vs 2017 Elantra

[1.5CivicEX-T]

Boxy should mean a better rear seat and cargo area than the Civic. It will be worth considering if it's out before I buy a new car.

Yes boxy means a lot of room. They (EPA) may have to classify it as a larger vehicle because of the interior room. Boxy also usually means heavy. They are working on that I guess. Definitely should win it's segment cargo wise though. A huge bonus if they can make it as fun as the sedan Sport model.

What else are you considering?

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[turbo lover]

I've considered most of the hatch competition and have driven a few.

Driven:
Mazda 3 - drives nicely, decent MPG, but I don't like its shape, it looks like a shoe
Toyota iM - pretty bland, kind of small inside
Kia Forte 5 - good value, somewhat meh to drive, below average MPG ratings
VW Golf - drives nicely, good power
Honda Civic - drives nicely, good power and MPG, rear seat felt low and had bad headroom

Still need to drive:
Subaru Impreza - looks good on paper, but MPG is pretty bad
Chevy Cruze diesel - if it arrives in time
Elantra hatch - if it arrives in time

If I've overlooked anything that's worth a drive, let me know! Right now the Golf and Civic are my top 2, but I feel like I don't want another VW after the dieselgate fiasco. So the Civic is my #1 choice at the moment.

 

[mb411]

I've considered most of the hatch competition and have driven a few.

Driven:
Mazda 3 - drives nicely, decent MPG, but I don't like its shape, it looks like a shoe
Toyota iM - pretty bland, kind of small inside
Kia Forte 5 - good value, somewhat meh to drive, below average MPG ratings
VW Golf - drives nicely, good power
Honda Civic - drives nicely, good power and MPG, rear seat felt low and had bad headroom

Still need to drive:
Subaru Impreza - looks good on paper, but MPG is pretty bad
Chevy Cruze diesel - if it arrives in time
Elantra hatch - if it arrives in time

If I've overlooked anything that's worth a drive, let me know! Right now the Golf and Civic are my top 2, but I feel like I don't want another VW after the dieselgate fiasco. So the Civic is my #1 choice at the moment.

It looks like a shoe. I almost drowned in my bottle of water just now at work. Shame on you for that. lol

 

[syncro87]

Still need to drive:
Subaru Impreza - looks good on paper, but MPG is pretty bad

I drove an Impreza a few days ago, the 5 door with a manual transmission.

The car isn't that slow on paper, but it feels slow. It feels no faster than a current generation Prius to me, having recently driven one of those as well. Geared a little bit too short, like most manuals these days. MPG rating was pretty mediocre by today's standards.

Much more refined drive than the prior Impreza. Seats were surprisingly decent for a cheap car, and unlike most cheap cars, the bottom cushion wasn't sized for little people, i.e. the seats had half decent cushion length and thigh support.

Wind and road noise were lower than the outgoing style. Probably a quieter car than the Civic hatch LX I tested.

My take away was that it was a good car let down by a weak engine. It was OK, but put some people and cargo inside and turn on the A/C, I think it would struggle.

Keep in mind, also, I live in the relative flatland, roughly 1000 feet above sea level. It would feel even less powerful in hill country or at higher elevation.

The cargo area was shaped better than the Civic's for hauling stuff.

If I could get an Impreza 5 door with the Honda 1.5T engine, it would be ideal. The Impreza chassis is good, the car cries out for about 30 more hp. A shame Subaru didn't bump the power a bit more than they did.

 

[turbo lover]

An Impreza 1.5T sounds like it would be my ideal car, too.

 

[syncro87]

An Impreza 1.5T sounds like it would be my ideal car, too.

I drove the CVT 5 door Imp today. It's actually not bad off the line, they've calibrated the throttle and trans to make the car feel faster than it is from a stop. But you run out of steam pretty quickly. On ramps, etc, it's adequate but nothing more.

It wasn't horrible. But there is zero fun at all under the hood of the Impreza. I'd recommend it if you lived in a flat area. I wouldn't want to own it if I lived somewhere hilly / mountainous, or at higher altitude.

The Civic hatch feels far quicker at all speeds, and has a much fatter torque curve. Civic is roughly 150 pounds lighter, LX to base Imp, so that is part of it.

I hate to say it, but the CVT may be the way to go with the Impreza. The limited power on hand is better used by the CVT. MPG is a lot better on the highway with the CVT also. The manual Imp I drove had clutch judder just like my old 1990 Loyale. Kind of a Subaru trait, I guess.

