2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport IN-DEPTH Review | The Elantra Becomes "Sporty"!

Check out my IN-DEPTH review of the all-new 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport by clicking the video below (if you prefer a more visual review)! The Elantra Sport may just be the ideal Compact Sedan Sports Sedan under $30,000!

Below is a detailed description of my initial impressions of the 2017 Hyundai #ElantraSport. I hope you enjoy! Also, if you prefer a deeper visualization of any of the features mentioned, check out “DriveAndBeDriven” (YouTube.com/c/DriveAndBeDriven) on YouTube for a detailed, in-depth, and descriptive initial impression review:

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2017 Elantra Sport: Written Review

With modern vehicles becoming more and more sporty by the minute, #Hyundai knew they had to introduce a vehicle that stood out from the rest of the crowd. As oppose to Hyundai just plugging a “SPORT” badge on the rear tailgate of their “hot seller”. Or better yet, just adding a few cosmetic adjustments, like most manufactures do when it comes to their sportier version vehicles… Hyundai took much more of an elaborate approach! They made the 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport, not just a sportier in appearance vehicle, but possibly an actual budget performance sedan!

While this isn’t the depiction of Hyundai’s top performance model of the Elantra. It will definitely satisfy the hearts of the people who are looking for better ‘performance’ out of their everyday drivers! Furthermore, this vehicle should perfectly suit and satisfy most people’s depiction of a budget sports sedan. Especially, in respects to #performance and sporty characteristics!

FUN FACT:

Hyundai is actually considering coming out with, in the near future (late 2017), an all-new performance model line-up… This will be called something to the effect of the “Hyundai N-Performance Division”. Unfortunately, we will have to leave that topic for another review.

Reasonings Behind The Birth Of The Elantra Sport:

For 2017, the newly introduce Hyundai Elantra ( Non-Sport Elantra SE Video Review ) came with only a total of two engine choices. One being the base 2.0L 4-cylinder Naturally Aspirated Engine (found across the Elantra lineup).

While, the second engine choice is the 1.4L Turbo (found in the ECO model of the Elantra). Almost all Automotive Enthusiasts felt there was room for an even higher performance model! That is when this baby comes in... The all-new for 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport!

Hyundai's Hopes/Expectations:

Hyundai is ready to show that "sporty" car performance can still be available in an unoffensively designed, and reasonably affordable package. Being boosted by a turbocharged 1.6L GDI engine... The #Elantra Sport is ready to sweep the charts when it comes to affordable compact sedan sales. That is not all the Elantra Sport brings to the table, though! It offers an independent rear suspension and even 1-inch larger disc brake rotors on all 4 wheels (as oppose to the standard drum brakes found on other Elantra's).

The Big Picture (Does the Elantra Sport Have What It Takes?)

The question is “Can Hyundai compete with the Elantra Sport's main competitors from Honda (the Civic Sport Hatchback/Si Sedan) and Volkwagen (the GLI)?

So, let's find out (together) if Hyundai's new Elantra Sport has what it takes to sway buyers from opposing vehicles! Can the Elantra Sport be a new "hot sedan" entry that out-dashes its competitors before the race even starts?

Exterior Styling (Walkaround):

Let’s first start off with the exterior styling of the 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport. At first glance, the Elantra Sport undeniably looks like it means business, and can easily trick you into thinking that it is a true track ready vehicle! From its very prominent front-end hexagonal grille design, to its very aggressively angled headlights, to even its added lower-body kit which further accentuates the sporty vibe. The 2017 Elantra Sport won’t stand unnoticed in a crowd of mundane “Point A to Point B” daily drivers!

Not to mention, the Turbo badge that is pasted inside of the grille of the Elantra Sport, which even further suggests a more performance oriented drive!

Subtle, yet aggressively plump character lines accent the side of the Elantra Sport, making it have a very bold and pronounced stance. To complement that, the side profile boasts a very sleek and flowing silhouette! Much like the 2017 Elantra SE that I reviewed earlier in the year. In a nutshell, it pretty much makes the Elantra Sport look more aggressively elegant with a hint of agility.

The Elantra Sport that I tested was equipped with the Package. As a result, my tester came was outfitted with these extremely attractive looking 18-inch 20-spoke alloys rims (which come standard on all trim levels)! Surprisingly, these rims fit the wheel wells of the car superbly! Even though they look like a pain to clean, they are definitely going to be turning the heads of Volkswagen GLI, Honda Civic Si, and Honda Civic Hatchback Sport drivers!

Moving on to the rear end of the Elantra Sport, it once again succeeds to please the eye! Like the 2017 Elantra SE I reviewed earlier in the year, the rear has a very pronounced taillight design and a very attractive looking built in spoiler design. Yes, you heard me right… There is surprisingly no rear spoiler option on the Elantra Sport! This just shows how strong the “spoiler character accent” on the rear trunk lid is!

