That picture was taken during a lazy Sunday at home. I was washing the car when my 3 year old wanted to "help" me... Now, I am sure some of you are wondering why this picture to start a car review on a car enthusiast forum? It is like this. This picture summarizes what I thought I was getting into when I took the car. The "family" car for somebody with two kids, and cart loads of baby luggage to lug around? This was something I thought would make those endless trips from Bangalore to Kerala fast, safe, and comfortable. Of course, it does all that. But then, there is this spark, almost tinged with naughtiness that makes the car what it is.
I guess this has to start with the Engine, because that is where that spark comes from. The stock car makes 112bhp and 25Kgm of torque. Now, I know that is not really impressive. But, those 112 horses are really race bred horses (unlike some other petrols, mostly from Hyundai where mules were used instead of horses?). And then there is 25Kgm of torque, mostly used to tease and torture hapless petrol burners. And then I put in the Petes/K&N. Allegedly, bhp went up to 131, and the torque figure was now at a more respectable 30Kgm. And it does 200Kmph on the speedo with little, or no effort. No slowing down. Accelerates all the way until it redlines in 5th. Sounds wicked? Absolutly. The Pepper variety that is.
And for the mileage conscious the figure I normally get hover between 11 and 14, depending on how wicked I am feeling that day.
Actually, the car feels a lot more faster than the figures suggest. Believe me when I say this, this can smoke most things out there. I know there are faster cars out there, but then, I have not met a lot of folks who would do what I do with this to a 220/280CDI? Those poor souls are mostly scared of what the next service bill would read? And I have friends/family who own Mercs/BMWs/Audi etc. Compare that to me, throwing this around with gay abandon, smug in the knowledge that *nothing* would give way? And who cares even if it does? Parts are cheap, and then there are comprehensive bumper to bumper warranties, and then there is the manufacturer who does not really plan to fleece customers after selling the cars? Perfect? Well, almost. There is a perceptible turbo lag before 2000 rpm, which was reduced by the petes box, but then the kick you get when the turbo spools up is addictive. That small glitch, I can live with. Maybe the next Hyundai CRDi will have variable vane geometry? Or maybe twin turbos?
Lets continue to look at the good stuff. Like I said fast, and anybody who has seen this take off would vouch for that. What those folks dont easily see, is that it is very safe too. ABS/EBD helps tremendously with braking, and it probably has one of the shortest stopping distances, for eg. the autocar figure for 80-0 is 21.39m. That I am sure is class leading, and probably compares favourably with even the Mercs? Traction control helps prevent wheel spins on slippery surfaces. Also helps on the odd track day, when you are turned in, and want to floor the throttle before the car is fully straightened out. Airbags, crumple zones, collision unlocking doors, 5 star NCAP for side impact etc add to the safety net.
Lets move on to the interiors. Pics below will give you an idea of what is inside, without me vaxing eloquent about this too much.
Stuff which matter to me most are Climate Control, a Laptop charging point, distance to empty, trip meter, ticket holders, coin box, cup and bottle holders, map pockets which bulge out to hold full bottles and generally cheerful interiors. Stuff which does not matter to me too much include blue dials, crome tweeters, chrome inserts on door handles etc.
While the gear knob is nice to hold, with a well slotted solid feel to shifts, the steering wheel is rather thin to hold. Would have loved a smaller thicker wheel instead. And the gear shift could have been better with shorter throws as well. But then, maybe I am asking for too much?
And then there was the excellent headunit which did not play mp3. That was a killer, considering the long drives I do, frequently alone. Needed music to keep company. So eventually replaced that with a DVD/Navigation system from Kenwood. Also added JBL ovals at the back, a boxed JBL subwoofer, and Boston components at the front. While a JBL amp drives the speakers, used a cheaper Sony to drive the subwoofer. Did not attach a center speaker as I was not sure where to keep that one, and I did not want one on top of the dash. A DVD full of mp3 is a lot of music, and keeps going for ever. The only flip side for the head unit, it does not play mp4/ogg/divx. Some conversion work on some of my downloads, but then I could not find anything better.
About the seats - while the seats are comfortable, with lumbar adjustment for the driver alone, the bench length is not enough for somebody standing at 6ft. Under thigh support suffers for tall folks as a result. There is more than sufficient leg room at the back, but then the seats are low due to the sloping nature of the roof towards the rear. Still comfortable than most in this segment. A E280 has better under thigh support, but then you get 5 Elantras for the price of one of that?
Suspension and handling - The CRDi unit is rather heavy, and gives the car a nose heavy feel. Takes some time getting used to if you have only driven petrols before. And that is only for folks who throw their rides around. Others wont feel anything amiss. The suspension is hardened, for taking the weight of the engine, and probably to cope up with bad roads. While this gives the car extraordinary stability at high speeds, at slow speeds, the ride turns harsh. My wife complained so much so that I had to replace the original 195/60 Kumhos with 205/60 michelins. After the wider tires came on, the ride was softened by the extra sidewall flex, and the width helped as well. Also, high speed tire noise was reduced considerably. Grip levels improved as well.
Everybody was happy until I tried throwing the car around on track, and that ate up the sidewalls on the front tires. Sadly, back in the market for new rubber, probably will upgrade the rim size too. Might have a madder wife, so does anybody make those adaptive damping struts for Elantra? Hope not, because I would still have a mad wife for blowing up more money on the car.
And that reminds me of service costs, almost no real troubles from the car yet. The engine is better than ever, and probably in it's prime. Only regular service, sometimes slightly earlier at 8000Kms each, instead of the 10000 the company recommends.
Stuff I need to do on the car? For one, I need to get some timings going. Will get a GTECHPRO next trip out. Will update the thread as soon as I have one.
And then I want better lighting from the headlamps, although the current 100/80 Philps rallye bulbs are pretty good. Still need those projector HIDs for the all night runs.
http://hidtech.com can do a custom job, will try that whenever I get to stay in the US for longer than couple of weeks.
And to conclude, it has been an absolut ball with the Elantra. It is so much fun(ok, perverted fun maybe?) to watch dismayed faces in the rear view mirror each time I go near another car, and then wait for the turbo to spool up...