Honda Civic or Hyundai Elantra GT

Scoobaroo ftw of course

thats not how you spell purepleboo

2013 Civic has some nice upgrades from 2012. Nicer exterior styling, better ride, noticeably quieter ride.

Drive both, and make sure you do city and highway driving as well as some heavy handling.

Whenever I see one stopped I am expecting about 20 clowns to get out. Too bad the current generation is so ugly, what were they thinking. The previous ones were so sexy. It's almost like the car was designed by Toyota or something.

More likely it was designed by Ford.

We just bought an Elantra GT. GLS model with huge pano sunroof and 6 speed manual. It's a pretty sweet little car, fun to drive, cheap and has lots of good standard features (bluetooth, heated seats, cooled glovebox etc).

Cheap payments and a 30c/litre discount gas card. We even bought the extended warranty as if it is not used at all within 7 years, we get the premium refunded in full. That was kind of a no-brainer.

Handling is good, steering is as good as electronic power-steering gets (I put it in Sport mode from day one and haven't changed it yet) and the fuel economy is great. Not as good as advertised but ~6.5l/100km isn't bad for highway driving Pemberton to Whistler daily.

I voted other and second a Mazda 3. Good fuel mileage and it's really quite fun to drive. It tosses into corners quite nicely.

I'm assuming you're talking about the mazda? Everyone's got their opinion. Personally (being a biased owner) I like the look of the new generation hatchback 3. And, it's actually a bigger car than the older models… so I'm sure you could fit at least 21 clowns in it.

I currently have a 2001 protege, had it for 10 years so I am a mazda fan. I just think they ruined that car with the latest design.

I'm a hatchback guy, way more versatile. My wife has the Elantra sedan and it's a great little car but beware of the gas mileage. Haven't got below 8L/100km's yet after 32000kms. Steering is a little vague but the GT has the adjustable steering so that's an improvement. Quality and build is as good as the Civic so far and is a much nicer looking car imo. I'd go with the Elantra GT.

This is what worries me. I already average that mileage in my 12 year protege. The Civic and Elantra have the same posted fuel economy rating but I have read that the Elantra still does not meet it even after they adjusted the ratings and compensated previous purchasers.

We just bought an Elantra GT. GLS model with huge pano sunroof and 6 speed manual. It's a pretty sweet little car, fun to drive, cheap and has lots of good standard features (bluetooth, heated seats, cooled glovebox etc).

Cheap payments and a 30c/litre discount gas card. We even bought the extended warranty as if it is not used at all within 7 years, we get the premium refunded in full. That was kind of a no-brainer.

Handling is good, steering is as good as electronic power-steering gets (I put it in Sport mode from day one and haven't changed it yet) and the fuel economy is great. Not as good as advertised but ~6.5l/100km isn't bad for highway driving Pemberton to Whistler daily.

This is the one I'm looking at. I can live without a sunroof but that model is discounted to the same price as the GL so there is no money saved by going a model lower. How many tanks and kms have you driven to average 6.5? Is that your calculation or the trip computer?

Do you find it annoying that the right hand stereo knob in 5ft away from the driver?

This is what worries me. I already average that mileage in my 12 year protege. The Civic and Elantra have the same posted fuel economy rating but I have read that the Elantra still does not meet it even after they adjusted the ratings and compensated previous purchasers.

This is the one I'm looking at. I can live without a sunroof but that model is discounted to the same price as the GL so there is no money saved by going a model lower. How many tanks and kms have you driven to average 6.5? Is that your calculation or the trip computer?

Do you find it annoying that the right hand stereo knob in 5ft away from the driver?

That's going by the trip computer and an app on my phone… both the same. I'm at 3500kms.

Don't find it annoying at all as I just use TuneIn radio app on my phone through Bluetooth!

Originally Posted by Krusty Rider
I'm a hatchback guy, way more versatile. My wife has the Elantra sedan and it's a great little car but beware of the gas mileage. Haven't got below 8L/100km's yet after 32000kms. Steering is a little vague but the GT has the adjustable steering so that's an improvement. Quality and build is as good as the Civic so far and is a much nicer looking car imo. I'd go with the Elantra GT.

We just bought an Elantra GT. GLS model with huge pano sunroof and 6 speed manual. It's a pretty sweet little car, fun to drive, cheap and has lots of good standard features (bluetooth, heated seats, cooled glovebox etc).

Cheap payments and a 30c/litre discount gas card. We even bought the extended warranty as if it is not used at all within 7 years, we get the premium refunded in full. That was kind of a no-brainer.

Handling is good, steering is as good as electronic power-steering gets (I put it in Sport mode from day one and haven't changed it yet) and the fuel economy is great. Not as good as advertised but ~6.5l/100km isn't bad for highway driving Pemberton to Whistler daily.

So I finally bought the Elantra GT. Pretty happy with the price, $21999 off the lot for the GL.

So far I have noticed a few quirks, have either of you noticed this? The suspension seems unbalanced, the front is really soft and the rear is really firm. When going over speed bumps and parking lot entrances this is very noticeable. Also the rear almost feels like it skipping sideways over bumpy road sections. Coming from an (older) Mazda maybe I'm used to sportier driving dynamics? For the record I am not driving the car hard, actually very easy.

Yes I test drove this car multiple times as well as many other cars but not everything is noticeable in an unfamiliar car unless you are looking for it specifically.

Sounds like a truck. Maybe its a little stiffer in the back so that a load doesn't affect handling too much.

Check the tire pressure. Some dealers put way to much air in and it makes the ride too harsh. Put in whatever's in the owners manual or listed on the driver's side door pillar, and then adjust from there.

The rear shocks are bargain-basement models. People have had great success upgrading them to KYB gas shocks. Easy fix, two bolts per side, and cheap at $200 shipped. I'll be doing the upgrade in a month or two.

That's really the only thing that I have to complain about the car, apart from it needing an extra 50hp to live up to the GT badge. Kinda sucks to have to spend money right away, albeit a pretty small sum, but apparently it is a worthwhile upgrade transforming the feel of the car.

The rear shocks are bargain-basement models. People have had great success upgrading them to KYB gas shocks. Easy fix, two bolts per side, and cheap at $200 shipped. I'll be doing the upgrade in a month or two.

That's really the only thing that I have to complain about the car, apart from it needing an extra 50hp to live up to the GT badge. Kinda sucks to have to spend money right away, albeit a pretty small sum, but apparently it is a worthwhile upgrade transforming the feel of the car.

Yeah I read about that. Is it really very easy to install? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/kyb-554384/overview/model/elantra.