Topic: 2011 Hyundai Elantra

[ironwood]

I can think of few sedans where the rear seats fold truly flat. 

Jaeger

Quite agree.....if the back seats angled up from the trunk floor that would be better, but my recollection was that there was a 2/3" rise from the trunk floor before the fold down seats angled up......meaning pass through items like my skiis would be sitting at probably a 30 degree angle off the trunk floor.  Not the end of the world and you simply adjust how you pack things.  Anyway it's better than the uneven trunk floor on the Impreza 2.5i sedan I looked at earlier this week.

[Ice]

While I think it's a lot of car for the money, a couple of things bugged me.  Just a temporary spare...but that is usual for compacts today, and the reality is I haven't had a flat in at least 15 years!

I've had a full size spare in my Altima for 4 years - hauling all that extra weight around in the trunk, day in day out - and never needed it.  And if I did, a smaller, lighter more compact temporary spare would get me to a repair - which I'd have to do anyway.  I'm happy Hyundai decided to save the weight and the space. A mounted 17" tire aint small and aint light.

 

The trunk is generous, but the rear seats don't fold flat. 

I can think of few sedans where the rear seats fold truly flat. 

Jaeger

Indeed. My Corolla's seats don't fold flat and neither do my neighbors Civic and none of the other compacts I tried did. Only the Fit has the potential for fold completely flat seats and that's assuming you have much shorter legs than I do.

I should say in practice the fold flat hasn't been a big deal for me. I've helped some friends move and it wasn't a big deal not folding flat. The fact that the seats fold at all was a much bigger deal.

[CatsEye68]

Best fold-flat rear seat setup I ever saw was in my '90 Golf GTI. You could fold the rear seatback down, but if you really needed space, the rear seat cushion would flip forward which would let the seatback fold low and flat. The amount of stuff you could put in the back of that thing was incredible.

[Gamefreak]

Congrats!  Why not tell us a little bit anout what led to your choice - what other vehicles you tested and why you chose this one.  The XM may grow on you - it did for me. 

Jaeger

I wanted a car with better mileage than my 01 Civic, and that narrowed the field quite a bit.  I also wanted a 6-speed manual, as noise/revs were high in highway driving on the Civic too.  I didn't want a diesel because the majority of my driving is a 20 minute commute to/from work, and diesels take forever to heat up in the dead of winter.  I looked at the Cruze, but only the manual Eco actually had better mileage, and the Elantra beat that in city driving anyway.

[Ice]

Congrats!  Why not tell us a little bit anout what led to your choice - what other vehicles you tested and why you chose this one.  The XM may grow on you - it did for me. 

Jaeger

I wanted a car with better mileage than my 01 Civic, and that narrowed the field quite a bit.  I also wanted a 6-speed manual, as noise/revs were high in highway driving on the Civic too.  I didn't want a diesel because the majority of my driving is a 20 minute commute to/from work, and diesels take forever to heat up in the dead of winter.  I looked at the Cruze, but only the manual Eco actually had better mileage, and the Elantra beat that in city driving anyway.

As usual... we demand pictures when you get it

[Gamefreak]

As usual... we demand pictures when you get it

In that case I'd better make sure my camera works, but I'll also need to figure out how to upload pictures 

[rrocket]

Best fold-flat rear seat setup I ever saw was in my '90 Golf GTI. You could fold the rear seatback down, but if you really needed space, the rear seat cushion would flip forward which would let the seatback fold low and flat. The amount of stuff you could put in the back of that thing was incredible.

And the Honda Fit refined and improved on that...

[rrocket]

As usual... we demand pictures when you get it

In that case I'd better make sure my camera works, but I'll also need to figure out how to upload pictures 

If you struggle to upload them, PM me and I'll give you my e-mail addy and I'll upload them for you..

[Ice]

As usual... we demand pictures when you get it

In that case I'd better make sure my camera works, but I'll also need to figure out how to upload pictures 

If you have a Hotmail or Gmail account they both have provisions for uploading photos to a public photo gallery. Just one of many ways to do it

[CatsEye68]

Best fold-flat rear seat setup I ever saw was in my '90 Golf GTI. You could fold the rear seatback down, but if you really needed space, the rear seat cushion would flip forward which would let the seatback fold low and flat. The amount of stuff you could put in the back of that thing was incredible.

And the Honda Fit refined and improved on that...

Only took them 20 years to copy it. Damn crafty, those Japanese. But slow. Their friends in Ulsan probably would have stolen the idea in 3 months.

