2013 Elantra GLS -- first 2000 miles Options

[trainfun]

I bought a 2013 Elantra 6-speed manual on last November 11. Overall, I'm very impressed with the car. I'm coming out of a 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder (auto, non-turbo unfortunately) which gave excellent service for just short of 17 years and 156,000 miles. The two cars are designed for different purposes and have very different personalities. The Eclipse was fun to toss around, had excellent handling and of course, was great with the top down. The Elantra is much more comfortable, quiet and gets much better mileage. Shifting gears manually is the best! I hate automatics! I did the first oil change at 1,750 miles and will do the next at 4,000 miles and then every 4,000 miles thereafter. I'm old school and do not trust the extended change intervals. The last 2 cars in our family went 196,000 miles and 156,000 miles with no internal engine work, so I'm sticking with what has worked for me.

After 2000 miles on the Elantra these are the plusses and minuses I see

Plusses: Great gas mileage, between 38-42 mpg. I drive gently and do most of my driving between 30-60 mph on suburban roads. On the interstate at 75-80 mph mileage drops to about 36-37.
After the Eclipse, this car is amazingly quiet, especially on good roads. On bad pavement tire noise gets loud and there is more wind noise at the passenger door than I'd like.
The engine is silent at idle and very quiet cruising around town.
Acceleration is decent and the engine pulls well from 1500 rpm, which is more flexible than most 4 cylinders I've owned which needed to be closer to 2000 rpm.
The interior is very nice for a $16,600 car. The standard equipment for that price is phenomenal. Power windows, locks, cruise control, stereo CD, A/C, aluminum wheels, 4 wheel disk brakes at this price is a real bonus.
The clutch is smooth and the shifter is easy, though 6 gears are a lot and going from 5th to 6th occasionally finds me going into 4th by mistake and downshifting into third from 6th sometimes me going into 5th. I'm
getting better as the miles pile up. (I've driven a stick since I was 16, in my 60's now, the Eclipse was the only automatic I've owned.)
The engine uses a spin-on filter which is great because I do my own maintenance and hate the cartridge filter on my wife's RAV 4 V6.
Smooth ride on good roads.

Minuses:
Handling could be better, especially the feeling that the rear end could break loose during hard cornering. (The Eclipse spoiled me here, but again these cars were designed for different purposes.) I've read the posts
about upgrading the rear shocks and adding a rear sway bar with interest. If I was sure I wouldn't give up ride quality, I'd consider both mods. I usually drive gently, so this isn't a major issue. No doubt the tires
have soft sidewalls that are designed to maximize ride comfort, too. I also would like more road feel from the Electric Power steering, but EPS systems have a long way to go at this point in their evolution in all makes.
Wind noise, especially around the passenger door seems louder than it should be. I will have the dealer check this out.
The stereo system is weak. I hate taking door panels off (it seems they are never tight after they come off) but a speaker upgrade may be a necessity.
Of course, not having a spare in a car that is otherwise so well equipped is a bummer. I'll pick up a spare wheel and buy a tire and have a full size spare.
The cheesy dipstick, single door lock and no trunk key lock are cost savings measures that detract from the overall feeling of quality.

I'm looking forward to driving this car for 10 years. At this stage of my life I enjoy the quiet, smoothness and great mileage. I hope it is as reliable as the Eclipse was. (The dealer replaced a cat converter under warranty, fixed the harmonic balancer pulley and I replaced a cam position sensor and changed the timing belt twice, changed the oil, filters and brake pads -- that was it in 156,000 miles. When I traded it in it still had the original top and it didn't use any oil between changes and the oil came out looking new after each 3,500 mile interval.)

[roydjt]

trainfun, welcome to the club, and thank you for the insightful review! It sounds like you're overall very pleased with your car, as were most of us. The pluses far outweigh the minuses, and your cons can be managed for the most part.

When I replaced the sway bar in my 04, I experienced no drawbacks in driving comfort, it only solidified the rear end. Since the shocks will still do their job in the same manner in all but the most extreme situations, the general ride of the car should be unchanged. The tires will make a big difference when you replace them. Your stock tires not only have soft sidewalls, but they are also a hard, "low rolling resistance" compound. Choosing the right tire will get you closer to the balance of handling and comfort that you're looking for.

It sounds like you went into your purchase with a pretty realistic understanding of what you were buying, and you've come out of it a satisfied customer. Welcome to the Hyundai family!

