Elantra, Civic, or Focus

[newmoon]

Getting tired of spending $70.00 a week on fuel in my daily driver Ram 4x4. I don't really need a pickup anymore and have been thinking about getting a compact a bit more fuel friendly. Thinking about the Civic, Elantra, and Focus. I don't really like the looks of the Cruz so it's out.

Trading in the truck will almost pay for the car in full, so no loan to speak of.

Wondering what you folks think?

[IROCanSS]

I have a 2012 Civic EX and love it. Almost 18,000 miles on it already.



My last trip. Set Econ on, set cruise at 71mph and this is what I got.

Not too shabby. Typical around town driving yields about 34mpg.

I had a 2012 Focus company car. Wasn't near the quality the Civic is.

No experience with an Elantra because... well because it a Hyandai.


Sent while on baby duty.... please sleep

[Stew]

I have driven the 12 Civic and 11 Elantra and sit in and gawked over the Focus.

Here are some reviews I wrote out when all of them were fresh and included a few others sinc eI have tried them lol. Anyway, may try to drive a Focus this weekend.

Small cars:

2011 Chevy Cruze 1LT and 2012 Honda Civic EX

OK, because of fuel prices and my long drive I am looking at getting a new car with higher gas mileage. This weekend I pulled into the Honda dealership and to my surprise they already had 2 2012 Civics on the lot. Honda just introduced these at the NY auto show last week. One was an EX and the other was an EXL (leather, etc). I drove the EX (pretty loaded with bluetooth, sunroof, etc). I then went to the Chevy store to test out a Cruze. The one I ended up driving was a 1LT model with the Bluetooth connectivity and cruise package, 16 inch alloys (instead of steel wheels with covers). The 2 cars were pretty evenly matched as far as options go.

2012 Honda Civic EX

I really wanted to dislike this car, but it turned out to be really good.

The good: The highway gas mileage at 39MPG was a good start. The looks are also improved for the 12 model with a more chiseled appearance. Pictures do not do this car justice. In person the new sculpting, especially on the sides and rear really sticks out, though the overall shape is certainly familiar. The interior is a drastic change from the more rounded style of the 2006 to 2010 model. It now has a more squared off look. The controls fall into hand easily. Secondary controls for Cruise control, phone, bluetooth, and radio are located on the steering wheel. For 2012 it still runs the dual tiered dash design, with a normal tach and dummy lights in the lower tier and speedometer, secondary gauges, and computer in the upper tier. I really like this design, as everything is easy to see and the digital readouts have a very vibrant, almost 3d effect. The seats are extremely comfortable. Leg room is great, mainly because of the center console design. This is the only small car I have found where my leg does not have to rest on the center stack while driving. I had plenty of headroom even with the EXs stock moonroof. Thanks to the light weight and en extremely responsive transmission, it was also very peppy with good acceleration for all situations. Part and full throttle downshifts were quick and precise. Yes, the auto is only a 5 speed unit, but unlike many 6 speed automatic equipped cars I have Driven, it does not feel neutered for the sake of gas mileage and still allows the Civic to rank at the top of the gasoline fuel mileage heap. Handling was confident. It soaked up potholes and bumps easily, yet did not feel floaty or imprecise. Steering had a very good feel. The cabin was extremely quiet.

The bad: The only real con is that the interior dash area is made of hard plastic, though the sheen and texture do not look bad or overly cheap.

Overall: A surprisingly great small car with lots of room, lots of features, and an engine and transmission that speak the same language.

2011 Chevrolet Cruze 1LT:

The Good: This is one handsome car inside and out. The interior is extremely sharp and classy looking and is made of very good materials. The footwell was a little tight on room, but that is true of most small cars. Headroom was good, but the Civic with a sunroof was a bit roomier in this area than the Cruze is without one. Still the interior room is not bad for a small car. The turbo engine, despite some turbo lag, provided more than adequate power for any situation. The suspension provided a very confident and quite drive with a buttery smooth ride that would be welcome on a larger and more expensive car.

