Hard to believe, but the Elantra is now in its tenth model year, and its fifth generation. The Elantra is completely new for 2011, and what a step forward this new car is. While the Elantra has spent most of its life as an also-ran, this new car steps to the top of the heap. Or, to be blunt, this is the Elantra Honda and Toyota wished Hyundai would never build. When word got out that in a Consumer Reports compact car comparison test that the Elantra took top honors, we wanted to see just how good the Elantra was. But this is The Garage, and we don’t look at cars as appliances here. How does the Elantra rank in the hands of um, let’s say someone with a more enthusiast bent? Read on!
To start, there’s no getting around the stand-out looks of the Elantra. Featuring swoopy styling with nary a straight line to be found, it is staggering to think a car in this price range could not only be interesting to look at, but dare I say, exude this much class and taste. The headlamp housings run up nearly halfway up the front fenders, but hardly seem overwrought in execution. A coupe-like roof-line, and strong character line running from just below the side-view mirrors, slicing through the door handles and ending at the rear taillamps is bold and dramatic. Our test car’s 17″ alloys were clean and simple, but added to the flair of the Elantra. It’s uncommon to see this level of style in this class of car, making chief rivals Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic look dull and dowdy in comparison.
The high-style theme carries over to the interior. Again, Hyundai exhibits a level of style not normally seen here. The Elantra offers a tasteful mix of faux (read silver plastic) metal and piano black trim. The seats are reasonably comfortable over long distances, and the cabin had plenty of room for myself, wife and son as we spent a recent Father’s Day weekend driving all over the state from everywhere to a castle to a Ferrari car show. While nothing feels cheap about the Elantra’s interior, it did seem a (small) step behind Honda’s. The air vents on the center stack were at about knee-level for me, which seemed a bit odd. Otherwise, all controls were logically placed and easy to use.
The Elantra is offered in base GLS and top-spec Limited models, but regardless of choice, all Elantra’s share the same 1.8L four, good for 148hp. The GLS is offered with a six-speed manual or automatic, while all Limited’s come with the automatic only. Gas mileage is impressive-the EPA estimates 29/40 MPG city/highway. Around town the Elantra offers decent pep, and while you would think the Elantra is most at home scooting around suburban streets, the car is quite relaxed bombing down the highway at 80mph, not even breaking a sweat. The six-speed automatic in our car was always working with, not against me. Steering is a little light, and handling is tuned a little more towards comfort than sport. Make no mistake-the Elantra is not a boring car to drive, but I would still advise a test drive in a Mazda3 if you’re seeking a sportier drive.
So, at this point, it’s fair of you to say that I’ve described a perfectly competent small sedan, but why should Honda and Toyota be terrified of this car? The answer is simple. Price. Now, it used to be that price and a sweet warranty are what Hyundai hung its hat on in the past, but now the Elantra is dynamically on par with the best in its class, yet still is able to offer a distinct price advantage. Our test car was the top-spec Limited model, which came equipped with the optional Premium Package. Using the 2012 Honda Civic EX I had tested the week prior to the Elantra as a benchmark, the two cars were within a few hundred dollars of each other. Our Elantra had an as delivered MSRP of $22,110USD. But what features did I get on the Elantra that were not on our test Civic? A leather interior, front AND rear heated seats, XM satellite radio, Navigation, auto headlights, push button start, proximity key entry, and a rearview camera.
To put that into perspective, I used Honda’s online configurator to build my own Civic EX as closely as I could to the Elantra. Picking an EX with leather and Nav, 17″ wheels and foglights, the comparable Civic rang in at more than $5,000 higher than our Elantra, and still lacked the heated seats, rearview camera and other features. Remember when I said this is the car Honda and Toyota wished Hyundai would never build? Well, they built it. With the Elantra, Hyundai has yet again reached a milestone, game-changing car that should have all competitors breaking out in a sweat. Not quite as dynamic as a Mazda3, but competent nonetheless, the Elantra sets a new standard for styling and content for the money.
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Jonathant21 says
July 15, 2011 at 7:57 amThis was a very honest review. Hyundai has stepped up their game and put the old favorites (Civic & Corolla) on notice. When you take into account the warranty (10y/100,000 powertrain and 5y/60,000 bumper to bumper), upfront saving of $1000-$5000 depending on options, and Hyundai assurance program ( for a 2012 Elantra 64% of MSRP at 36 months old, best residual resale value in its class), it is hard not to give the new Elantra a shot. Additionally, because of the manufacture's great initial warranty most dealers offer an extension to a 10y/100,000 bumper to bumper with scheduled maintenance for 36,000 miles for only $1250. If you asked how much it would be to extend Honda's or Toyota's bumper to bumper to 10y/100,000 you would be looking at $3500 to $5500 extra!
I have been driving a Civic for the past 4 years, and a Camry for the 4 years before that. They were very good cars but at the end of the day they served one purpose, get from point A to point B. I never felt any connection with the cars, steering was soft, the engines revved high but there was never any oomph, just climbing rpm and increased noise (the Toyota Tundra V8 excluded, my other car a my2000 with 188,000 miles and still pulls like the day I bought it!). Every year I would look at the products Honda and Toyota were offering and every year I thought is that all?
I know I will get some grief for currently preferring a Hyundai over a Honda or Toyota. I know the defensiveness comes from realizing in the back of your mind that the new Elantra is a legitimate contender. Try to contain your hate for you a minute and look at the big picture. When a lower volume player like Hyundai produces something truly industry shaking, we all win, no matter what our manufacture preference. Honda and Toyota will have to step up their game to at least keep their install base. Therefore we will all get better cars in the long run. In 3 to 4 years when an amazing Civic or Corolla (okay that second one may never happen) are released you will have the 2011 Hyundai Elantra to thank. For the past two model generations there has been little to no advancement in the progression of the Civic or Corolla models and that was fine because there really were no better options available. Not anymore, thank goodness.
Think of this shake-up period as when the iPhone first came out. For years we all carried around a crappy Nokia, Motorola, or Sony cell phone and every year we waited for those manufactures to release something truly great…and ultimately were left disappointed. With the release of the iPhone, the entire industry had to raise their game to stay competitive; manufactures could no longer count on there simply being no better choices than the hardware they offered. 4 years later and we have all kinds of great options from HTC, Samsung, and Blackberry, with Nokia set to release some new hardware in the next year. The wide variety of great phones we have available to us today is greatly due to the innovations and feature sets first introduced through the iPhone. While the iPhone is still a great choice today, I think we can all agree that several other manufactures are releasing more competitive products that are just as good, if not better than the iPhone now.
Now that I have you thinking about cell phones you may be able to see my point with the new Elantra. Whether you prefer the Civic or Corolla or Mazda3, the release of the 2011 Elantra will only make all these other models better in the long run. Can you imagine if we were all still carrying around candy bar Nokias?
Tom Williams says
July 18, 2011 at 7:47 pmThanks for visiting The Garage, Jonathan! I appreciate your thoughtful response, and I am in complete agreement with your cell phone analogy. Just proves that competition always improves the breed.