The Elantra Sport I drove blows the doors off both the Civic and the Impreza. The Elantra has an unusual amount of throttle pedal travel. You keep pressing the pedal, and you keep getting more power. If acceleration is a primary concern, the Elantra is the way to go. I drove a base Sport with no sunroof, and the equipment level was still really good, I thought.

 

[VarmintCong]

Boxy should mean a better rear seat and cargo area than the Civic.

I bought the Civic hatch for the exact opposite reason - boxy hatchbacks like the Elantra GT and GTI have such a short trunk that you have to stack up everything to use the space. My Civic trunk can take cardboard boxes with delicate stuff in it, plus heavy tool bags, and I don't have to stack anything, and move stuff out of the way to reach anything. It's one of the main reasons I chose the Civic over GTI.

 

[spock_here]

Hey, any more thoughts about the elantra sport base? Going to drive one tomorrow in the 6MT. Other than mileage which the 1.5t has easily beat, the value in the ES seems way, way better. No idea what kind of deals off msrp people are getting on them but assume much higher than the civic 1.5t models.

The Elantra Sport I drove blows the doors off both the Civic and the Impreza. The Elantra has an unusual amount of throttle pedal travel. You keep pressing the pedal, and you keep getting more power. If acceleration is a primary concern, the Elantra is the way to go. I drove a base Sport with no sunroof, and the equipment level was still really good, I thought.

 

[syncro87]

Hey, any more thoughts about the elantra sport base? Going to drive one tomorrow in the 6MT. Other than mileage which the 1.5t has easily beat, the value in the ES seems way, way better. No idea what kind of deals off msrp people are getting on them but assume much higher than the civic 1.5t models.

It felt a LOT faster than my Civic hatch. The stereo is better, by far. Seats/seating position are better.

I didn't want a sedan. If the exact same car had been available in a hatch, I would have to think real hard before buying the Civic.

Great value for the $.

Two things crossed the Elantra off my shopping list. 1) fear of Hyundai resale value 2) sedan body style

That is all. The Elantra was/is the superior car everywhere except on paper.

Replying to your question makes me seriously wonder if I should have waited for the upcoming Elantra hatch.

 

[spock_here]

Thanks man, I buy them new and drive them till they rust out or fail inspection so resale not a concern. Some reports the ES gets better real world mileage than stated but who knows. May come down to the ES manual vs the accord lx manual--the accord is the proven winner for long term value and reliability but man the ES looks like a vg buy at right price point.

 

[syncro87]

Thanks man, I buy them new and drive them till they rust out or fail inspection so resale not a concern. Some reports the ES gets better real world mileage than stated but who knows. May come down to the ES manual vs the accord lx manual--the accord is the proven winner for long term value and reliability but man the ES looks like a vg buy at right price point.

Yeah, MPG is likely to be a lot lower than the Civic. I'm getting over 39 mpg, hand calc, with my hatch.

One more little thing about the ES. When I drove it, it seemed quick but not THAT quick until I realized the gas pedal had a lot more travel than I was used to. I realized I had about 35% of the travel left that I hadn't used. Put my foot into it more, and bam, the car hauled. You need to put your foot into it and wind it out a little bit up a highway on-ramp. I was smiling when I did that.

It was a really fun car to drive.

The suspension was pretty stiff for my tastes. I was driving on a concrete highway and I was bobbing up and down like some guys in a low rider for a while. That would get old, for me.

But man, way more fun to drive than the Civic. Nice exhaust note. Hyundai did a really good job. The car has some character.

One other minor flaw to the ES, to me, is I thought the stock alloys were ugly. Personal preference.

I've driven an Accord LX with manual transmission. It's a really nice car. A great value for the money. Nowhere near as fun to drive as the Elantra Sport. Completely different universe.

The ES I drove was a base model. No sunroof, etc. The car, though, felt special. Like the original 1983 VW GTI, kind of. Cheap, fun, tight.

 

[spock_here]

Right, yeah the accord lx is not the same but the mid level family sedans are the best buys now (since I end up with the beater subaru the wife/daughter prefer the accord so far). More about the proven 2.4/6MT vs the newer turbos which do not yet have the longevity records. Not sure how much longer you will be able to even buy the 2.4 on the Japanese transmission.

The other area the ES is far superior is the warranties but no idea if they are honored easily. 6/60 and 10/100 seems unbelievable.

 

[spock_here]

Tested the 6MT SE at lunch, quite impressed. Reminds me of honda in the 80s. Mileage is probably the biggest negative but still leery of quality. If hyundai can tweak the engine to up the mileage it seems like a real player going forward.

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