Showing posts with label Hyundai Elantra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hyundai Elantra. Show all posts

Monday, August 18, 2008

Hyundai Elantra Review Pt II.

Ok, my closing thoughts for this car.

Interior:
Well laid out and good looking. Material quality was nice but you could tell this is an entry level car. Seats where comfortable and had plenty of adjustment. Steering wheel did tilt but did not telescope. Everything was in reach, good head room and leg room in all seats. Dead peddle was a tad close for my taste but then again most cars are. AC and radio controls where straight forward and easy to reach. It was nice that it came with both a cig lighter plug and an additional power plug on the center console. Aux input was well marked as well, location was right between the two power sockets. Not a bad place for it but I have grown to like the ones that are hidden in the center console storage area. Sound quality was pretty good, it was nice to have XM activated on the car.

Driving Impressions:
Well balanced car. Not too much body lean in the corners. Steering was really vague. Impossible to tell what the tires are doing. It did turn in well and handled better than expected. Engine was the biggest drawback. You could feel it struggling to pull the car around sometime, transmission didn't help the issue. Held shifts too long at points or shifted much to early and would not shift back down when needed. I did return 33+mpg for the whole trip that included some rather spirited back road driving and minimal interstate cruising.

Exterior:
Looks ok, doesn't stand out but isn't ugly.

Overall a nice car. Great gas mileage considering I didn't really get out on the interstate much. Better than the Corolla and Focus in my opinion.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Hyundai Elantra Review

Ok, I'm in NY this week. My rental is a Hyundai Elantra. So far not a bad car. About on par with the Ford Focus that I had in Virginia. I will have to say the fact that this one has XM radio may skew my opinions a bit. Handles well enough, gets great gas mileage, doesn't look to bad. Hyundai has come a looooooong way since my dad brought some mid 90's model home for a test drive. I think the interior build quality is better than the Ford, on par with what I have seen in low end Toyota's and Honda's. I know it handles better than the corolla except for a strange dead-spot when going through the center position. Engine is a bit under powered and wheezy for my tastes but transmission does its best to shift at the right times to make the most of the lacking power. Give me a few more days with it and I will write up a full review.