Hyundai Elantra SR Turbo 2017 Long-term Review - 2

Never has the age-old adage ‘don’t trust a book by its cover’ been truer than with the Hyundai Elantra. Based on first impressions, I feared I was in for a week with a boring, run-of-the-mill sedan.

I realised how wrong I was the second I spotted our long-termer’s red leather seats – an ostentatious reminder to expect the unexpected from the Korean car-maker. While on the outside the Elantra looks like a slightly more streamlined version of sedans I see on the street most days, the interior is a contradiction.

More what I’d expect from an Audi than a Hyundai, it feels surprisingly luxurious. The crimson seats might be overkill (they’re an optional extra for $295), but the racing car-inspired, leather-bound steering wheel, plus the brown leather glove box and even the leather-look key all feel a bit fancy and give the car some much-needed X-factor.

Another nice touch is the way the car “wakes up” when you’re nearby with the key – side mirrors pop out to say hello and, at night, parking lights come on. It’s somewhat charming, a little bit helpful and occasionally creepy when you’re coming home in a taxi and your car suddenly wakes up next to you when you’re paying the fare. There’s push-button start and keyless entry too.

The Hyundai Elantra is really spacious and comfortable. The seats provide plenty of back support and the driver’s seat height is fully adjustable (a real highlight for tall people like me) plus the back seats are also convertible.

There’s plenty of legroom for back-seat drivers, as well as air vents for when they need to cool down after telling you what they think you should be doing (can you tell I’ve had this problem before?). The boot is big, sturdy and deep and would easily accommodate three medium suitcases.

Bluetooth connection is easy enough, but takes a little while to reconnect once the car has started. There’s also a slight lag when using the display screen to change music tracks on your mobile device. There are plenty of other perks – climate control, parking sensors, seat heaters, blind-spot monitoring and a rear-vision camera to name a few.

There are three drive modes – Normal, Eco and sport. Eco focuses on keeping fuel economy to a minimum, something the Elantra desperately needs, but more on that later. Meanwhile, the Sport mode – using non-technical terms – just feels like it puts a bit more pep in your step. Steering feels more dynamic and the car handles sharp corners with ease.

The Elantra feels smooth and quiet on the road and the brakes are responsive, but I found the accelerator had a bit of a lag when starting back up from a standing stop, like at a red light or in heavy traffic. Of course, once you get moving, the turbo means it has a bit of a kick, but I didn’t really feel like I was driving anything resembling a sports car. More like a sedan with sporty sensibilities.

Another bothersome flaw is the rear window, which has limited visibility at the best of times but becomes even more impenetrable in rain or humidity. A back wiper could seriously save the day in this instance.

Fuel consumption is advertised as 7.2L/100km combined, but my trip computer had my week of admittedly short trips in fairly heavy traffic coming in at 8.9L/100km. A quick look at my colleague Nadine’s review found the car to be pretty thirsty. I agree with Nadine that idle-stop could have vastly improved this problem, but perhaps that was Hyundai’s plan for the Eco mode. You just don’t want to have to feel like you’re sacrificing drive quality in order to make a full tank last longer.

Given it’s the sportier, top-spec version of the new Elantra, I thought the SR Turbo was good value at its starting price of $28,990, especially when you take its competitors into consideration (most of them hover at the $30,000 mark or above).

In my humble opinion, the extras our long-termer has – like the red leather seats and metallic paint – aren’t worth the additional cash, but they do imbue the car with a certain luxury feel it might otherwise be missing.

My week with the Elantra didn’t set my world on fire, but I was pleasantly surprised by how I came to appreciate its swanky interior and comfortable, user-friendly on-road experience. Maybe just give the red leather seats a miss.

Hyundai Elantra SR Turbo pricing and specifications:
Price: $31,290 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 150kW/265Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 7.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 163g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

Related reading:
>> Hyundai Elantra SR Turbo 2017 (Long-Term Introduction)
>> Hyundai Elantra SR Turbo 2016 Video Review
>> Hyundai i30 SR v Elantra SR Turbo 2016 Comparison