-Roy

[mlumz]

Welcome to the club. Definitely check out our garage and become a VIP and you can see what other members have done to their cars. Changing the rear sway bar, upgrading to poly bushings for the front and rear swaybar and new tires will definitely improve your car.

Even though mine is an 05 and your is a 13, the general concepts are the same. Check out my garage I've done a lot of changes to improve handling minus lowering springs/new struts (this will come in spring).

As for the stereo, the best thing is an upgraded headunit, but it's much more difficult in newer cars with the steering controls, etc. Maybe adding a small subwoofer in the trunk may add a little extra sound.

[trainfun]

Thanks for the suggestions and information. I've no doubt that changing the tires will definitely help, but with a treadwear grade of 440 it looks like they will be around for a while. I'm hoping upgrading the speakers will help enough that I won't want to change the head unit. I really like the look of the dash and don't want to change it up.

Regarding gas mileage, driving technique and traffic can make an incredible difference. Yesterday I filled up and drove 11 miles to a free clinic where I work. Light traffic and only one red light, 30 - 50 mph and 46.5 mpg. I zeroed out the avg. mpg before the drive home. On the way home I hit multiple lights, and made several stops for people ahead of me making left turns (2 way road) and wound up with 37.4 mpg. Same route, same weather, actually warmer on the way home, yet a 9 mpg difference!

Thanks again for the suggestions!

[TrumpetTitan]

I liked reading your review of the car. I mostly have to agree, and I think we have similar views of the car since we are both coming to it from sporty convertibles.

Compared to the S2000, the Elantra is VERY quiet lol. I haven't noticed the tire noise so much, but I live in a pretty developed area (not bragging, lol, anyone seen "The Wire?")

I'm amazed with the low end power in the Elantra. Under 3000 RPM, the Elantra has more pull than the S2000. It's refreshing. However, I'm used to finding more power by revving up the engine, and it doesn't really happen with this car (it happens like crazy in the S2000 ).

I'm not impressed with the shifter on the Elantra, although I may be spoiled from my other car in that manner. The worst thing about the Elantra's shifting is that the knob will stay to the left when I pull it out of 1st or 2nd, whereas an Accord or S2000 will have the knob return to the center (between 3rd and 4th). This took a while to get used to and led to some slow shifting into 3rd (thank goodness for the gate keeping me from going back into 1st!).

The stereo is decent, but not great. The quiet cabin makes it work though. The stereo in the S2000 is a joke...it's really just there because hardly anyone would buy a car without one these days.

With my driving, I find the Elantra to have more of a tendency to understeer (probably because I had driven a VERY tail-happy car and had adapted my driving to prevent that). Although i have gotten the rear to break loose a tiny bit in bad weather.


Your review of the Elantra made me happy that I got it, because the minor cons you've pointed out really aren't noticeable, because those cons are magnified in the S2000, making them pros for this car for me.

[TrumpetTitan]

Also, I should add to my shifter complaints. The transaxle stopped going into reverse altogether when the car had 400 miles on it. I had not even put fuel in the car since buying it new.

Fortunately, the warranty covered the tow, rental car, and a new manual transaxle. Still, I'm wary about it holding up over the length of my ownership...

[trainfun]

Trumpet Titan,
Sorry to hear about your trans. So far mine has 3,800 and is fine, but when something is made in such small quantities it is cause for concern. At least we have a good warranty to fall back on.

I drove Corvairs for many years (the 65-69 models handled incredibly well when set up properly) and am very comfortable with oversteering cars, but the feeling in the Elantra is different -- it just feels like it doesn't have much adhesion back there when it is really pushed (very rarely) and the response is lazy no doubt due to the soft suspension and factory tires. As the miles have added up I have become more accustomed to the feel and it doesn't bother me much anymore.

I didn't buy the Elantra as a sporty car, I was attracted to the quiet, interior design, styling and gas mileage and it has impressed me very much in those areas. From other posts on this board, different shocks, a rear sway bar and different tires would make a world of difference in the handling area.

I may change my stereo speakers even though I hate removing door panels because the sound is too weak and thin for my 60+ ears!

I hope your new transmission gives you many miles of trouble-free service. And, yes, winding up an S2000 engine is a lot different than winding up the Elantra, but I still enjoy running it up through the gears.