Cons: One of the first things I noticed was that the gauges were hard to see, it seemed almost as if they were pointed towards the floor. Luckily I located the digital Speedo which is part of the computer and was good to go, so no real issue. There was some turbo lag, the engine certainly took a moment to get into the power and then power was pretty adequate. The biggest con is how the engine/transmission worked together. Part throttle acceleration was met with slow shifting and the transmission was reluctant to downshift at times. Now, from a stop going full throttle the shifts were crisp and quick, so this is a tuning issue for the sake of fuel mileage. The seats could be little more comfortable, I just can't explain it, but I couldn't get completely comfortable somehow.

Overall: A really good car in need of some fine tuning to be a great car.




2011 Hyundai Elantra


Well, the Elantra was on my "to-drive" list and I finally got a chance to take one out yesterday.

Model: 2011 Hyundai Elantra GLS, automatic transmission. $18600

I have to say I was really impressed with this car.

Exterior: The look they have given the Elantra is certainly a love it or hate it affair as it is basically a baby Sonata. While I have not been a fan of the new Sonata in most cases, the look seems to work far better on the Elantra in my opinion.

The interior: All I can say is WOW! It is simply beautiful. Materials are first rate, all gauges and displays are easy to see and read, it had tons of room and easily matched the Civic on knee room. All of the important controls fell easily into hand, and it had radio, cruise, and bluetooth controls on the steering wheel. It also had a tilt and telescoping steering wheel to match the other players, though it seemed to have a bit more adjustability than the Cruze and Civic. Speaking of the steering wheel, one of the best feeling wheels out there. The only real con is that the back of the seat seemed a little hard.

Features: It easily tied the features in the Cruze and Civic. It had all the normal power stuff, cruise, CD/MP3, Satellite radio, bluetooth, keyless entry, AC, ABS, stability control, traction control, a slew of airbags, height adjustable driver's seat, etc, etc. It was only missing the sunroof from the Civic, but there is a 3k difference in price.

Drive train: While the engine didn't feel as high rev happy as the Civic or down low torquey as the Cruze it had plenty of pep. The transmission was a gem and made the most of the power it had. Part throttle up shifts were buttery smooth, while full throttle downshifts were lightning quick with no hesitation. It had no issue dropping 1, 2, or even 4 gears at a time when needed. It had one of the best tuned automatic transmissions in the class. Even the manual shifting was quick and immediate. In Car and Driver’s latest test they said the engine was noisy, but after taking it on an extended drive, it is not noisier in this regard than any of the other 4 cylinders in this class.

Handling & Ride: Like the rest of the small car group the Elantra is not your old rickety car that has no pretensions of ride or handling in it's bones. The ride is very good and the car is very solid. Steering was well weighted and had no issues with inputs. It did get a little shimmy through the platform on some rougher bumps, but generally it was solid. One area were I noticed it is kind of lacking is in quelling road noise. It was more tire noise than anything, but it was pretty pronounced. Overall quietness is still good, but not quite as good as the Cruze.

Pricing: With the amount of features you get and the high quality interior for 2-3k less than the competition, it is one hell of a deal! You can even get a leather lined Limited with a sunroof, heated front AND rear seats, fog lamps, and a nice set of 17 inch rims for around 20,600 sticker.

Pros and Cons

Pros: Exterior styling, high quality interior that could serve duty in a car costing twice as much, easy to see and read gauges, solid driving feel, roomy interior, smooth and eager drivetrain, excellent transmission, pricing, 40 MPG hwy, excellent warranty, and Hyundai Assurance, which, starting in May, even adds resale assurance

Cons A bit of tire noise, front seatback slightly hard, could use a few more ponies.

Overall: To sum it up, the Elantra is a very nice, high quality machine with very few drawbacks, exceptional fuel mileage and a bargain price. It is certainly worth a look for anyone in the market for a low priced, high quality, and fuel efficient new car.

As an observation: It seems that all the manufacturers have stepped it up! These are not the penalty boxes of old, but rather high quality driving machines that are no pain to drive everyday.


