Hyundai Elantra GT hatch wins sibling battle
Canadians, like Europeans, have long embraced the hatchback, especially so in the compact class. While sedans hold sway in the U.S. and sell reasonably well in Canada, the hatch remains dear to our hearts for several reasons. Hyundai has just introduced its new Elantra GT, or hatch, that is being sold alongside the traditional four-door sedan. So if you’re interested in this popular compact, which is the best choice for you?
SPACE
With all the seats down in the GT, there’s 1,560 litres of cargo space. With the seats up, there’s still 705 L. That’s significantly more than the sedan, which has 408 L in the trunk. Hyundai doesn’t record total cargo space with the 60/40-split seats folded, but it appears to be less, and it will be constrained by the opening between the trunk and rear seats. It will be hard to stuff a bike into the sedan. Challenge 1 goes to the hatch.
REAR-SEAT ROOM
For a compact car, there’s a surprisingly good amount of legroom in the Elantra, both in sedan and hatch trim. Only the tallest teens will squawk there’s not enough. Those with younger children or parents using car seats will find ample space for two. The rear doors of the sedan are large, making ingress and egress easy. Actual legroom in the sedan is about an inch more than the hatch, but headroom in the sedan is more than an inch less than the hatch. In this regard, the two are tied.
POWER
Unless opting for the turbo-four in the hatch or sedan, the engine in either car will be a normally aspirated and direct injected, 2.0-L four-cylinder. But the hatch gets more power with the standard engine: 162 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque, a gain of 15 hp and 18 lb-ft over the sedan. That is slightly offset by the GT’s extra 40 kilograms of weight. There’s also a slight fuel-economy penalty in the GT, which averages 8.7 L/100 km, compared to the sedan’s 8.0 with the manual and 7.4 with the automatic transmission. The sedan, therefore, gets the edge here.
VISIBILITY
The GT’s very tidy D pillars hide very little, making it easy to see all around the car at all times. The rear window is pleasantly deep and the rear-view camera is good, so backing up is not an issue. The sedan, however, has a much more raked rear glass and slightly higher trunk deck, though again, the camera helps. But in driving the two cars, the sedan, while still easy to see out of, felt inferior to the vision in the hatch. The hatch takes this one.
RIDE AND HANDLING
Riding on a slightly shorter wheelbase, the hatch delivers a pleasing ride, feeling slightly firmer than the sedan, which feels somewhat bigger even though the proportions are so close. Designed in Germany and tuned on the Nurburgring, the GT is sportier. Both are easy to drive and park. But for its sportier ride, the GT wins this category.
PRICE
The base Elantra starts at $16,000 and the GT at $20,450, so there’s a price to pay for the hatch. The difference in tax will also come into play. The sedan wins on price.
VERDICT
With so much more utility from its cargo capacity, along with its better looks and visibility, the Elantra GT is definitely a superior choice, even if it costs an extra $4,000.