Gadgetory

when we tested Hyundai's new Elantra sedan we came to the conclusion that it was good actually almost better than the Civic good so Hyundai's taking an if it ain't broke don't fix it sort of approach to the new Hyundai Elantra sedan let's hop on this 2013 model and check the tank now the sedan already had a pretty coupe like profile a lot of people looked at it and didn't even realize there were four doors there so for the coupe what Hyundai's done is they've actually given a little bit more aggressive rake to the roof of course they've dropped the rear doors and the long gate at the front it's a bit of a me-too Hyundai civic coupe but I mean they're trying to take out the best here so they're pretty much sticking with the script so it's actually a little bit amazing how quickly car tech is starting to progress this dashboard infotainment system is only about two maybe two and a half years old and it's it's already the old one this is the same navigation system that we saw debut in the Elantra sedan a couple of years ago but it's not Hyundai's newest system that has the new blue link infotainment connectivity and telematics system now down here at the bottom of the center console we've got your sort of standard Haeundae USB auxiliary input combo down there and to connect an ipod you're gonna get a $30 cable that's gonna bridge both of those connections into a dock connector now that 30-pin dock connector is definitely not iPhone 5 friendly so you're probably out of luck if you've recently upgraded your phone other audio sources are going to include bluetooth for hands-free calling and audio streaming Sirius XM satellite radio and your basic AM FM and CD sources if you spec the version with the automatic transmission you also get the option to activate what's called the active eco mode by pushing a button over here next to the steering wheel now what that's going to do is it's going to slightly detune your throttle response and your tip in so you get a little bit better fuel economy at the expense of bit of responsiveness now if you want to get pretty close to what that EPA estimate for combined fuel economy is you're gonna want to use that button now under the hood you're gonna find Hyundai's 1.8 liter four-cylinder engine now this small engine places an emphasis on fuel economy not power you're looking at about 148 horsepower 131 pound-feet of torque now you can get the Elantra coupe with a six-speed manual transmission and your fuel economy you'll be 28 in the city 38 on the highway and 32 combined at least that's what the EPA tells you we've never actually gotten anywhere close Hyundai's quoted numbers they must be really good at gaming the system now if you have a 6-speed automatic transmission like our vehicle is you lose one mile per gallon across the board on all of those ratings now I don't know what sport Hyundai is talking about when they mentioned the sport-tuned suspension in the vehicle but it surely ain't racing because there's it's just not very sporty at all there's it's pretty soft I suppose what do you expect from a you know about $20,000 vehicle and of course also as you'd expect from the 1.8 liter engine without a tremendous amount of power you don't get a lot of grunt from a go the 6-speed automatic transmission also isn't really helping here but I mean I've had a hard time keeping up with our camera van for this shoot it's just that little amount of power now the active eco mode that I mentioned earlier it does really just kind of scale back all of your throttle inputs and kind of you know there's not really a fun car to begin with but it does take all of the fun out of it I almost hesitate to drive around in the active eco mode because I mean even though you do maybe get a couple extra miles per gallon it really just adds a little too much lag in the responsiveness there's an extra sort of one one thousand two one thousand before the vehicle actually decides that it's going to downshift for a pass or an extra bit of paddle travel that I think a lot of drivers aren't really going to be comfortable with the 2013 Hyundai Elantra coupe start at 17,000 $445 now now for the bass GS model with the manual transmission but to even get the option to add any tech to this car you're gonna want to step up to the SE model and then again to the 6-speed automatic transmission for twenty thousand seven hundred and forty five dollars that gives you the option to add the tech package for two thousand three hundred and fifty bucks that brings you to our as tested price of twenty three thousand ninety five dollars and as is the case with most Hyundai's that's probably the Elantra coupes best selling point it's a really good car with pretty decent tech for thousands less than the competition