2013 Hyundai Elantra Review and Prices

Styling: The 2013 Hyundai Elantra’s styling uses aggressively proportioned bodies that make the Focus seem as if it’s overreaching to be contemporary, the Civic feel like a rerun, and the Cruze look old-school. All three 2013 Elantras follow Hyundai’s “fluidic sculpture” school of design, which emphasizes a rakish profile and swooping body creases.

A three-body-style lineup is rare in the compact class. Many rivals offer two, usually a sedan and hatchback, and the Honda Civic features a sedan and a coupe.

The new-for-2013 Elantra Coupe is very much a two-door version of the Elantra sedan and it has more interior room than other compact coupes. It shares the sedan’s wheelbase, which is the distance between the front and rear axles. At 106.3 inches, it’s among the longest wheelbases in the compact class. The result is rear legroom that’s good for a compact sedan and exceptional for a compact coupe. In both cars, however, a sloping rear roofline limits headroom for tall rear-seaters. The 2013 Elantra Coupe matches the Elantra sedan’s 14.8-cubic-foot trunk, giving both outstanding cargo space for cars their size.

The 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT is a hatchback with a trendy tapered rear roofline. It’ll compete with four-door-hatchback versions of the Focus, Mazda 3, Subaru Impreza, and Volkswagen Golf. Compared with those cars, it has slightly more passenger-compartment volume than all but the Impreza. And with 23 cubic feet behind the rear seat and 51 cubic feet with the rear seatback folded, it has more cargo volume than all but the Impreza.

The 2013 Elantra GT hatchback replaces the 2012 Elantra Touring, a four-door wagon that had a traditional station-wagon silhouette. The GT is smaller inside and out than the Touring and in fact is more compact than the 2013 Elantra sedan or Coupe. The GT’s wheelbase is shorter by 2 inches and its body length is briefer by almost 10. That’s because the 2013 Elantra GT is based on a model Hyundai sells in overseas markets. It’s built in Hyundai’s South Korean homeland while the Elantra sedan and Coupe are assembled at a Hyundai plant in the U.S.

Visually, the Elantra sedan and Coupe are swept-back visions of loveliness. By contrast, the 2013 Elantra GT is a funky collection of forms that don’t look nearly as harmonious.  

Inside, the 2013 Elantra sedan and Coupe will share the same dashboard and general interior design. The layout is breezily contemporary yet satisfyingly functional, and materials quality is above average for cars in this price range. The 2013 Elantra GT has slightly different cabin décor, with even higher-quality materials and a dashboard of more sophisticated design.

The 2013 Hyundai Elantra sedan will likely return in two levels of trim, base GLS and upscale Limited. The 2013 GLS sedan probably will continue with 15-inch steel wheels with plastic wheel covers as standard and 16-inch alloys as optional.

Hyundai confirms the 2013 Elantra Coupe will be offered in base GS and sportier SE trim. All Elantra Coupes have alloy wheels, 16-inch diameter on the GS and 17 on the SE.

The 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT will come in a single level of trim with 16-inch alloys standard and 17s optional as part of the Style package.

Mechanical: The 2013 Hyundai Elantra will continue with one engine across its lineup, a 1.8-liter four-cylinder that’ll remain at 148 horsepower and 131 pound-feet of torque. That output will keep the 2013 Elantra around the median for compact-car power, though comprehensive weight-saving measures suggest it won’t feel underpowered.

Transmission choices aren’t likely to change. All 2013 Elantras -- except the Limited sedan – will come with a six-speed manual transmission. Standard on the Limited sedan and optional on the others will be a six-speed automatic transmission.

While the 2013 Elantra sedan and Coupe will share the same underbody structure, the 2013 Elantra GT will instead be based on a slightly different compact car Hyundai offers in overseas markets. This also was true of the outgoing Elantra Touring wagon. But the Touring wagon – and the overseas version of the GT hatchback -- had an independent rear suspension. The U.S.-market Elantra GT uses a less sophisticated torsion-beam rear axle, as do the Elantra sedan and Coupe.

Hyundai acknowledges the design reduce costs compared to an independent rear suspension. But top rivals, such as the Focus, Mazda 3, and Civic have an all-independent suspension. Elantra’s torsion-beam axle should keep the Hyundai’s ride compliant if not always as comfortable as the competition’s and its handling competent if not as commanding. Standard on SE versions of the Coupe and optional on GTs will be sport-oriented suspension tuning designed to provide sharper handling than the Elantra sedan’s comfort-biased setup.

