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Dealership let my wife test drive a base model Elantra yesterday. Her car is a 2007 Chrysler Sebring Touring with 2.4L engine. We found the Elantra felt better built, more expensive, faster acceleration, and had a smoother ride than her Sebring. She brought it home for me to try. Comparing it to my 2003 Malibu; it feels about the same size, feels faster from a dead stop (didn't test 0-60), slightly larger trunk, much more comfortable seats, more firm steering. There are a few negatives but they're minor. I was pleasantly surprised by the acceleration of the base 1.8L engine.
I'm a fan of the current generation Elantra and if I was shopping for a smaller car I'd certainly pick it over the Corolla and Civic. I'd also go with the Elantra over the Mazda3 sedan but I have a soft spot for the new Mazda3 four door hatch so that would be my preference.
I'm a fan of the current generation Elantra and if I was shopping for a smaller car I'd certainly pick it over the Corolla and Civic. I'd also go with the Elantra over the Mazda3 sedan but I have a soft spot for the new Mazda3 four door hatch so that would be my preference.
I like the Mazda3 but it's sporty suspension is harsher over the bumps. Make it smoother over bumps and I would have chosen it over the Elantra.
Just got back from dealership. They helped me get the Elantra I wanted. 2015 Elantra SE with the popular package. Main reasons I wanted this package include rear camera, fog lights (for fog only), visor extensions, & automatic headlights.
I did a lot of comparison shopping last spring, looking at corolla's, civics, and mazda 3's but I found the Kia Forte to be a better car for the money.
I read where the tooling costs for the Kia Forte was about 21 million dollars and included Korean, American, and German engineers.
I did a lot of comparison shopping last spring, looking at corolla's, civics, and mazda 3's but I found the Kia Forte to be a better car for the money.
I read where the tooling costs for the Kia Forte was about 21 million dollars and included Korean, American, and German engineers.
It's a surprising car for the money.
I did too. Each had advantages over the Elantra. The Corolla had the history of reliability and smooth comfortable ride, but I couldn't get past it's new gaping hole mouth and not sure about it's CVT reliability since it's so new for Toyota. Civic also has reliability but I don't like it's styling compared to the Elantra (exterior & interior). The Civic's dashboard display was the deal breaker for myself. Mazda3 to me has the best engine, fuel efficiency, and handling. Interior is great and I can live with the exterior. What was the deal breaker for me is the suspension over our local bumpy roads compared to the Elantra. Wife would need a smoother ride because of her spinal problems for when she would ride with me or have to drive my car if her car is in the shop. Not sure about the Ford Focus' reported transmission problems. Not a fan of the Focus styling (interior & exterior). I'm more conservative in my styling taste. Dodge Dart interior is good but am not a fan of the nose on the Dart. The fuel efficient engine Dart is pretty slow because of the heavy weight of the Dart. I like the VW Jetta styling (interior & exterior) and handling. The 2.0L is too weak and too thirsty, the 1.8L turbo has plenty of power but is just as thirsty as the 2.0L, the TDI 2.0L diesel has the fuel economy I want but the price was just a little above what I wanted. I strongly debated between the Elantra and Jetta. If I could have afforded a little more monthly payment dollar amount then I might have chosen the Jetta or Golf (same platform, different body shape). The difference between the Forte & Elantra came down to styling since they're mechanically the same. I prefer the exterior styling of the Elantra sedan over the Forte sedan. The interior styling looked good on both and I could have lived with either. The Chevy Cruze has the right styling (exterior & interior), handling, OK acceleration, smooth ride, and fuel efficiency. What left this off my list is my personal history with Chevrolet, problems I've had with my local Chevy dealership, and some of the recalls on the Cruze.
New plus I found out yesterday. The heater gets hot more than twice as fast as my 2003 Chevy Malibu 3.1L V6. Is this normal for these modern small 4 cylinder engine cars?
It's easy to make a car feel fast off the line, just raise the lower gears. I had a Kia Spectra5 that was very quick 0-30, but a complete dog above that. You should try merging onto the highway in the Elantra and see how the 45-65 acceleration is, I hope it's better than my Spectra was. It wasn't a bad car at all, very reliable over the 110k miles I owned it, just poor mid range acceleration, and mediocre MPG (23 commuting).
New plus I found out yesterday. The heater gets hot more than twice as fast as my 2003 Chevy Malibu 3.1L V6. Is this normal for these modern small 4 cylinder engine cars?
Direct injected engines do seem to warm up faster, my Sonata warms up quickly. Just a heads up, if you drive easy for awhile, then stomp it one day to pass someone, you may see a cloud of smoke come from the exhaust. Lots of people have complained about it, but it's just excess carbon that gets blown out. Also, make sure to ALWAYS use Hyundai/Kia brand oil filters, some other brands will cause these engines to tick.
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