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Hyundai Elantra (tested: GT)

by Wayne Paterson

The Hyundai Elantra is yet another surprise from a company which seems full of surprises. With a relatively spacious interior, zoomy acceleration, good handling, and a smooth ride, the Elantra GT seems like it should cost more than the $14,000 on the window sticker - especially with leather and air conditioning. This car is not just inexpensive, it's fun to drive, and, if recent magazine surveys are any indication, at least as reliable as the the Honda Civic.

Economy cars like the Elantra keep coming up in quality and performance, to the point where it simply doesn't make sense to spend more unless you're a hard-core enthusiast. The extra money doesn't buy what it used to. For example, the Elantra was easier to drive than the Acura RL 3.5, which retails for $45,000. The suspension was a bit stiffer, the handling a bit lower, and the acceleration just a little slower; but the build quality seems to be there, and the Elantra seems like more fun, with roughly the same size interior. In brief, you can spend another $30,000, and basically get a little more luxury, a little less ergonomics in the controls, a better stereo, and a little more performance (oh, and a pretty cool navigation system). Indeed, you can also pay more and get less - the Civic comes to mind, along with just about any SUV.

The Elantra experience starts with a body that's perfectly aligned and doors that thunk shut as though they were on a luxury car. The Elantra GT looks like a Saab from the rear, with an interesting and pleasant hatchback design which increases storage and convenience. From the front, it looks much like a Chevy Impala, though there is a strong family resemblance to other Hyundais as well.

Once inside, the Elantra GT features straightforward controls, the one sign of cheapness being the radio - and, though it doesn't look like much and has a single bass/treble control, it does sound very good. The speakers seem to be better than the "head unit" which makes upgrading easier. Spatial separation from the six speakers is good, thanks largely to well-placed tweeters.

The two liter engine produces a respectable 140 horsepower and 133 lb-ft of torque - better than all but one Civic, not to mention the Corolla and base models of pretty much any car in its class. Gas mileage with the stick isn't bad (25 city, 33 highway), though the Corolla does much better (130 horsepower, 41 mpg highway). The engine is responsive and quiet enough to make revving to redline enjoyable, and helps the driver to get the most power.

The manual transmission is unobtrusive and easy to use, with a smooth clutch and good stick action. That makes a manual transmission the obvious choice - that, and the better gas mileage and faster acceleration that normally come with a stick. The automatic, in our memory, isn't bad, but doesn't provide the same responsiveness. Acceleration with the five-speed is roughly par for the class.

Handling is quite good, though not excellent. The Elantra GT won't win any rallies against the Neon or Focus, but it will do pretty much anything most drivers ask of it, without qualms or hesitation. The Elantra has good "tossability" - it seems easy to throw it into a curve or another lane, and invites hard driving. Likewise, the quiet drivetrain (with a husky exhaust note) makes speeding all too easy. In short, it feels better around a turn than many cars with better handling.

The ride is better than one might expect from the price and handling. You get good road feel without being jarred and bumped, and even rough pavement is no problem. Driving on concrete roads is almost a pleasure, without the noise that usually follows. We like to feel the road but not be hurt by it, so the ride is ideal for us.

The GT, which we tested, has a somewhat stiffer suspension than other Elantras, which provides better handling and a better feel at the cost of a little bump insulation.

Visibility is excellent, with powerful, well-defined headlights at night. The headlights would be welcome on cars of pretty much any class, and far outshone most competitors. Fog lights are also standard on the GT, though they are generally not needed except in fog (most drivers will of course leave them on all the time anyway). The large rear window comes with a wiper and washer (again, standard features) operated from a convenient control next to the hazard flashers and clock.

The interior is fairly quiet, with low wind noise and a satisfactory level of well tuned engine noise. Most of the interior seems well designed and made. The standard radio/CD player and center console seem a little cheap, though both are quite functional. The center console includes a top and bottom storage compartment, both rather small. There are a good number of places for small items, including an overhead sunglass compartment.

Interior lighting is very good, with bright driver and passenger lights up front, and a dome light in back with a clearly labelled switch (for on, off, and door activation).

We were not especially impressed by the violet backlighting, presumably copied from Volkswagen, but still a bit distracting. We do prefer violet to the Pontiac blood-red, but would take amber over each. That's a matter of taste, we admit. On the other hand, we could not argue with the large tachometer, speedometer, gas gauge, and temperature gauge.

We almost did not discover one cool feature of the Elantra GT: when you press what looks like the trip odometer button, you get a small trip computer. It tells average gas mileage (in our cases, keeping in mind we mostly had city mileage and pushed the car hard, 27.0 mpg) and distance until empty. That's something you normally don't see on cars in this price range.

The one major quirk of the Elantra is a characteristic of most Korean vehicles - the driver's side lock controls all other locks. If the driver unlocks their door, all doors unlock. It's weird and a little annoying.

Storage is very good for an economy car, thanks partly to the hatchback design, which makes getting things into the trunk very easy. The rear seat has a 20/30 split, and there is a way to attach the seat belts to the seat to make it easier to flip the seat without losing the belts. We liked the separate hatch latch, which let us in without needing a key; the hatch lock is electric and hooked in to all the other doors. Our sole complaint with the system is the small size of the unlock button on the key fob.

Overall, we'd be hard pressed to find a better deal. You can easily fit a family of four into this car, in comfort, and still have lots of fun driving it - for under $15,000, including leather, power locks and windows, air conditioning, a tachometer, and lots of other often-expensive options, here used as standard features. There's a seven year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty, and Hyundai's rapidly increasing quality on top of that. There are some very good options in this price range - the Toyota Corolla, for example, with its incredible gas mileage, world-class quality, and good manners. The Dodge Neon offers a fairly large interior, and can be had for about $10,000. But the Elantra GT is a wonderful package which you should try before you buy a car in the under-$16,000 range (or, for that matter, the under-$20,000 range). It feels very high quality, and the buzziness of the powertrain belongs to the past generations.

Keep the Elantra GT on your list - right next to the Elantra wagon and other Hyundais. We all thought Toyota was cheap when they first showed up, too - now we know better.

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