2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport upgrades optimization
2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport: Fun where you least expect it. Price: Starts at $21,650. Marketer’s pitch: “Not just new. Better.” Conventional wisdom: “Sport” Elantra. LOL, right?
Reality: They’re not kidding. It’s better. And even kinda sporty.
What it is: A colleague who is friends with a restaurant reviewer says that writer wouldn’t give a top review to a lower-tier restaurant, just based on the fact that it’s not top tier.
I, on the other hand, am not the caviar type. I’ll take a wellcrafted, juicy burger and homemade fries over French delicacies most days of the week.
So when someone serves up a Hyundai Elantra that is reasonably fun and comfortable, I’m ready to give it a top review.
A hearkening back: Perhaps the Elantra makes me feel young again, by imitating the inexpensive econoboxes of my youth — and making them better. But while the Elantra is no race car and certainly not luxurious, it does many things very well.
Driver’s Seat: If you grew up in the ’80s, adjustable seats were only coming into being back then, so driver discomfort was the norm. The Elantra, though not offering power seats, does allow recline and seat bottom adjustments that make driving comfortable. This even puts it above the Civic in my notebook, as I’ve found the seats in there don’t agree with me.
Up to speed: I’d driven a 2013 Elantra GT, a 2015 Elantra Sport, and a 2017 Eco version prior to this, and each incarnation keeps getting better and better.
The Sport’s 2.0–liter four is turbocharged, and its 201 horsepower provides fine motivation for the model. Car and Driver puts its 0-60 at a stunning 6.4 seconds with the manual.
Shifty: The Elantra test vehicle came with the sixspeed manual, which offered close shifts. I had a hard time telling if I was in 6th or 4th most of the time, which speaks both to the tight shift pattern and the car’s ability to provide torque even in upper gears. Often small cars’ fifth and sixth gears lack any semblance of power as a nod to efficiency (I’m looking at you, Mazda).
On the road: Handling in the Elantra Sport is pleasant, with an ability to turn winding roads into a little more fun.
Exhaust note: This may be the one down side to the Elantra; it does rather sound like a real puttputt out there. And it also may just be a little too loud for some people’s tastes.
Play some tunes: Hyundais and cousin Kias are often notable for making it difficult to pair different options in a variety of ways. So getting a shift with top-ofthe-line stereo system (part of the $2,500 Premium Package for Sport, which also added sunroof and more) is a
notable achievement.
It’s standard fare for the brands, with buttons across the bottom controlling source and dials for volume and tuning. Sound quality is an A-. Keeping warm and cool: The upgraded heater system offered two dials with digital readouts for temperature and buttons for fan and source. The options list also included heated seats, another pleasant surprise for a vehicle with a stick shift (all these features were also part of the Premium Package).
Night shift: The headlights offer fairly good nighttime driving visibility. The map lights were far too bright to have on while driving, but lights underneath the visors were a little better.
Friends and stuff: The Elantra remains a snug vehicle in the back seat. Leg room and head room are tight, though foot room is not bad. Trunk volume is 14.4 cubic feet. A large console and a phone holder also add plenty of storage.
Fuel economy: Here is another place where Hyundai keeps getting better. The last time I tested a sport I averaged 28 mpg (from just 173 horses); this time it was 30 or 31 mpg in the usual Mr. Driver’s Seat mix of highway and suburban driving.
Where it’s built: Ulsan, Korea
How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts above average reliability, higher than 2016’s but down from 2014 and 2015’s top marks.
In the end: When I started Driver’s Seat five years ago, these were the kinds of cars I aimed to make the focus — simple transportation for the masses. Now that the Elantra offers some driving enjoyment, it’s almost like my work here is done.
But, oh, look, here’s the Fiat 124 Spider.