2011 Kia Forte EX 5 Door


Well, the search continues and the 11 Kia Forte was the next car on my list. After driving the Elantra I went in with high expectations........ Well unfortunately Kia isn't quite up to the level of their sister company, at least on their smaller cars.

Basics: EX 5 door, 2.0 4 cylinder, 156 HP, 36 MPG highway, with sunroof, and a couple other options, 19,500

Exterior: I have always thought the Forte was a very nice and upscale looking small car and it carries over to the 5 door as well. The only questionable thing is the 'rear Appliqué" for $70 dollars. This turns out to be a small sticker on the rear bumper that says "Forte" A waste of money IMHO. Otherwise it has very good lines and it all comes together well.

Interior: The interior has an excellent look to it. It is probably the roomiest of all the cars I have driven. The Forte has xcellent headroom, even with the optional sunroof. It also has excellent legroom, even in the rear with the front seat in a comfortable driving position for taller drivers. It had plenty of features, including bluetooth for your phone, auto-dimming rearview mirror and a sunroof. There were a few cheap bits, primarily the 2 stalks on the steering wheel which were made of a very shiny plastic. The dash was also hard plastic, but the sheens and designs used on the plastic are really nice looking. For me the worst part is the bright red text on the clock, odometer, and stereo. I am colorblind so all this just came across as washed out to me. I am sure I could do with the available Navigation system which shouldn't have this issue. Also, the AC came across as really weak. It took a long time to cool down and didn't really do a good job of cooling the cabin ever after the car had been running for a while. Also, when turned up to high there was a lot of noise, speaking of noise, well, read on once you get to engine/transmission section.

Suspension/handling: This was easily the best and most entertaining part of the car. It had a decently stiff suspension with little body roll. The steering felt good, though maybe a wee bit on the heavy side. The ride could get a little starchy, but was never too abrupt or harsh. It was a really good feeling car to drive. There was a bit of tire noise though....

Engine/transmission: This is the part that really disappointed me. The engine at 156 HP is on the higher side for the class, and, at 2.0 liters, is also slightly bigger than the class is generally running these days. You would think it would be peppier than it's sister car, the Elantra, which has a 148HP 1.8. Simply put, it's not. It seemed to struggle a bit in passing and going up steeper grades. Also the transmission just loved to hunt gears, especially on steeper grades where it either felt like the engine wasn't producing enough power and needed a downshift or the transmission was constantly moving between 2 or 3 different gears, all while under the same constant pressure on the throttle. And the engine drone..... Of all the issues this is probably the most annoying to me. At cruising speeds the engine would drone and the noise would just totally penetrate the cabin. It was constant and pretty annoying. It seems as if the transmission was tuned to keep the engine at too low of an rpm and that was causing the drone, probably to help the gas mileage. That with the aforementioned tire noise was a bit much for me. Some additional sound deadening would help this a lot. On a side note, what I have read leads me to believe the SX with the bigger 2.4 does not suffer this issue and is quieter and considerably smoother than the the 2.0 in the EX, though with a 3-4 MPG loss.. I will find this out eventually.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Good gas mileage at 36 highway, roomy, plenty of cargo room, hatchback availability, good features, pricing, good looks, good handling, good steering, relatively fun to drive.

Cons: Weak engine, transmission constantly hunting for gears, some plasticky bits on the interior, engine drone, red interior lighting, some tire noise.


Overall: This is a good package in need of some fine tuning. I know the little Rio is getting the 1.8 liter motor from the Hyundai Elantra, so hopefully the Forte will follow suit as this would be a much better base engine than the 2.0, especially if they used the Elantras tuning for the 6 speed automatic. Also, give us some better interior lightning and displays, even if I was not colorblind, the red on black still would not look very good. Some additional sound deadening would also be welcome. I do understand that the Forte, at least here in the US, is the oldest design of the cars I have driven, but I still don't see this being passable when came out in 09.

