Best in Class Value
If I could I would have actually given this car 4.5 but I'm not mad that I have to round up. Generally, my uses fall under two categories. The first is short utilitarian transport for things like work and errands. It's pretty rare that I'll travel more than 15 miles one way for any daily use. It's great in the city and highway. I have the base 2 liter naturally aspirated engine and it has plenty of power in sport mode. The second use is a monthly trip which is usually around 100 miles one way. Hours on a highway is pretty comfortable. It's easy to find a position that works for you. It's not Mercedes or Audi comfortable but for the price, it's definitely one of the most comfortable in class. I would recommend not getting the 1.6 liter turbo even though it's a no brainer add on specifically because of the dual-clutch transmission. There are a lot of issues with it and it's not fun to live with. Even Hyundai mechanics told me that it's not a very good transmission. Go with the naturally aspirated engine and you'll be more than happy. The styling is also a huge positive. The other car I was strongly considering was the Honda Civic Hatchback. The styling of the Civic was just too aggressive and it probably won't age very well. The Elantra GT, on the other hand, might be a big more conservative in comparison but it looks good and will continue to look good for years to come. The other strength is in its infotainment. It's easy to use and while it might not have all the bells and whistles of other systems it does everything well. I've had no complaints with it and ultimately when it comes to really polarizing technology, that's all you can ask for. The biggest downside is the MPG. With mostly highway driving or long-distance driving, it does all right. I usually average at about 26-28 MPG but when you do mixed driving with the city then it drops like a rock. On the days where I do a lot of city driving the MPG can drop down to 22 or 23 MPG which is abysmal for the class. The Civic Hatch does almost 40 MPG highway and low to mid 30s with mixed driving even with a more powerful engine. It's really unfortunate that it is that much worse. But as long as you're not racking up huge milage, it shouldn't affect your wallet too much. It got about as much MPG with more power than my old car that was from 2007. So while they didn't do amazingly, at least they didn't undo all the progress they did in the last decade.
Recommended
Verified Owner