Similar, to the headlights found up-front, the taillights of the Elantra Sport also have a very angular design to them. Unlike the rest of the Elantra line-up... The Elantra Sport gets its own unique taillight design which features a combination of LED lights for your brake lights, and incandescent bulbs for your reverse and indicator lights.

Furthermore, the rear-end of the Elantra Sport even features a low-gloss plastic rear diff with a piano black surround, and very attractive looking exhaust pipes! The Elantra Sport only offers dual exhaust pipes out of a single exhaust unit, but nevertheless they offer quite the menacing and over all striking touch to the rear end of the Sport model of the Elantra!

To sum it up, the exterior styling of the Elantra Sport is no slouch, and will undeniably impress your friends. It may not be a McLaren P1, but it will most likely have people breaking their necks to find out what badge is plastered on the back of this beast!

Interior Styling:

First walking up to the driver’s door of the Elantra Sport. You will be greeted with a Smart Key Access System located on both the driver’s and enger’s side door handles. Before opening the door, and diving right into the cabin design, I wanted to show you the key fob design that Hyundai decided to go for with the Elantra Sport.

While this key fob may look magnificent. I am not entirely sure how it fits the overall design of the Elantra Sport, but at least Hyundai didn’t choose to cheap out in that regard! In my video review, I go much more in-depth on this key fob’s design/functionality, so feel free to check that out if you’re interested.

Shifting gears back to the interior design, you will be greeted with a very BLACK interior upon entrance of the Elantra Sport. Very few colors of the rainbow are splashed throughout the cabin, to make it visually brighter. Rather, the interior features a very dark and almost abyss vibe. Luckily Hyundai splashed a few red accents throughout the interior, as well as very thin strips of matte silver around the A/C vents.

Glancing at the door design, you will be moderately impressed with the material choices that Hyundai went for. The upper door features black hard touch plastics with an imitation leather texturing. Underneath that will be a very crisp “carbon fiber” insert strip, which makes the door appear slightly sportier in its appearance. That strip then merges onto a matte black finished door handle design that adds a seamless transition flow from the door to the door handle. The center door comes equipped with very upscale looking leather inserts that are perforated, that are surrounded by hard touch imitation leather accents all around.

Beneath that area, will be a slightly padded injection molded plastic insert… Acting as both your elbow rest and a way to close the door from the inside. In front of that, all your window necessities will be surrounded by a smooth to the touch plastic insert. Further below that section will be an even larger array of hard touch plastics with a moderately sized bottle holder, and a very large storage compartment. Luckily, my Elantra Sport tester came with Hyundai’s Infinity 8-speaker Audio system, which comes standard on only the Trims of the Elantra Sport.

Hopping into the driver’s cabin area and closing the door; you are immediately greeted with a moderately low step-in height, a solid thud to the door closing and a very ‘cockpit’ feel to the cabin. One of the most apparent/extravagant ‘touches’ that you will find in the cabin of the Elantra Sport will most likely be the integration of a sleek and athletically styled D-cut steering wheel. This steering wheel features perforated leather on the offset sides of the wheel; typically, where you would hold the steering wheel (between 11-9 & 2-4 positions). This sedan also comes with very strong character lines on the horn cover, and red stitching that accents the inner rim of the steering wheel. Not to mention, the “T” cutout in the bottom spoke of the steering wheel, and you have yourself a steering wheel that oozes performance even before it is turned on!

The Elantra Sport also features a very clean and sophisticated ‘SPORT Themed’ gauge cluster design. This design has two analog gauges on the outer portions, and a small 3.5” TFT digital display on the inner portion. The inner screen offers minimal customizability, but it is very intuitive and easy to use at first glance.

On the outboards of that 3.5” LCD screen will be two analog gauges featuring a very ‘SPORT’ aspired theme. Honestly, these analog gauges just scream “DRIVE ME!” Furthermore, you have analog read-outs for both your fuel and coolant temperature gauges. This design would typically leave the gauge cluster of a vehicle looking very simple and almost too minimalistic, but in the Elanta Sport is enhances the overall sporty vibe… It accentuates an athletic elegance that pushes the driver to solely focus on the performance aspects of this 4-door sedan.

Looking at under the dashboard, you will find an aluminum accented brake, throttle, and dead pedal. Since I tested the automatic transmission version there wasn’t a clutch pedal.

Moving onto front seat comfort, the Elantra Sport does fairly decent for itself. It offers well-padded seats with tons of torso bolstering, and lower-thigh bolstering. The seat actually consists of pretty upscale materials featuring leather padding and the lettering “SPORT” embossed in the front of the back rest. The Elantra Sport also comes with a leather wrapped center console lid contrasted with red stitching.

