I took another test drive of the 1.6HS again.

This time I use shiftronic gear most of the time, it is quite fun and acceleration is better than D mode, even there were three adults sitting inside the car. the shiftronic works like manual car, I rev it to 4000rpm, I can feel the power starting around 3000rpm, although the acceleration responsiveness is not immediately, but quite ok to me. however, the engine is pretty noisy when revving higher than 3000RPM.

Then I went to the next door to test the Toyota Prius C which has the same price tag as Elantra 1.6 HS, the Prius C gave me totally different driving experience, the engine is damn quiet at low speed, acceleration is very smooth, I can't feel any gear shift, although the power is not that great compare to Elantra 1.6 HS, but it is quite a pleasure drive.

Now I'm really in the dilemma, I like the Elantra appearance and cabin size, but I do like the Prius C quietness and FC, now scratching my head already.

This post has been edited by Kiding: Apr 7 2012, 05:57 PM

anyone can recommend a less noisy tyre ? that continental tyre is so noisy when speed above 50...or maybe because it's too quiet inside the cabin ?

This post has been edited by tony: Apr 7 2012, 06:20 PM

how come till now the hyundai website not updated for elantra?
this car already official launch ke belum?

My wife and I were waiting for this car since last year. She decided to change her old Honda city to the all new elantra. Went and test drive today the elantra 1.6 high spec. To our surprise, the 1.6 feel very under power. The dashboard quality is bad especially the air con control norb. Feels and looks like a cheap plastic painted silver or something like that. The ride comfortness is no different than the honda city. Even I feel the 1.5 city has better pick up. Overall, the exterial look good. But quality wise for interior, inOkom has made the elantra look very cheap. I was expecting more from this car but it let us down and dissapointment. For the price is deffinately not worth buying.

finally got time to go test drive and feel all the interior for 1.6hs
leather seat like some kind of cheap leather ,i think all not last longer
front seat row is comfortable and all work well
but,rear seat is really horrible,low roof,few inch to hit my head to roof(i am 6ft+),foot space narrow,leg space is ok
dashboard and door plastic just fine for me...design very good

driving experiance..1.6hs
as all u say sluggish and under powered..floor the pedal,engine roar but car goes normally i try on/off the econ mode and try,is the same la
ppl say power kick in at high speed,goes 80km/h,braking to 60km/h then acc to over take a lorry,still feel like no power ,slowing over take
steering feel very very light ,good braking ,NVH
maybe the steering too light,cornering feel like not safe i dunno why,maybe to me only
not trying the shifttronic gear,i not wish always to use that for power drive indeed

maybe this car tuned for best fc and smooth drive,so lack of power..i think not suitable for ppl wan instant pick up and over take

conclusion:
this car just not suitable for me...low roof line,cant fit me and my family,suddenly speed over a bump sure kena head
slow power kick in,i need instant power and fast overtake,due to i always drive at city and kampung road,need to overtake fast

overrall this car to good, nice design ,just not suitable for me...haizzz
not trying the 1.8hs,over my budget...

i am not bashing on elantra,just my 2 sen


PS:i ask the SA why so underpowered,he say this test drive car pumped ron95 so will abit underpowered,try put ron97 then will more power
like that FC die la..wan pump ron97...zzzz

I don't think it comes with "paddle shift".
Gear shifting only at gear console right?

Totally agree with u bro. Cheapo looking interior with all the small small things which are of cheap quality but makes a whole lot of difference. So much for north american car of the year my foot.

inokom just assemble, nothing to do with the plastic....

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Added on April 7, 2012, 8:20 pmwant power must go 2.0 forte.

but then, power is not cheap( same like pumping ron97, lol )

This post has been edited by stinger82: Apr 7 2012, 08:20 PM

To those that tested drive the 1.6 and commented that it is sluggish, I believe it will get better over time when more mileage is done. Plus I believe most modern cars come with an ecu that will adapt to your driving style. But of cuz for better weight to power ratio, the 1.8 would be better. There's one more thing that I don't understand, for a c segment car, how can they include anything less than a 2.0 engine, in this case the 1.8... Sigh...

It is because Prius C did not fire up the engine at low speed. If you press the pedal deeper or drive faster then only the engine will start

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Added on April 7, 2012, 9:29 pmInokom did not make the elantra, they assembled it. We are getting the same one as the American. If 96k not worth it then maybe you should look at Mazda3 or City E and see how high their quality are.

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Added on April 7, 2012, 9:31 pmActually most of the c-seg in the world is using 1.8L engine. You can take a look at the US market, only Focus and Mazda3 are using 2.0.

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Added on April 7, 2012, 9:38 pmHyundai and Kia's 4 cylinders petrol engine are well known to be unrefined at higher rev(they still need some time) but I don't think normal people will rev that high rpm in day to day driving especially when using the petrol paid by your own pocket money. If you drive it on the normal way, I don't think it will lose out to Altis and definitely better than Civic. Engine noise alone doesn't represent the overall refinement department of the car.

This post has been edited by caddilac: Apr 7 2012, 09:44 PM

Some reading material on Forte & Elantra comparison. No bias here. Just wanna share the info.
But the Elantra we're having here are stripped down so much and not so similar to what they used to compare with Forte in the article.
But still something for us to think about

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/10751...te-compare-cars

if it doesnt? u know, the car is not entirely cheap

can't really compare between the car in US and malaysia. They alwaz get more stuff in their car , 6 speakers is the mininum requirement, 6 airbags as well. for air bag it's the rule set by the authority. in malaysia, no rules set n needed to follow..

Any JB SA can intro ?

http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/review.php?AID=360

Features aside, the ride & handling, refinement, performance and interior quality should be very similar to ours.

yea! agreed!

in US, the price of Forte and Elantra not much different....but in Malaysia, no eye see

US road no pot hole.

US road a lot of straight road(highway). thats why car handling is not a big issue.

but in european the road is very demanding, must need good handling car.

US version got active ECO mode, which you can switch on/off the ECO. It does affect performance and acceleration of the car.