The 2013 Elantra GT also will be the first Elantra model to come with Hyundai’s Driver Selectable Steering Mode. This system adjusts the level of power-steering assist through Comfort, Normal, and Sport settings. Designed to furnish easy steering or quick response, depending on the setting, it’s intended to address the steering imprecision evident in many Hyundais. The guilty have included the Elantra, whose electric power steering has a less natural feel than the steering in the Focus or Volkswagen Jetta, for example.

Every car in this class includes as standard equipment antilock brakes to promote controlled emergency stops and antiskid stability control to mitigate sideways slides. But where some competitors feature rear disc brakes only on the most expensive models in their compact lineups, Hyundai will provide every version of the 2013 Elantra with more desirable four-wheel disc brakes as standard, just as it did for model-year 2012.

Features: At the time of this review Hyundai had released more information on the 2013 Elantra Coupe and GT than on the 2013 Elantra sedan. It’s evident, though, that this ambitious South Korean carmaker intends to keep pressure on the compact-class competition in terms of features for the money.

Granted, the least-expensive iteration of the 2013 Elantra GLS sedan is likely to remain a price-leader that requires a $1,200-plus option package to add such staples as air conditioning and cruise control. But every 2013 Elantra will continue with an otherwise impressive array of standard features, including a USB iPod interface, power windows and locks, heated mirrors, remote keyless entry, height-adjustable driver’s seat, and 60/40 split-folding rear seatbacks.

The 2013 Elantra will remain among the few compact cars to offer a navigation system, though Hyundai for model-year 2012 dialed back on its availability by trimming it from the options list of the GLS sedan. Navigation will remain available on all most other 2013 Elantras. And the 2013 Elantra GT will be the first version of this car to feature Hyundai’s Blue Link telematics system.  Blue Link is a subscription service that provides the expected emergency and collision-notification, plus turn-by-turn directions and other conveniences. But it also can send the owner email and text alerts if the car is being driven in geographic areas or at times of the day against the owner’s wishes. Hyundai says Blue Link will eventually be offered on all its vehicles.

At the upper-end of the 2013 Elantra sedan line, expect amenities such as leather upholstery, triple-pane Panoramic moonroof, and heated front and rear seats as Hyundai continues to distinguish this car as one of the more generously equipped in the class.

The carmaker would do well, however, to expand Bluetooth hands-free mobile-phone connectivity – as standard or optional – to the 2013 Elantra GLS sedan. Bluetooth is in effect a safety device and especially valuable on cars with manual transmission. Bluetooth will be standard on the 2013 Limited sedan and on all 2013 Coupe and GT models.

The navigation system will be part of the optional Technology Package available on SE Coupes, Limited sedans, and all GTs. The system includes a dashboard touchscreen, voice activation, XM radio, rearview camera, and keyless entry and pushbutton start. On the sedan and coupe, the Tech package replaces the base 172-watt audio system with a 360-watt setup with external amplifier and on the GT with a 180-watt audio upgrade.

The SE Coupe comes with leather upholstery, a power sunroof, aluminum pedal trim, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. Among Coupe and GT options are heated front seats and dual-zone automatic climate control. The 2013 Elantra Limited sedan almost certainly will again include as standard leather upholstery, heated front and rear seats, and a power moonroof. Sources say it will also adopt the dual-zone automatic climate-control system.

The 2013 GT will come equipped similarly to the Coupe GS model and offer two options packages. The Style package will add to the hatchback the 17-inch alloys and sport-tuned suspension plus a panoramic sunroof, leather upholstery, and aluminum pedals. Available only with automatic transmission, the 2013 Elantra GT Tech Package incorporates the Style package and adds the navigation system with rearview camera, dual-zone automatic climate control, and keyless entry and pushbutton start.  

Both 2013 Coupe models will come with some equipment that’s standard on the 2013 Limited sedan and optional on GLS sedan; this includes fog lamps and dual heated outside mirrors. Mirrors with integrated turn-signal indicators will be standard on the Limited sedan and SE Coupe and option as part of the GT’s Style package.