AFFORDABLE FUN

Hyundai’s 2017 Elantra Sport supplies a healthy dose of gusto in an attractive compact sedan at a palatable price point

Spring weekends: When dreams of race tracks and winding backwoods roads come crashing down under the domestic weight of lawn care and countless family chores. Such obligations can feel less obligatory if you have a fun enough car.

The Hyundai Elantra Sport is fun enough.

The Elantra has long been a best buy for being roomy, fuel-efficient, and well equipped at under $20,000. The challenge for the Sport is to distinguish itself enough from its namesake while not daring to take on value performance benchmarks such as the Golf GTI or Subaru WRX, which cost at least 10 to 15 percent more on average.

The compact Sport sedan is more of a consideration against the Mazda3 Grand Touring or Honda Civic Touring, and costs about $1,500 less.

The Sport is not just some badging and fancy flourishes. It comes with 18-inch wheels and a dual exhaust; the rocker panels are more pronounced, and the hexagonal grille extends into horizontal LEDs.

The Galactic Gray paint is like a mood ring, mercurial under cloud cover, brash in daylight, sleek at night. Getting in and out of it in a crowd evoked a modest sense of pride — it’s sharp without being flashy.

The Sport’s turbocharged engine boasts plenty of punch with 201 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque. Turbo lag from a stop takes some getting used to, but otherwise the throttle is responsive. Sport mode delays shifts on the smooth, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The transmission is smooth but gets a little muddled the harder you hit the throttle. Using the more responsive paddle shifters gave us a chirp or two going into second.

Handling on the Sport is crisp, without the roll of the Sentra SR. It handles closer to the Mazda3 than the Civic, which is larger, comfier, but not as fun to drive. The flatbottomed sport steering wheel feels good in the hands, though the steering doesn’t pick up everything from the road. There was some minor torque steer — the steering wheel pulled to the left when flooring it from a stop.

On the highway, the Sport stretches out in a quiet, efficient ride. At 60 mph, we averaged 34 mpg.

The blacked-out interior complements the sense of looks good, feels better. Seat bolstering is firm without being tight, and the black leather everywhere has subtle red stitching showing an attention to detail.

The Elantra Sport holds its own in a crowded class of well-appointed compacts, priced just below the competition.