Pros: Smooth and solid road manners, high-quality interior, generous feature content, bargain price, great warranty.
Cons: Stinky new-car smell, mediocre resale value and safety ratings, not as refined as class leaders.
The Bottom Line: The Civic, Corolla, and Mazda3 are more-sophisticated cars, but the Elantra is almost as good, at a bargain price. This car deserves serious consideration, especially for budget buyers.
I test drove a Hyundai Elantra GT 5-speed sedan at a local dealership. My test drive lasted about twenty minutes and covered city streets and the freeway.
Performance
The Elantra's engine fell a bit short of the class leaders in terms of refinement, but it had a gutsy and robust feel that I found quite pleasant. Low-end grunt is this engine's strength. Unlike many economy cars, the Elantra had plenty of torque below 4000rpms, which made it feel strong and unstressed in around-town driving. I was especially impressed with its ability to confidently scoot away from stoplights--off the line, it might be the most responsive car in the economy-sedan class.
Unfortunately, I was less enthused when I revved the engine up on a freeway on-ramp. The impression of strength evaporated with revs, leaving the Elantra about class-average in freeway merging situations.
Its performance would also be more satisfying if the engine were more refined. It's not at all intrusive, but it did send some vibrations up through the cabin on my test drive, and it shook the cabin gently at idle. While its sounds were well-muted, they weren't especially pleasing--the engine note is a gruff, slightly agricultural growl. Still, none of this is really bothersome--it just gives the Elantra's engine a whole-grain feel, with little of the slickness of a Honda, Toyota, or Mitsubishi powerplant.
Transmission/Clutch
Hyundai seems to have made some improvements to the Elantra's shifter for 2004. Compared to the shifter in last year's Elantra, this one had noticeably shorter throws and a more solid feel that made changing gears considerably more pleasant. But the Elantra's shift action still isn't up with the class leaders. Its throws are still rather long, and it clunks from gear to gear with a somewhat disconnected feel--like something out of an arcade game. It had very well-defined gates that made it easy to find the right gear, but it still wasn't much fun.
The clutch was similar, with a longish throw and an un-sporty feel, but a gentle and intuitive take-up that made smooth gearchanges easy. My only other complaint was how slowly the engine dropped revs between shifts, requiring a pause before I let the clutch back out. But other than that, the Elantra's transmission was free of difficulties--although a more sporting feel would be welcome, changing gears in the Elantra quickly became second nature.
Steering/Handling
The Elantra impressed me in this area. Its handling wasn't the least bit sporty, but it had a smooth, solid, and trusty demeanor that inspired confidence in everyday driving.
I especially liked the Elantra's steering. The steering-wheel rim was a bit thin for my tastes, but the system itself has a nice heft to it, giving the car a substantial feel. Around town and on winding roads, the steering felt accurate and very predictable, making accurate path control effortless. It didn't feel quick or sporty--its ratio was quite average, and the lack of road feel made it slightly rubbery--but its intuitive, natural-feeling accuracy was very pleasing nonetheless.
Of course, all of this was in moderate driving. When I really pressed the Elantra on a twisty road, it didn't feel quite as happy. The springs felt rather soft, and they let the body loll from side to side when I entered corners quickly. The tires had adequate grip, but no more than the class average--meaning that the Elantra's limits were fairly modest. Still, I have to give the Elantra credit for tolerating my back-road enthusiasm, and for its stable and predictable chassis. It did everything I asked of it--it just didn't seem eager for more.
But while the Elantra wasn't much of a driver's car, it compensated for its lack of sporting reflexes--at least in part--by being so pleasant in everyday driving. The solid, trusty feel at saner speeds created a different kind of driving satisfaction, making it enjoyable just to shuttle around town. It was also a great freeway car, with excellent tracking and a solid-feeling structure--ideal for commuting. While I can't say that the Elantra was much fun on challenging roads, it inspired such relaxed confidence in everyday driving situations that I still consider it one of the better-handling cars in its class.
Ride
The Elantra's ride quality was good, but not quite up to the standard set by the class leaders. There was less of a sense of isolation here--the Elantra clunked a bit more over bumps that a Civic or Corolla would have simply shrugged off--but this never became intrusive. Instead of feeling crude, the Elantra just felt a bit more honest in its communication of the road surface. It bobbled a bit more over wavy pavement, and didn't feel quite as firmly tied-down as the sportier entries in the class, but this too was entirely acceptable--overall body-motion control was still quite solid. Also, on well-maintained roads and freeways, the Elantra was as smooth as anything else in its class.
