greatest impact on real-world consumption. But, in the end, the Honda should have the upper hand, followed closely by the second-placed Volkswagen and third-placed Hyundai.

 

Practicality

In this section, the Ballade again emerges as the victor, because it has by far the largest boot of this trio at 510 litres. Next up is the Polo, with its still-commendable 454 litres, while the Accent comes in a distant third with 389 litres. This result isn’t really unexpected, because the Honda is the largest car here (with the cleverest packaging), and the Hyundai the smallest.

There’s also a sense that Hyundai prioritised passenger space over luggage volume, because it has marginally more rear-seat space than the other two. The Polo strikes a more agreeable compromise, however, because it’s not much less spacious in the back than the Accent, but has a lot more luggage space. A win for the Honda, then, with the Volkswagen in second position and the Hyundai bringing up the rear.

 

Equipment and safety

The basic modern convenience items are present in all three contenders, with ABS, power steering, air-conditioning, and Bluetooth/USB-compatible audio systems, but none of them offers a colour touchscreen interface or smartphone mirroring. However, this Accent’s entry-level status is obvious right from the outset, in things like the manual rear window winders (all round in both of the others). 

Just like the Ballade Trend, the Accent Motion makes do with steel wheels, while the Polo Comfortline has alloy wheels, and adds cruise control and a leather-trimmed steering wheel inside to create a rather less spartan ambience. This hands the Polo its first victory in this comparison, pushing the Ballade into second place and comfortably out-pacing the Accent - and at a lower base price, too! 

In mitigation (and justifying its price premium to a degree), the Accent has the strongest warranty and service plan here (5 years or 90 000 km), against the Polo’s shorter warranty and optional service plan and the Ballade’s 4 year/60 000 km service plan. This may just make the Accent a more attractive proposition for sales reps and other long-distance drivers.

Safety considerations sees the Ballade stage a strong comeback, however, because it’s the only one of these three to offer 6 airbags (the Polo has 4, and the Accent has only 2). The Ballade and Polo also add stability control and ISOFIX rear child seat anchors to their safety credentials, which, like extra airbags, can’t even be found in the Accent’s higher trim variant. 

NCAP crash test results confirms the Ballade’s superiority in this regard, with the local-spec Ballade scoring 5 stars in Australian NCAP testing. The Polo also fared pretty well, albeit with two more airbags than the South African-spec model, by scoring 5 stars in its Euro-NCAP test. Meanwhile, the Accent also scored 5 stars in Australian testing, but the car they tested was equipped with the full complement of airbags (6 in total) and stability control – in other words, in a completely different trim to the cars on offer in South Africa. These results gives the Ballade yet another victory, with Polo not far behind but with the Accent languishing quite far behind.

 

Verdict

In the contest for overall superiority, the Hyundai Accent in Motion trim has to be the first one to be eliminated. Its comparatively strong performance fades into insignificance when played off against its spartan equipment levels, fewer safety features and inferior practicality. Its strongest suit is an exceptional warranty and very strong service plan, but the fact that it’s the most expensive of this trio doesn’t do it any favours. 

Second place is awarded to the Polo 1.6 Comfortline sedan – not because it shines particularly brightly in any area, but because it offers a well-balanced spread of abilities. It’s spacious enough for this class, has a fairly large boot, is well-equipped at its price, and has solid safety credentials. That optional service plan does count against it, however, and ticking that box on the order form will erase any pricing advantage it might otherwise have.

This leaves the Honda Ballade as our overall winner. Yes, it’s rather expensive for the trimmings you’ll get in the entry-level variant, but it offers a decent service plan, good warranty, reasonable equipment, great practicality, strong performance and good economy, as well as top-notch safety ratings. It’s also likely to run the Polo close in resale value, which makes it a good proposition whether you’re looking at short- or long-term ownership.

 

* Pricing was accurate at the time of writing, but may change without prior notice. 

 

Related Reading:

Want to know more about the Honda Ballade? Read our overview here.

Find out more about the Ballade's available safety features.

We detail the changes which came with the Ballade's 2014 redesign.

The Volkswagen Polo Sedan is also pretty good for families....

... and it's pretty highly rated on overall practicality as well.

Find more details on the Hyundai Accent sedan here.

One of the Accent's strongest suits is its standard warranty and service plan: click here for details.