Motortrend Comparo: Si vs. Elantra Sport

[bcskelly]

I get the impression that they've lost perspective on why someone might choose an Si over an R...
https://www.motortrend.com/cars/hon...ndai-elantra-sport-compact-comparison-review/

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[saiko21]

Read it today morning. Honda is way better than Hyundai anyday

 

[aighead]

Granted, I haven't thoroughly driven a car built for cornering I feel like the authors weren't doing it right (though I assume they know what they are talking about). I'd be thrilled to run the Si through all kinds of fun backroads. And, with the brake hold on, acting as somewhat of a launch control, my wheel hop is basically gone. If you hit the right RPM on takeoff it really takes off!

 

[xbbnx]

They seemed very dismissive and almost bashful here. I prefer Car and Driver to Motortrend anyways, they just seem like they have better drivers who understand the technical stuff better. Plus they always seem to get better numbers out of cars than Motortrend.

 

[charleswrivers]

(shrug) Sounds about right. Similarly priced. The Civic handles substantially better and is substantially more efficient. I wonder how well the Elantra (or the Civic for that matter) will hold up after 5 and 10 years. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the fact I see integras, RSXs and 7th and 8th gen Civics frequently and older Elantra and Tiburons rarely make me thing Hyundai's age like milk. 25 vs 32 MPGs for combined economy is pretty wildly different as well.

The Velositor/N have a compelling pricepoint for what they bring.... trying to play the R-lite pricepoint while swinging for but I think we'll coming short of a CTR. This thing though? (shrug) Might be an ok car. From what I saw, they looked more GTI-esk.

 

[Lukifer]

The combo is also tricky to launch hard. "Quite a lot of violent wheel hop, but that's what it wants. It's that or a big bog," said Walton.The combo is also tricky to launch hard. "Quite a lot of violent wheel hop, but that's what it wants. It's that or a big bog," said Walton.

After a year of hard driving and many many many full throttle starts, I have never experienced wheel hop in this car. Not once. It can be tricky... there is a sweet spot, and if you get it just right, the car will blast off. If you don't get it, it will bog. But I don't know where he's getting this wheel hop from?

...and its electronically adjustable suspension (which it's worth pointing out feels damn near the same in both normal and sport modes)

I completely disagree with this. I can tell a big difference between sport mode and normal mode. Less body roll, less rocking under braking and acceleration... the car is much more buttoned down with Sport on.

 

[EngineerEddy]

I get the impression that they've lost perspective on why someone might choose an Si over an R...

Yeah it's strange they waxed poetic about the (non-Si, non-Type R) Civic in the recent Civic vs. Mazda 3 and Civic vs. Corolla comparisons. Going on and on about how the Civic is a far more lively car to drive than either competitor.

Now the summary of this review is: "Both of these are way less fun than the Veloster N and Type R, but if you can't afford either of those and have to buy one of these: the Civic Si is better".

My perspective (hopefully a more reasonable one?) would be that for only $3K more than the Civic Sport Sedan you get the more powerful and efficient engine, mechanical LSD, adaptive dampers, better speakers, better seats, and a better transmission. In comparison, the price delta from the Civic Sport Sedan to the CTR is immense at $15K (MSRP, not including upcoming price bump)...

But yeah, let's compare the $24K Si to the $36K Type R instead of the $21K Civic, makes for more exciting journalism.

 

[xbbnx]

Yeah it's strange they waxed poetic about the (non-Si, non-Type R) Civic in the recent Civic vs. Mazda 3 and Civic vs. Corolla comparisons. Going on and on about how the Civic is a far more lively car to drive than either competitor.

Now the summary of this review is: "Both of these are way less fun than the Veloster N and Type R, but if you can't afford either of those and have to buy one of these: the Civic Si is better".

My perspective (hopefully a more reasonable one?) would be that for only $3K more than the Civic Sport Sedan you get the more powerful and efficient engine, mechanical LSD, adaptive dampers, better speakers, better seats, and a better transmission. In comparison, the price delta from the Civic Sport Sedan to the CTR is immense at $15K (MSRP, not including upcoming price bump)...

