B&M Shifters On The Way For Hyundai Accent, Veloster

by Michael Karesh

August 25th, 2012 1:21 PM

b m shifters on the way for hyundai accent veloster

Hyundai doesn’t get every bit of a car perfect before introducing it. No auto maker does. But Hyundai does pay attention to feedback from reviewers and owners, and often upgrades its cars in response to criticism. Only in its fourth model year, the Genesis Coupe already has had its interior upgraded twice.

My least favorite part of the 2012 Accent SE was the cheap, sloppy feel of its manual shifter. In the past, Hyundai included B&M-supplied short throw shifters in driver-oriented versions of both the Accent and the Elantra Touring. Why not with the current cars? Well, towards the end of 2012 a B&M shifter will become optional in the Accent. Later one will also be offered in the Veloster. No plans have been announced to also offer a short-throw shifter in the new Elantra GT, but one seems a natural fit for an upcoming more powerful engine option.

Michael Karesh operates TrueDelta, an online source of automotive pricing and reliability data.

#B&m #Hyundai #HyundaiAccent #HyundaiVeloster #Shifter

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8 of 44 comments

NotFast on Aug 26, 2012

Every time I drive a Hyundai I get BM, so this seems appropriate.

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Sideshowtom98 on Aug 26, 2012

Hyundai/Kia is now the fourth largest seller of automobiles in the world. If you think they are buying market share, its a public company, and their gross revenues, gross profit, net profit, and ETIBA are available online. They smash most car makers in terms of profitability. Quite to my surprise, I bought a KIA SUV last week. I began the search assuming I would buy a Honda or a Toyota, and had an open mind about Ford as well. I would never consider Government Motors. I ended up with a KIA Sorento, AWD, and have been very satisfied with the buying experience, price, and value. If you look with an open mind, KIA is going to be on your RADAR. The 5 year 60K Warranty is unmatched, as is the 10 year 100K Powertrain Warranty.

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- Volts On Fire on Aug 26, 2012
  
  Congrats on a fine purchase, and in particular for ripping a sale away from GM. We need more people to stand up against the tyranny of Government Motors.
  
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- Highdesertcat on Aug 27, 2012
  
  tom, if more people would take the time to check out what is available in the class of vehicles they are interested in buying, more of them would be pleasantly surprised. Last Hyundai product we bought was a 2011 Elantra for my grand daughter and it has been completely trouble-free. The Elantra blew away the offerings from all the other automakers in that class because of content and value for the money. Nothing else even came close!
  
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Acuraandy on Aug 26, 2012

As a '12 Accent owner (with 6spd!), i'd be interested in a B&M. Especially with an old school round knob without the atrocious reverse-lockout. Keep us informed, i'd love to get one as an accessory.

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- Mcs on Aug 27, 2012
  
  If you get a B&M shifter, just make sure you save your original. I've seen bad quality from them. I have a short-throw B&M shifter where the pin sheared off clean from the shaft. It looks like a combination of a bad weld and a bad design. Maybe crap materials as well. The B&M warranty is a joke. B&M told me they'd like to replace it, but they no longer stocked the part so they wouldn't honor the warranty. I had no trouble finding the part at one of their distributors, but they wouldn't buy it back from them. I ended up buying the part myself. Part of the problem may be related to the fact that they farm out the production to smaller suppliers. The one that mine came from may not have the same quality standards as the others. So go ahead and get the B&M shifter, but don't expect it to be as reliable as the OEM and don't expect the warranty to be honored. Definitely save your original. On the Hyundai, they'll provide the warranty support and will have an OEM model around if/when the B&M fails, so there's less risk there.
  
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- Acuraandy on Aug 27, 2012
  
  @mcs: Thanks for the input, and nice to know. My only bitch with the OEM shifter is the reverse-lockout; I intended to replace it upon purchase with a round shift knob, but was unable to because of said reverse-lockout. The OEM shifter is not bad (especially for an OEM in a base model), but a B&M would be ideal to me. However, if they won't back up their product, I may pass unless Hyundai will back it up as well. Again, thanks
  
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Darex on Aug 27, 2012

I'm a bit puzzled by this. When I test-drove my Veloster (even beforehand), I said to myself, "If Hyundai STILL hasn't managed to make a decent manual transmission; if it's vague and rubbery like they always had been, I'm 'out'". To my pleasant surprise, it was a precise, snappy affair, nearly as good as my MINI Cooper's Getrag unit, and it felt great in the hand. It is completely satisfactory to me. So, why should this announcement get me excited? I have no complaints about the current Veloster shifter. Hyundai finally got it right.

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