[PJungnitsch]

Only took them 20 years to copy it. Damn crafty, those Japanese. But slow. Their friends in Ulsan probably would have stolen the idea in 3 months.

Our Volvo wagon had the same thing in 1972. Damn those thieving Krauts!

[Jaeger]

Only took them 20 years to copy it. Damn crafty, those Japanese. But slow. Their friends in Ulsan probably would have stolen the idea in 3 months.

Our Volvo wagon had the same thing in 1972. Damn those thieving Krauts!

 

Jaeger

[dkaz]

My 85 Civic Wagon DX did one better, you could fold the cushion over and fold the seatback down flat, but if you needed even more space, the back seat cushion folds over again so it's upside down and level with the seatback, so you've basically added an extra foot.

All seats up:
p _/ _/__

Rear seats down, cushion flipped forward
p _/,___

Rear seats down, cushion flipped upside down:
p _/____

Oh and as an extra bonus, lounge mode:
p ___/__

Anyway, I had a look at the Elantra today, very nice car even in the GL trim, I'd be very happy with the GL trim.

[rrocket]

Best fold-flat rear seat setup I ever saw was in my '90 Golf GTI. You could fold the rear seatback down, but if you really needed space, the rear seat cushion would flip forward which would let the seatback fold low and flat. The amount of stuff you could put in the back of that thing was incredible.

And the Honda Fit refined and improved on that...

Only took them 20 years to copy it. Damn crafty, those Japanese. But slow. Their friends in Ulsan probably would have stolen the idea in 3 months.

It's been so long, but I believe our 1977 Honda Civic had it also...

[Schmengie]

I went down to the Hyundai store today to scope out the new '11 Elantra. It's a pretty nice-looking car, sleek and stylish if just a wee bit over-done. There were 8 or 10 of them on the lot but I didn't notice a single base-model in the bunch. Most of them were mid-level models priced in the low $20K range, the cheapest was just under $21K. They had a couple of top-line cars with leather and nav but the prices on those babies were pushing $28K. At that point methinks a mid-level Sonata makes a lot more sense even with less content, especially considering it's over $1K cheaper.  Man, those cars sure aren't the screaming deals they used to be.

[Gamefreak]

My 85 Civic Wagon DX did one better, you could fold the cushion over and fold the seatback down flat, but if you needed even more space, the back seat cushion folds over again so it's upside down and level with the seatback, so you've basically added an extra foot.

All seats up:
p _/ _/__

Rear seats down, cushion flipped forward
p _/,___

Rear seats down, cushion flipped upside down:
p _/____

Oh and as an extra bonus, lounge mode:
p ___/__

Anyway, I had a look at the Elantra today, very nice car even in the GL trim, I'd be very happy with the GL trim.

But it doesn't have the alloys
Funny you mention the old Civic Wagon, my sis had an '84.  No power whatsoever, but it had a choke!

[Jaeger]

. They had a couple of top-line cars with leather and nav but the prices on those babies were pushing $28K.

A loaded Elantra Limited with Nav / Leather lists at $24,699 - not $28k.  No options to add beyond some not too costly dealer accessories  (mats, trunk tray, etc.) 

As for the comparison on price with the Sonata, a loaded Civic will be similar in price to a base Accord - same for Corolla /  Camry, 3 / 6, Sentra, Altima etc.  And these compacts are all going to start topping out at higher price points because of the higher trim level available compared to years past.  Leather, nav, bluetooth, XM radio, heated front and rear seats, proximity key with start button - and so on - were unheard-of in the class just a model generation or two ago.

Jaeger

[Ex-airbalancer]

What is wrong with driving a nice load car that is smaller in size

Bigger is not always better

[dougjp]

Has anyone driven a GLS and a Limited back to back, preferably a manual GLS? Is there any difference in sound deadening/road noise, and any other differences of consequence in the way it drives (other than the feature differences)?

Another question, has anyone driven a Forte manual (preferably an SX) and an Elantra GLS manual? Comments about throttle tip in, clutch weighting and take up for each? This is in relation to the problem Kia had (and Wing suggested in a recent test of an automatic  still exists). The concern is its a common problem Hyundai/Kia has with making proper manual tranny setups. I didn't like the Genesis Coupe very much either.

[Jaeger]

What is wrong with driving a nice load car that is smaller in size

Bigger is not always better

Exactly.  And again, if you don't want all the luxy toys you are by no means forced to get them.

doug - I haven't driven a manual version, though I like the fact that it is at least available on the mid-level GLS and not restricted to the absolute base model as it is in the Sonata.  Sure wish you could get a stick with the Limited, though.

Jaeger