Last summer I reviewed the newly redesigned 2017 Hyundai Elantra Limited sedan, I liked the new car’s design and the available features. Earlier this year, Hyundai added a new “Sport” trim to the Hyundai line up, I’m assuming this is to compete with the Civic SI.
I hadn’t heard of the new “Sport” trim and was expecting it to be just another Elantra with a bit of sporty flare thrown, such as bigger wheels and a bit of added bodywork and maybe some faux carbon fiber thrown in the interior.
That’s not the case with the new 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport, it has been reworked quite a bit, benefiting from a new engine, some sporty bodywork, and an all-new independent suspension at the rear. The overall package works really well and pricing is not too bad either.
Pricing
The base Hyundai Elantra Sport with a 6-speed manual transmission has a starting price of $24,999, add the 7-speed dual clutch automatic and price jumps to $26,499. The Elantra Sport Tech with manual transmission starts at $27,499 and is priced at $28,999 for the automatic transmission equipped models.
Our review vehicle was the base Elantra Sport with a manual transmission, priced at $24,999.
Engine/Driving
The non-sport Elantra sedans are equipped with 2.0 liter 4-cylinder engines that produce 147 HP and 132 pound-feet of torque, which seemed like a decent amount of power for the car. The Elantra Sport is equipped with a turbocharged 1.6 liter 4-cylinder engine, with direct injection. This little engine produces 201 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 195 pound-feet of torque between 1,500 – 4,500 rpm.
Driving the 2017 Elantra Sport was quite fun, the 6-speed manual is very smooth shifting and gives the car a nice sporty feel. The engine produces a good amount of power and it helps the car get up to speed very quickly, I think this car has the perfect amount of power, it’s more than enough to have fun with and not too much where you need to worry about going too fast or excessive fuel consumption.
Below 1,500 rpm, however, it feels very slow but as you increase the revs, the car comes to life and it’s really fun to drive. I really enjoyed my week with the Elantra Sport, and the new independent rear suspension makes the car feel very planted and stable. It’s quite the little affordable sporty car.
The new 2017 Elantra, not just the Sport trim, also benefits from Advanced High Strength Steel, using 53% of this steel compared to only 21 percent on the previous generation Elantra. The end result is a more rigid body, improved by 29.5% over the previous car, improving the car’s ride and handling.
Styling
My first impressions of the 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport were very positive, the car looks fantastic in blue. The Sport trim gets side skirts, which add to the sporty look of the car, it also comes with Sport trim exclusive 18” wheels, a black chrome grill at the front with “Turbo” in red letters, dual-tip exhaust and faux diffuser at the back. The car comes with standard HID headlights with black inner housing, horizontally mounted LED daytime running lights, and LED taillights.
Overall, I really like what Hyundai has done to the Elantra’s exterior design, it looks very sporty and I absolutely loved the blue color.
Interior
The Sport also benefits from small but significant interior improvements, the first of which I noticed was the heavily bolstered black leather seats with contrasting red stitching, the red stitching is another one of my favorite design elements of this car, giving the car an upscale and sporty look. The Sport also benefits from a thick heated flat-bottom steering wheel with red stitching and red needles on the speedometer and tachometer.
The rest of the interior is the same as the standard Elantra, but the Sport does let in some exhaust noise, which is a nice little surprise.
Overall Impressions
I had quite a bit of fun driving around in the 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport for a week, it’s nice to see some car makers still offering manual transmissions and it’s also nice to see sporty versions of affordable cars. The Elantra is already a great car, the Sport trim adds a bit of fun in the mix. I highly recommend checking out the 2017 Elantra Sport.
For more information on the 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport, check out hyundaicanada.com.
