2013 Hyundai Elantra 1.8 I-4 gasoline
Summary:
A well thought out, very reasonably priced economy car
Faults:
Faulty front passenger window seal, whistled at speeds above 60mph with the windows closed. Replaced under warranty at no cost.
General Comments:
The car gets great gas mileage. It's been getting about 33 MPG in daily commuting through heavy traffic, and it gets over 40 MPG on long highway trips.
The manual transmission is good but not great Shift throws are surprisingly short, solid, and precise, but 3rd gear is too tall. Unless you rev the engine past 4000 RPM in 2nd gear, acceleration slows substantially when shifting up to 3rd gear.
The engine is very quiet when cruising, but gets noisy when you accelerate quickly. It's not necessarily a bad noise, but it won't let you forget that there's a small 4 cylinder under the hood.
The suspension setup is definitely tuned in favor of soft ride quality over sharp handling during hard cornering. That's not necessarily a bad thing on the pot hole covered roads where I live, but you'll never confuse it with a sports sedan if you're in a hurry to get anywhere.
The interior is well packaged. There is a lot of interior room given how small the car is on the outside. Trunk space is also generous given the size of the car. It has plenty of space for a family with 2 small children and all the stuff that goes everywhere with them.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 14th January, 2014