![]() The levels of grip are acceptable for the mission of either car, especially considering that prodigious body lean will spoil the handling long before the eventual understeer kicks in. ![]() The standard suspension in both the Elantra and the Spectra feels identical from the driver’s seat, which is to say a little too soft for the Spectra to feel sprightly, yet not quite plush enough for the Elantra to keep up the premium-car pretenses. Finding an Elantra with the five-speed on the lot is difficult, which is a shame since the four-speed automatic trades all the relative fun of the five-speed in exchange for a marginal increase in fuel economy. ![]() As you’ve probably guessed by now, its better in the Spectra the SX trim level includes a “sport-tuned” suspension not available on the Elantra, whose handling characteristic seem specifically designed to discourage such good-natured hoonery. The five-speed transmission Hyundai supplies with this engine is a perfect fit with the mission of the car, allowing you to exploit every bit of the engine’s performance when you’re feeling talented and adventurous while still managing acceptable gas mileage when you aren’t. I repeat: economy cars need three pedals. Keep the standard five-speed manual, though, and you’ll be humming Johnny and the Sprites in no time. There’s a four-speed automatic available, but the gear ratios just don’t mesh with the engine characteristics. The powerplant revs freely, produces entirely adequate thrust, and makes a decent noise higher up in the rev range. Fortunately, the corporate four-banger is as tasty as bi bim bop. The same two-litre four cylinder engine motoivate both transportation devices, pumping out 138hp at 6000 rpm, and 136 lb.-ft. The Elantra’s interior is only close enough to “premium” to make its similarities to the Spectra jump out at you all the more.Įngine-wise, the Elantra and Spectra are twins under the skin. ![]() But the seats and controls underneath are Spectratastic. Leather may be available, the automatic gearstick may zig-zag through the gates to get to each selection, and the center console may have an interesting two-tiered shape to it. The Elantra’s interior, however, can’t cash the check the exterior attempts to write. The switchgear feels… functional, the controls are intelligently laid out, the steering wheel is (thankfully) bereft of buttons, and the plastics don’t get too depressing until you start hunting them out. The Spectra carries it’s sort of respectable simplicity inside the cabin, feeling exactly like a Cobalt and looking only slightly nicer. The socially-awkward manager-in-training and the wannabe skater chick show their sisterhood in their interiors. The Elantra is the ill-fitting designer knockoff hanging in Hyundai’s closet next to the Spectra’s denim jeans. But while the cars the Elantra attempts to roughly emulate look sleek and feminine, the Elantra itself comes across as heavy and dumpy. Sure, it has smooth curves and little accents and complex head lights and all that jazz. Neither car takes any sort of chances the Spectra manages to be almost handsome in that simple and clean sort of way that makes a Cobalt coupe acceptable. The Spectra pulls off its hipster looks to a much greater degree than the Elantra pulls off the Lexus thing. But does the reality match the marketing dream? Clearly, the Elantra is aimed at the sort of people that pretend to have stock options, while the Spectra is aimed at the sort of people that pretend to have social lives. The Spectra brochure has “spark” blue and “spicy” red cars racing along winding roads between keggers and climbing walls. The Elantra brochure is full of “black pearl,” “captiva” white, and “quicksilver” Elantras posing in front of fountains and driving through jewel-like cityscapes. The Spectra’s brochure is just standard gloss paper with two staples. The Elantra’s brochure is surprisingly substantial, printed on premium paper stock and bound with an actual binding. Is it a distinction without a difference, in the not-so-grand tradition of General Motors? Let’s have a look to each model’s respective brochures… In fact, American buyers hunting in that market segment can choose between Hyundai’s Hyundai Elantra and the Kia Spectra. As you’d expect, the company offers the now-essential model in any current car range: the budget-priced, fuel-efficient compact car. In the process, the Korean automaker acquired struggling brother Kia. In the last ten years or so, Hyundai decided it’d be fun to build things that resemble cars that people want to buy.
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