Shifting to the center stack dashboard design, you will be pleasantly surprised to see a very large 8-inch LCD Touchscreen (7-inch screens come STANDARD on the non- models). This 8-inch LCD screen offers a pretty responsive , and a very crisp display. It also comes equipped with a built-in navigation unit, and the ability to project your smartphone to the screen using AndroidAuto or Apple CarPlay. On either side of that screen will be two very large A/C vents and beneath that entire layer to the center stack design will be a volume knob, a tune knob, and a slew of quick access buttons labeled: Radio, Media, Phone, BlueLink :ed: , etc.

Further beneath that layer will be a matte finished carbon fiber strip and all of you’re A/C controls. If you option for the Elantra Sport with the package you will be appointed with a digital display for your dual-zone climate control (base Elantra Sport comes with a single-zone system).

Looking below that, you will see a decently sized ‘carbon fiber’ accented compartment. This storage area comes equipped with two 12V power outlets, an USB port, and an AUX port. This compartment was actually just large enough to fit a large smartphone (even though I struggled to remove it afterwards). In front of that very useful compartment you will find your leather wrapped gear selector hooked up to an automatic gearbox. This gear selector is accented with piano black accents, and comes with the following positions: Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, and “+/-” (symbolizing a Sport mode). That “+/-” position allows for the driver to input their desired gear by manual selection. This is can be done by slapping the gear selector to the left and pushing up, to go up a gear, and pulling down, to go down a gear. FUN FACT: The Elantra Sport actually comes standard with plastic paddle shifters located on the steering when back.

On either side of the gear selector, you will find your 3-stage heated seat controls; and your drive mode button will be located on the left-hand side. Shifting the vehicle into reverse, a display of what is behind the vehicle will be located on the screen (featuring trajectory guidance lines and distance markers). This screen is made possible through the contribution of a STANDARD reverse camera on all Elantra Sports.

The dashboard materials were also pretty class competitive consisting of soft-touch materials on the upper portions of the dash, and hard to the touch plastics (with leather imitation) on the lower portions of the dashboard. Matte finished carbon fiber inserts and red stitching also spruced up the cabins “SPORT” aspired ambiance quite a bit, as well.

Visibility in the Elantra Sport is identical to that of the Elantra SE that I reviewed earlier. Offering good visibility out the front, side, and rear quarters. Even though, the C-pillar could be slightly thinner, the front end could be a little more squared off, and the A-Pillar is swept back a little too much for my liking.

Moving to the back seats of the Elantra Sport, you will once again be greeted with a traditionally low step-in height, and a sloping roofline. (which you must watch your head on when entering and exiting the rear cabin). The Elantra Sport’s rear door s are also very similar to the front seats BLACK door s, except there is hard-touch plastics on the upper portion.

Hyundai doesn’t forget about the backseat engers inside of the Elantra Sport, either. The back-seat engers will happily enjoy two cup holders, a plush leather armrest, a map pocket, two bottle holders, ive bench seats (with a bucket styling), and perfectly positioned headrests. Space in the rear seat is also remarkably roomy. Being 5’11” I have about 4-5 inches of legroom and approximately 1-2 inches of headroom. Then again, the Elantra the largest interior volume when compared to all its competitors. Unfortunately, rear A/C aren’t available for the rear seat engers in any trim of the Elantra Sport, meaning the rear engers may start getting grumpy on hot summer days.

Moving to the cargo area, of the Elantra Sport there are a total of four ways to open the trunk (the key fob, under the Hyundai logo, Hyundai’s Smart Automatic Trunk Opening System, and the lever located in the driver’s area). Using any of those methods will pop open the trunk half, leaving you to raise it up the rest of the way. Once the trunk is open, you will be looking at a pretty spacious 14.4 cubic feet, which is amongst one of the Top 3 when it comes to cargo volume ratings in the 2017 Compact Sedan Class. The seats also fold down in a 60/40 split fashion for more cargo practicality.

Now For The Time We Have All Been Waiting For….

What's Under The Hood?

Under the hood of the Elantra Sport, is a very familiar engine to the Kia/Hyundai lineup. This is Hyundai’s/Kia’s tried and true 1.6L Turbocharged GDI 4-cylinder engine (from the GAMMA engine family). This engine setup was first introduced in the Veloster Turbo back in 2012, and has made its way around to the Kia Forte5 SX, Kia Soul Turbo, and the now the Hyundai Elantra Sport.

This engine produces a whopping 201 horsepower at a pretty late 6,000rpm; and a pretty respectable 195 lb-ft Torque at a very early 1,500rpm available all the way until 4,500rpm.

Engine Highlights:

Hyundai’s Gamma 1.6L Turbocharged GDI 4-cylinder Engine (T-GDI)

201 Horsepower @ 6,000rpm

195 lb-ft Torque @ 1,500 – 4,500rpm

MPG Highlights:

6-Speed Manual Transmission

22 city/ 30 highway

7-Speed DCT (Automated Manual)

26 city/ 33 highway

What to Expect Based Off the Numbers:

-Very early and long power band (Power readily available).

