You probably know Compton as the hometown of hip-hop legends N.W.A, whose rise was chronicled in last year’s Oscar-nominated “Straight Outta Compton” biopic, and current hitmaker Kendrick Lamar, who recently took home five Grammys. Compton lies between Motor Trend HQ and my home in Bellflower, so one night I took the scenic route home in an Electric Blue 2017 Hyundai Elantra. While Compton itself is on the rise, its infrastructure hasn’t yet caught up, making it a great place to evaluate the Elantra’s ride quality — not typically a strength for Hyundai. Potholes, speed bumps, speed humps, expansion joints, lumpy and broken pavement: Google Maps found it all.
The engineers in charge of the 2017 Elantra must have spent some time with the team that puts together the Genesis, because the ride was good. Really good, especially for a small Hyundai. The Elantra handled everything Google Maps threw at it with the composure of a larger, more expensive sedan. Rebound was excellent over larger bumps, and even the harsh impacts were dulled before they reached the driver’s seat. Steering feel varies subtly between the Normal and Eco drive, but Sport noticeably ramps up the effort at low speeds. There isn’t much road feedback, but it’s not unexpected from this segment.
Performance is on par with other compacts: faster than the recent Toyota Corolla models we’ve tested but slower than the turbo and non-turbo Honda Civics we tested at Car of the Year. Running the 2017 Hyundai Elantra Limited around our figure eight confirmed what we experienced when we first drove the car; the controlled chassis, although no Focus ST, is a solid handler. The 2017 Elantra was slower in a straight line, but it was faster around the figure eight (27.2 seconds at 0.62 g’s) than a 2014 Elantra GT we tested by half a second. The apples-to-apples the Elantra has improved in every metric, and if you want a sporty Elantra, the forthcoming GT will be even better.
We preferred the Normal drive mode most of the time as we found Sport to be almost too touchy for creeping along in traffic. The Elantra’s 2.0-liter I-4, which makes 147 hp and 132 lb-ft of torque, is enough to get you from A to B, but it won’t get you drunk on power. The EPA estimates you’ll see 28/37 mpg city/highway, which puts the Elantra slightly behind the 2016 Toyota Corolla (29/38 mpg with CVT), Nissan Sentra (29/38 mpg with CVT), and the 2016 Honda Civic (31/41 mpg with CVT and 2.0-liter I-4). Motor Trend’s Real MPG numbers paint a different picture. The Elantra’s 28.8/40.5/33.1 mpg city/highway/combined puts it below only the 2014 Toyota Corolla LE Eco (30.8/39.4/34.2 mpg) and tied with the 2016 Honda Civic Touring turbo (27.1/45.3/33.1 mpg). Not only is the Elantra with a six-speed automatic more enjoyable to drive than its competition with CVTs, but you’ll also be seeing better real-world fuel economy than in most of the competition.
Our 2017 Hyundai Elantra Limited carried a base MSRP of $23,185 but rang in at $27,710 with the $2,500 Tech package, $1,900 Ultimate package, and $125 carpeted floormats (they’re nice). The interior isn’t lavish, but has thoughtfully placed touches throughout. The center console is padded, as are the main armest touchpoints on the door panels. The Tech package includes heated outboard rear seats (a nice touch) and a memory system for the setting on the driver’s seat. The driver’s seat moves back out of the way when the vehicle is shut off and automatically motors back to your last seating position when started, which we appreciated when swapping drivers. We also like the hands-free smart trunk, which requires no driver input. No hand/foot/limb waving—just walk up to the locked car, key fob in your pocket, stand behind it, and after three or four beeps the trunk pops open. The trunk is not motorized, so it only opens halfway, but it’s enough to let you nudge it open should your hands be full. If you stand behind the locked car to chat, the trunk-opening sequence will begin, and that annoyed us on a few occasions.
The Elantra also features both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which bring some of the latest navigation and infotainment features to the compact sedan segment. Because drivers often text, play music, and use their smartphones while driving anyway, giving people the option to engage with their phones in a safer and convenient way seems obvious. Both systems make interacting with messaging/phone calls/navigation/music easy by offering robust voice recognition and simple yet intuitive user interfaces.
You can also controlling the Elantra via your Android Wear or Apple smartwatch. Your smartwatch gets linked to your smartphone, which is able to send commands to the vehicle via the cellular connection built into the Blue Link telematics system (essentially, it’s Hyundai’s version of OnStar). You select the app, issue the command (via voice or pressing a button), enter a PIN, wait up to 40 seconds, and then the car unlocks/locks/start the engine/stops the engine/flashes the lights/honks the horn for you. The necessary backend steps make the process a little cumbersome (send command to the cloud, cloud initiates connection with Hyundai Elantra, Elantra receives command, Elantra mulls it over, then your Elantra’s engine starts) but simpler commands are processed even quicker. We saw door lock/unlock commands go through in 15-20 seconds, while the engine start took nearly 45 seconds. Like many other systems that offer smartphone integration, you can only send one command at a time.
Remember that Super Bowl ad by Hyundai that featured the 2017 Elantra? The one with the bear, a smartwatch, and a narrow escape thanks to a car that starts in mere seconds via voice command? We did a little investigative journalism and came to the conclusion that you’d totally be eaten by the bear. In that situation, you’d want skip the tech (which probably wouldn’t have the needed cellular connection anyway) use the standard keyless entry, and get out of there. In the real world, if you’re rocking one of those huge phones that might actually be a tablet or your phone tends to get lost in the bottom of a packed purse/suitcase/gym bag, then a smartwatch would certainly make things easier for you. It’s not for everyone, but we have to hand it to Hyundai for being toward the front end of this tech-trend curve.
The 2017 Hyundai Elantra is more refined, more efficient, and a little more expensive than the car it replaces. Is it worth it? Definitely. Hyundai has been selling some of the best bargains around for a few years, and now it’s started to become a nameplate synonymous with quality. At first glance we were shocked that a Hyundai would sticker for nearly $28,000, but once we spent some time in it, we reexamined our prejudices and banished memories of the Hyundai we knew from years past. If you’re looking for a compact sedan that’s really more like a midsize on the inside and you want more than just transportation, the Hyundai Elantra should be on your list.
| 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sedan Limited | |
| BASE PRICE | $23,185 |
| PRICE AS TESTED | $27,710 |
| VEHICLE LAYOUT | Front-engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan |
| ENGINE | 2.0L/147-hp/132-lb-ft Atkinson-cycle DOHC 16-valve I-4 |
| TRANSMISSION | 6-speed automatic |
| CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) | 2,942 lb (61/39%) |
| WHEELBASE | 106.3 in |
| LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT | 179.9 x 70.9 x 56.5 in |
| 0-60 MPH | 9.0 sec |
| QUARTER MILE | 16.8 sec @ 84.7 mph |
| BRAKING, 60-0 MPH | 116 ft |
| LATERAL ACCELERATION | 0.83 g (avg) |
| MT FIGURE EIGHT | 27.2 sec @ 0.62 g (avg) |
| EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON | 28/37/32 mpg |
| ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY | 120/91 kW-hrs/100 miles |
| CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB | 0.62 lb/mile |
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