Hyundai Elantra: A Bold Stand in the Compact Race

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Dan Neil/Wall Street Journal

Hyundai and Ford consistently reach farther between model iterations than other car makers, says Mr. Neil.

An aside: Perhaps you've seen words to this effect on a car magazine cover: "2012 Dimplerood Panther 5000: The Best Panther Ever!" This is the emptiest of praise, an exercise in car-magazine diplomacy. Unless the product planners are openly sabotaging the company, cars always get better over time. It's in the nature of engineering to establish a baseline and make incremental improvements. And be especially wary of any car that gets the rhetorical-question treatment, as in, "The Best Panther Ever?" That's one lousy Dimplerood.

In my driveway, among mass-market competitors lately, Hyundai and Ford consistently reach farther between model iterations than other car makers. Ford's new Focus and Explorer utterly nail their predecessors into the coffin of obsolescence. Hyundai's Sonata makes the old car feel like it was built at somebody's summer fat camp.

These two companies have broken away from the mass-market peloton and they're in a race all their own. One's an incumbent; one's an insurgent. One's Detroit-based, the other anywhere-but-Detroit (the Elantra was designed in California and built in Alabama). Both companies embrace the radical idea that product counts.

Dan Neil test drives the all-new Hyundai Elantra, which he calls a convergence of engineering, style and value. The one flaw, it's noisy.

And with the Focus and the Elantra, it's wheel-to-wheel, right to the tape.

Specifics, then: The new Elantra is 1 inch longer (178.3 inches) than the previous model, over a wheelbase stretched by 2 inches (106.3 inches), and the car is about 2 inches lower and 180 pounds lighter than before. The dieting helps the car reach the 40-mpg highway mark, on the strength of a new 1.8-liter, 148-horsepower four-cylinder engine (with variable induction, dual-cam variable valve timing, and all-aluminum construction). Forty miles per gallon has become a kind of magical number in this segment. The Cruze, the Focus and the yet-to-be-released 2012 Honda Civic all have low-volume, high-mileage variants that will hit 40 mpg—the better to advertise with. Typically, though, the Focus gets 38 mpg.

And Hyundai is sandbagging a bit: Unlike its competitors, the new Elantra doesn't have a direct-injection cylinder head, which typically improves fuel efficiency 5% to 10%. Should the car get a DI engine, as is likely, look for a bump in overall mpg.

2011 Hyundai Elantra Limited

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Hyundai

Hyundai Elantra

Base price: $19,980

Price as tested: $20,830

Powertrain: Direct-injection 1.8-liter DOHC, 16-valve four-cylinder with variable valve timing and induction; six-speed automatic transmission; front-wheel drive

Horsepower/torque: 148 hp at 6,500 rpm/131 pound-feet at 4,700 rpm

Wheelbase: 106.3 inches

Length/weight: 178.3 inches/2,877 pounds

EPA fuel economy: 29/40 mpg, city/highway

Cargo capacity: 14.8 cubic feet

Penciled out, the 160-hp Ford has almost exactly the same power-to-weight ratio as the Elantra (depending on the models compared), and in a drag race these two ladies probably are within a few tenths of each other. They both hit 60 mph around the 9-second mark. Call it a tie.

Chuck the pencil out the window and the Focus, with its dual-clutch six-speed automatic, feels appreciably more spirited and willing, especially when its tranny is slotted into Sport mode. So, advantage Ford.

Also, the Hyundai shares with its larger sibling Sonata a tendency to get a bit thrashy at certain parts of the tachometer. At low engine speeds while the car is heading up slight grades, the Elantra engine chuffs and rocks in its cradle; and at moderate-to-highway speeds, if you kick it hard in the slats, the powertrain starts to whine with something approaching resentment. It's a minor point and, in other ears, might be perceived as driving character. But the silky Focus and Elantra are so terribly close in so many categories, any daylight is revealing.

One superlative the Elantra owns outright: It's the better-looking car. Styled at Hyundai's Southern California design studio, the car manages to wear Hyundai's so-called fluidic styling without looking like it's retaining water. The surface detailing coheres around the fuselage in a single, seemingly uncompromised gesture. Among the Elantra's many grace notes are question-mark-shaped reflectors in the oversized headlamp assemblies. Like BMW's glowing irises, these give the Elantra a distinctive set of eyes at a distance, especially at night.

The Focus is a taut shape, too, especially in five-door form (as at left). But the Elantra absolutely owns the compact-sedan swimsuit competition. No small feat.

Where'd that pencil go? You'll need it to tabulate the Elantra's value equation, which is stout, for sure. First, let's dispense with the chicanery of the base model ($14,830), which doesn't include the $2,500 automatic-transmission option. A reasonably equipped Elantra GLS (with Bluetooth, alloy wheels and some other must-haves) is around $18,430. The more compelling deal is the Limited ($20,700), with automatic, heated leather front and rear seats, power sunroof, automatic headlamps and simply reams more gear. Our test car lacked only the Technology package ($2,000), which includes navigation, 360-watt sound system, rear camera and automatic headlamps.

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Ford

THE RIVAL | Only the Ford Focus keeps Hyundai out of clear first place.

Such a collection of amenities risks looking like a Best Buy showroom post-earthquake, but the Elantra interior is simply terrific, well organized, intuitive and perfectly distinctive. The materials and workmanship are first-rate. Please appreciate the unique, horns-of-the-minotaur array of buttons around the climate controls and the rational placement of buttons on the steering wheel.

When you start putting it all together—the standard four-wheel disc brakes; the battery of smart-braking functions; the midsize roominess of the cabin; the net-extra features for this class such as outside-mirror turn indicators—the Elantra is, on paper, pretty much unbeatable for the money. The Focus might be slinking off to sulk in its dorm room.

But roads are asphalt, not paper, and while the Elantra is certainly well sorted and competent, it doesn't have quite the leg of the Focus. The Elantra's steering feel is light and bereft of feedback. The car doesn't have much enthusiasm for hard cornering, sort of hitching its pants on turn-in and leaving it to the tires to hold it on line. The Focus, on the other hand, loves to run. You could credit the Ford's torque-vectoring front axle, which helps put down the power exiting corners, or its independent multilink rear suspension, which maintains contact with the road better than the Elantra's rear beam axle.

Again, more daylight between these cars, but not much.

Typically, a $20-thousand-something compact sedan is not what you'd call a reward for a life well lived, but shoppers in this segment should feel fortunate to have a choice between these two estimable machines. In my opinion, the Ford narrowly scores a win in the Electoral College. I wouldn't be surprised if the Hyundai wins the popular vote.

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page D10
Online.wsj.com