-Tons of Torque for peppy city drives.

-Enough horsepower for effortless highway ing’s.

Pricing (Is It Worth It?):

The 2017 Elantra Sport starts at $21,650 for the base manual transmission with no added packages (which comes extremely well equipped), and can top out at a pretty staggering $25,150 if you option for the Package w/ the 7-speed DCT automatic.

-Base Manual: $21,650

-Base Automatic: $22,750

- Manual: $24,050

- Automatic: $25,150

The Elantra Sport displyed in this video/blog post had a price tag of about $26,235. I did choose to review the top-of-the-line trim to see what the Elantra Sport really has to offer, feature and value-wise. The Elantra Sport I reviewed came with the optional 7-speed DCT which adds just about $1,100 to the original base Elantra Sport price tag ($21,650) to about $22,750.

This vehicle also came with the optional package which further adds on another $2k. This package adds features such as a 8-speaker Audio system, a Powered Sunroof, a larger 8-inch touchscreen with built-in navigation, Dual zone climate control, and even some safety features such as Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear Cross Traffic Alert, just to name a few.

All in all, pushing up the price by another $2,100; to just about $25,150. Plus destination charges of about $835, and you are looking at just about $26,235 for the Elantra Sporr explained in this post. That is one of the most expensive ways you can get an Elantra Sport, though. As long as, you don't desire the Equipment package or an automatic transmission, your Elantra Sport should be well tamed under 23k! :punch:

Competitors (How Does It Stack Up?)

Vs. the Si

The Elantra Sport has a pretty low starting price for it's class. Starting at $21,650 the Elantra Sport undercuts the Civic Si sedan's starting price of $23,900. Power output of both vehicles are pretty similar, as well. With the Elantra Sport producing 201 hp and 195 lb-ft torque; The Civic Si reins the Elantra's 201 hp rating with the addition of 4 hp. Pushing the total horsepower output to about 205 hp.

In of torque, though, the Elantra Sport still has an edge since the Civic Si only outputs 192 hp. Furthemore, the Elantra Sport comes equipped with a Turbo 1.6L 4-cylinder, while the Civic Si comes with a more compact 1.5L Turbo-4. These aren't drastic changes between the two vehicles, but they are definitely things to consider. Fuel economy, if you care, is very similar between the two. With the Elantra Sport getting 26city/33hwy. While, the fuel economy of the Honda Civic Si hasn't been reported yet... Rumors say that it will be able to achieve a pretty impressive 32mpg combined rating.

Vs. the GLI

When comparing the Elantra Sport to the GLI, you will notice that the once again the Elantra Sport undercuts the price. If you want the bases of base GLI you will be looking at a whooping $27,895 price! Compared to the base $21,650 price of the Elantra Sport. Which means the GLI's pricing starts just when the Elantra Sport's pricing is topped out! A comparably equipped GLI (the the Elantra Sport I am presenting) will run you anywhere from an extra $2,000 to a whopping extra $3,500 dollars!

With that extra money comes extra power, though! The GLI adds approximately 9 more horses when compared the Elantra Sport (210hp), and about an extra 12hp when compared to the Elantra Sport! Meaning you get more power in exchange. Eventhough, fuel economy is harmed quite a bit. The max mpg rating the GLI can achieve is about 24city/33hwy. While, the Elantra Sports gets a slightly better 26city/33hwy.

Exhaust Note (A Growl That Speaks Words):

I am speechless on this one…. You must see my Impressions Video Review to experience the menacing growl of this vehicle! This dual-tip exhaust setup had me wanting to rev the engine more and more, time after time again! “A raspy and raw beast sounding growl!”, if I had to put it into words!

Synopsis (Should You Buy It?):

DriveAndBeDriven’s Overall Rating: 8.7/10.0 (Good Choice Award)

Check out DriveAndBeDriven.com for a more in-depth explanation of how this vehicle received this rating.

All in all, the all-new 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport seems like stellar vehicle. Offering very competative specs, and one of the lowest starting prices in its class... The Elantra Sport definitely deserves a look if, you are in the market for a performance 4-door compact sedan. Not to mention, its class leading interior volume, and slew of advanced technology... The Elantra Sport makes it difficult to search elsewhere.

Three words perfectly describe this work of machinery, “crisp, aggressive, and sophisticated”. I truly cannot wait until you guys can see this vehicle in person, and truly discover what this vehicle has to offer to the “Compact Sports Sedan Table”! If you watched my review of the Elantra Sport, comment down below using the hashtag #ElantraSportReview!

I'll be sure to answer any of your questions! :+1: 🏽

-DriveAndBeDriven :oncoming_automobile:

"The Quest To Record The Best!" 📽