But yeah, let's compare the $24K Si to the $36K Type R instead of the $21K Civic, makes for more exciting journalism.

Unfortunately Motortrend isnt what they used to be, I get all my car magazine content from C&D.

 

[jred721]

Screw the performance. The front end of that elantra looks horrific . That alone is enough to pick the Si over it. But on another note, Hyundai is did well with the Veloster N, its priced perfectly and is a solid option if someone wants to buy a car cheaper than a Type R but still performs well.

 

[Tags]

He's right about the short first gear and narrow gearing overall. The short gearing, turbo lag, narrow powerband, low redline, and balky second-gear syncros make enthusiastic pulls from rest a tricky and often frustrating exercise. Once on the move, though, it all works great.

 

[TypeSiR]

The Elantra Sport is old news. It's just been replaced by the Elantra GT N-Line, which is an improvement over the Sport. Compare the N-Line against the Si instead. Competition is heating up. Luckily 11th-gen is just around the corner.

 

[NeoZeed]

He's right about the short first gear and narrow gearing overall. The short gearing, turbo lag, narrow powerband, low redline, and balky second-gear syncros make enthusiastic pulls from rest a tricky and often frustrating exercise. Once on the move, though, it all works great.

It's strange to see an enthusiast rag actually complain about short gearing. Launching a FWD car isn't exactly the most exhilarating experience no matter what you do, so why make the rest of a spirited drive suffer just to make acceleration from a stop a slightly better experience? Narrow power band? I'd say 2.8-5.8k hump is plenty wide, considering the beloved VTEC Civics made barely any power anywhere below 5k.

 

[xbbnx]

It's strange to see an enthusiast rag actually complain about short gearing. Launching a FWD car isn't exactly the most exhilarating experience no matter what you do, so why make the rest of a spirited drive suffer just to make acceleration from a stop a slightly better experience? Narrow power band? I'd say 2.8-5.8k hump is plenty wide, considering the beloved VTEC Civics made barely any power anywhere below 5k.

This generation Si has the widest powerband out of any generation Si in history. My 2015 Si felt like a prius till about north of 5k and redline was 7000 rpm, so by the time you were starting to feel anything all the fun was over. It got exhausting after a while in day to day driving.

 

[saiko21]

The combo is also tricky to launch hard. "Quite a lot of violent wheel hop, but that's what it wants. It's that or a big bog," said Walton.The combo is also tricky to launch hard. "Quite a lot of violent wheel hop, but that's what it wants. It's that or a big bog," said Walton.

After a year of hard driving and many many many full throttle starts, I have never experienced wheel hop in this car. Not once. It can be tricky... there is a sweet spot, and if you get it just right, the car will blast off. If you don't get it, it will bog. But I don't know where he's getting this wheel hop from?

...and its electronically adjustable suspension (which it's worth pointing out feels damn near the same in both normal and sport modes)

I completely disagree with this. I can tell a big difference between sport mode and normal mode. Less body roll, less rocking under braking and acceleration... the car is much more buttoned down with Sport on.

The moment I saw this sentence "and its electronically adjustable suspension (which it's worth pointing out feels damn near the same in both normal and sport modes)" I am sure that driver is so numb to feel the difference. The body roll reduces when sport mode is enabled and one can feel the difference in uneveness of the road surface.

 

[Tags]

It's strange to see an enthusiast rag actually complain about short gearing. Launching a FWD car isn't exactly the most exhilarating experience no matter what you do, so why make the rest of a spirited drive suffer just to make acceleration from a stop a slightly better experience? Narrow power band? I'd say 2.8-5.8k hump is plenty wide, considering the beloved VTEC Civics made barely any power anywhere below 5k.

It fully wakes up at 2500 and there's no extra poke to be found above 4500, though it will pull OK for another grand or so. Just no big reason to. So from a dig there's a beat, a rush of power, then a flat, diminishing curve to a low peak and redline.

Honda has been exploiting mechanical advantage with its small sporty cars for as long as I've been driving, starting in the mid-80s. When you have the revs and a linear torque curve, it's okay. For a small turbo tuned for midrange, it can be frustrating. You find yourself grabbing second real early.

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