2018 Hyundai Elantra GT 2.0L Automatic

When Hyundai first showed off the latest Elantra hatchback, which gets GT badging, we were excited. Once again joining the four-door sedan in the Elantra family, the hatchback’s European roots and attractive looks hinted at an experience distinct from that of the sedan. Like its predecessor, this Elantra GT is sourced from Hyundai’s European operations, whereas the sedan hails from the South Korean mothership. Yet for all this, the GT isn’t exactly a Volkswagen Golf wearing Korean clothes.

That sort of experience is restricted to the Elantra GT Sport, which boasts a 201-hp turbocharged engine and a more sophisticated multilink rear suspension. The regular GT is a bit more pedestrian, packing as it does Hyundai’s long-serving direct-injected 2.0-liter inline-four and a twist-beam rear axle. With 161 horsepower and the optional six-speed automatic transmission ($1000) that we suspect most GTs will be equipped with, our test example exhibited average performance. We goaded the GT to 60 mph in 8.0 seconds and noted a so-so 0.83 g of grip from its all-season tires on our skidpad.

Although fun isn’t a particular focus for this specific Elantra model, the body stays reasonably flat through corners and the car isn’t loathe to change direction aggressively. It’s competent, never getting in the way of athletic maneuvers, but neither does it beg the driver to explore them the way a Honda Civic or a Mazda 3 does. It also falls just short of those cars’ suspension refinement. There is a Sport mode, but it only affects the powertrain calibration. The sharper transmission and throttle behavior is welcome, if a bit out of sync with the rest of the car’s more relaxed demeanor. And while the four-cylinder speaks softly and offers punchy response around town, it goes boomy and a bit thrashy at the higher engine speeds more easily reached in the Sport mode or by a driver in a hurry.

Still, the GT is plenty likable. The ride is controlled and comfortable. At freeway speeds the cabin is quieter than a Mazda 3’s and roughly on par with the Honda Civic hatchback’s, albeit slightly louder than the hushed VW Golf and Chevrolet Cruze hatches. Stay on the freeway long enough and you’ll enjoy nearly 40 mpg; we recorded 37 mpg during our highway fuel-economy test, 5 mpg higher than the EPA’s highway estimate for the GT and good enough to extend the car’s range to more than 500 miles. Front-seat comfort is stellar, and the cabin overall exudes understated class with soft-touch upper door panels and a mature design. Following industry trends, the GT adopts a touchscreen display that pokes out of the dashboard like a futuristic monolith. It’s difficult to fault the design, since the screen is surrounded by a plethora of large, easy-to-jab button shortcuts to key menus.

Functionally, the interior lives up to the expectations of its hatchback billing. Behind the rear seats lies 25 cubic feet of cargo space, and a two-position load floor can be set flush with the top of the rear bumper (hiding a shallow cubby below) or a few inches lower, sans cubby. Folding the rear seats flat—or, in this case, nearly flat—opens up an additional 30 cubic feet of storage. Those totals eclipse every key competitor (including the Mazda 3, Ford Focus, Chevy Cruze, and VW Golf) save for the Civic hatchback, and the Honda barely edges the Elantra GT in seats-up volume. Seats folded, the Hyundai beats the Honda, too.

For something with so small a footprint that can fit so much stuff inside, the Elantra GT is quite handsome. At each end of its clean flanks there are chiseled features and upscale detailing, and the overall vibe is reminiscent of the timeless Golf. The list of standard features is nearly as striking and includes 17-inch aluminum wheels, LED running lights, the aforementioned 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated door mirrors, a 3.5-inch driver-information display in the gauge cluster, automatic headlights, and Bluetooth phone connectivity. Our test car added only the automatic transmission and $125 in carpeted floor mats for an affordable grand total of $21,360.

Aside from blind-spot monitoring, the base Elantra GT doesn’t offer many of the active-safety features available on an increasing number of competitors. The blind-spot tech is part of the $1800 Style package, which also includes heated front seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, a power driver’s seat, dual-zone automatic climate control, a larger color instrument-cluster display, and a proximity key with push-button start. The $4300 Tech package (which requires the Style package) adds nothing in the way of safety gear beyond Hyundai’s Blue Link telematics setup and an electronic parking brake, but it does shower the GT with leather upholstery, navigation, LED headlights, ventilated front seats, premium audio, and more.

Regarding safety technology, Honda’s base Civic hatchback with the CVT can be had with lane-departure warning, a lane-keeping function, forward-collision warning, and adaptive cruise control for an extra $1000, bringing its total price to just $21,700; ditto Subaru’s Impreza hatch, which bundles those same features under the EyeSight banner for $1395 on top of the 2.0i Premium trim level’s $22,655 MSRP. Even Toyota’s $19,745 Corolla iM includes lane-departure warning and forward-collision warning as standard, and automated emergency braking is included in the $21,270 Mazda 3 Sport hatchback and in the $22,415 VW Golf Wolfsburg. To get any of the above features in an Elantra GT, you need to pony up nearly $30,000 for a fully loaded Sport model with the automatic transmission. We’re all for drivers paying attention and avoiding accidents on their own, but shoppers looking for solid-goods transportation are looking for the increasingly common active-safety gear that the basic GT lacks. The Hyundai is otherwise an agreeable, straightforward machine.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback

PRICE AS TESTED: $21,360 (base price: $21,235)

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 122 cu in, 1999 cc
Power: 161 hp @ 6200 rpm
Torque: 150 lb-ft @ 4700 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 104.3 in
Length: 170.9 in
Width: 70.7 in Height: 57.7 in
Passenger volume: 97 cu ft
Cargo volume: 25 cu ft
Curb weight: 2925 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 8.0 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 22.0 sec
Zero to 110 mph: 30.1 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 8.4 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 3.8 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 5.4 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.2 sec @ 87 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 130 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 171 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.83 g

C/D FUEL ECONOMY:
Observed: 27 mph
75-mph highway driving: 37 mpg
Highway range: 510 miles

EPA FUEL ECONOMY:
Combined/city/highway: 27/24/32 mpg