2011 Nissan Sentra SE-R

This Saturday I was a little bored and decided to just go and look around at the local Nissan Dealership. I had no expectations of, or really wanted to, drive anything. I actually got out to look at a Sentra SE-R Spec V. I usually don't like these cars, but this one was in a nice blue (As a Ky boy, it looked Ky blue ) with gray wheels. While I was looking a salesman snuck up on me. He asked if I wanted to take it out and see how she handles I hesitated for a moment and then said "sure"

Basics: 2011 Sentra SE-R Spec V: Upgrade package (Limited slip diff, nav, backup camera, upgraded stereo, etc, etc). $23,800

2.5 4 cylinder, 200 HP, 28 MPG Highway, 6 speed manual transmission.

Exterior: I have never been a fan of the current Sentra. The SE-R add-ons help though, along with the blue color and gray wheels this one looked better than most Sentras.

Interior: There was certainly a sporty feel here. I loved the stylized shifter, thick wheel, the metal pedals, the supportive sport seats, basically they did a better job on the interior than the exterior. This car excelled on room as I had plenty of headroom even with this cars sunroof and the even the backseats and trunk were pretty large. Everything worked, the AC was good and cold and got there quick, seats were comfortable enough, though I think the tilt only steering wheel, especially on the top of the line model, is a bit of big detail to miss these days, especially as the steering wheel seemed awfully close to the dash. I found the aux gauges at the top center of the dash rather useless and the nav screen seemed a bit smaller than some competitors.

Powertrain: the engine provided plenty of torque, and had no problem getting going and I even got a nice bark from the front tires on the 1-2 shift. The shifter felt good, but throws were a little longer than I expected. The clutch seemed very abrupt at first, (yes I stalled it once), but felt fine after a few minutes of getting used to it. The drivetrain worked smoothly and there was actually no drivetrain lash even during a bad shift.

Ride/Handling: The handling on this car was very secure. it responded to turn-ins quickly, there was no body roll, and it seemed eager to tear up curvey roads. That is the good part. The bad part is that the great handling came at the expense of the ride. On some potholes it actually felt like the little car was getting a little airborne and I wasn't going "that" fast. Yes, this road is a bit worse than the ones I drive on everyday, but this is the same road I took the Elantra up and it certainly didn't ever seem to be "launching" on the potholes. That said, I do realize the SE-R is the sport model where the Elantra doesn't even offer one, but it is probably the roughest ride of any vehicle I have driven and even worse than my 01 Dakota Running trimmed R/T springs in the front and lowering blocks in the rear.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Fun to drive, manual transmission, nice interior, roomy, torquey motor, good handling

Cons: beat with the ugly stick, some interior niggles, horse and buggy ride, fuel economy could use an upgrade

Overall: A fun to drive car with room and features to spare, a good price, an plenty of power, the ride is probably the biggest handicap, along with looks that make the car seem bloated..

[Lou_Dorchen]

Buy American, go with the Focus.

[ShnOmac]

Sonic FTW!

[Blue Maro Demon]

I would either get the Chevy Cruze, Chevy Sonic, Or the Honda Civic.

[Silverlsinva]

I say Sonic!

[Stew]

I think Sonic is a size smaller than he is considering.

[upflying]

I'd choose Focus. Lot's of road noise in the Honda. Koreans have not figured out the ride and handling yet.

[scrming]

Originally Posted by Lou_Dorchen

Buy American, go with the Focus.

Focus ST!! EcoBoost FTW!!!

[IBM]

Focus if you're not into the looks of the Cruze.

[FenwickHockey65]

Focus or Sonic.

[TOMS1SS]

Focus, I'm getting over 40MPG with my Fiesta daily driver. Hyandai can't do fuel economy (seems they fall flat in testing vs EPA ratings) and Honda will get you lumped with the Tuner crowd. Besides buy American when you have a competitive choice.

[ohsotender1]

my 'other' car is a Hyundai Genesis ... it's my 5th Hyundai ... can't beat their warranty. Other than regular maintenance stuff ...never a mechanical problem with any of them.