The Elantra's ride quality is also helped by the stiff body structure. The Elantra's bodyshell is as tight as those in a Civic or Corolla, and it gives the car a solid, substantial feel over the road. Quietness is less impressive, but on par for the class--the Elantra's engine wasn't exactly hushed, but its growling was always reasonably well-muted, and wind and road noise were kept down to the class average as well.
Interior
The Elantra's interior didn't have the trendy, perfectly-integrated look and feel of the class leaders, but it was far better than most economy cars, and especially impressive given the Elantra's low price tag.
The sheer volume of standard features is what impressed me the most. The GT model I test-drove came equipped like a car costing twice as much, with leather upholstery, cruise control, a six-speaker CD player, heated mirrors, and power everything--not as options, but as standard equipment. Wow.
In terms of materials quality, the Elantra was also quite impressive. The leather trim was soft and gave the cabin a rich, upscale feel--especially since it covered the steering wheel and shifter, the most-touched parts of the car. The dashboard was covered in a soft-touch, rubberized material that was also very nice, and the rotary climate-control knobs operated with the same smooth precision as those in a Honda Civic.
Still, there were a few touches of cheapness lingering in the Elantra's interior. The plastic that covered the dashboard face and part of the door panels was flat, shiny, and thin-feeling, and the power-mirror controls were small and brittle in operation. There were also a few small lapses in attention to detail--for example, the lettering on the speedometer and tach was swept-back, while that on the fuel and temperature gauge was not--and this kept the Elantra's interior from feeling quite as cohesive and consistently upscale as those in the Civic, Corolla, and Mazda3. Still, the overall ambiance was very nice indeed, and those amazing standard features can't be overlooked.
Perhaps more importantly, the Elantra's interior was also as comfortable and accommodating as any rival. Its leather seats were soft--plush, even--but they provided good support, and there was plenty of room to stretch out in the driver's seat. The driving position was excellent, and I could actually see the front fenders while driving--an unusual view in a new car, and one that is extraordinarily helpful in parking situations. The rear seat was quite spacious for an economy car, with enough legroom that my knees didn't touch the front seatbacks. So while the Elantra's interior could still benefit from some inprovements to bring it up to the standards of the class leaders, it's still pretty incredible for the price. .
Practicality
The Elantra scores more points in this area. The interior had plenty of room, and allowed me to tailor the driving position to my liking with a tilt steering wheel and seat-height adjustment, in addition to the usual fore-and-aft and seatback-angle controls--there's that awesome feature content again. Trunk capacity was middling for this class, but a standard split-folding rear seat lets you expand the cargo area considerably. Besides, if trunk space is a high priority for you, you can always choose the 5-door hatchback version of the Elantra, whose profile bears a striking resemblance to a banana slug in my eyes, but provides loads of useful cargo room.
Reliability
Consumer Reports rates the Elantra's reliability as Average, which is no bad thing. A Civic or Corolla is less likely to give you problems, but choosing the Hyundai isn't asking for trouble. Besides, Hyundai offers a phenomenal 5-year, 60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty (plus 10 years and 100,000 miles on the powertrain) that its competitors don't even come close to matching.
Overall
Anyone who still associates the word "Hyundai" with images of boxy, underpowered hatchbacks is in for a big surprise if they're open-minded enough to give the Elantra a chance. This is a robust and refined little car, comfortable to ride in and pleasing to drive. And it's not just "good for a Hyundai." This Elantra competes on equal footing with the best in class--no excuses required.
It places just behind the Civic, Corolla, and Mazda3 in my opinion, because its behavior lacks that last bit of polish and precision that separates good cars from excellent ones. How much that matters, I'll leave up to you. I'll also let you decide how important the Elantra's mediocre resale value and lackluster government crash-test results are--some people may not care, others may find them a deal-breaker.
But the Elantra's reliability ratings are fine, its road manners are reassuring, and its interior is comfortable and well-appointed. Those merits alone are ample reasons to give it a chance. Throw in Hyundai's five-year warranty (they can't be making money on that, can they?) and list prices that undercut the class leaders by thousands, and the Elantra becomes a must-see. The Civic, Corolla, and Mazda3 are better cars, but they're not leagues better--if your budget is the highest priority, you'll appreciate the Elantra's price savings more than you'll miss the extra measure of sophistication.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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