Hyundai’s Elantra Spells “Continuous Improvement”
 

A short trip to sunny Southern California is an eye opening experience.

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - July 25, 2012

2012 Hyundai Elantra Limited Sedan parked along the Pacific last night. $23,600 as driven including the technology package, mats and i-Pod cable. The EPA is the same 29/40 we have all come to know so intimately and love immensely.

While in Southern CA, I have been fortunate to drive two of the most beautiful C-Segment Compacts available in all of North America. The vehicles are the 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe we recently previewed and today a 2012 Hyundai Elantra Limited sedan which we had an informal look at last year when a 2011 Elantra Limited showed up in the drive.

Driving a model year older vehicle and a newer sibling back to back reveals how a company’s continuous improvement processes are being implemented while maintaining the core DNA that made us consider that particular vehicle in the first place.

One aspect of this continuous improvement process is crash test ratings. Currently most major manufacturer’s C-Segment offering achieves a “Top Safety Pick” from the Insurance Institute for Highway safety (IIHS). A “Top Safety Pick” has merit but when every C-Segment other than the aging Sentra receives the top rating, the entire program is worth more as an advertising sound bite than a direct comparison tool.

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) crash test ratings on the other hand separate the competitors with a stricter regimen of scoring for frontal and side impact measurements. Following the continuous improvement theme, in 2011 only one C-segment, the Cruze, was awarded a 5-star rash test rating. Today, three main stream C-segments have now earned the coveted NHTSA 5-star crash test rating with the later model 2012 and now 2013 Hyundai Elantra sedans (2012 Hyundai Elantra Earns an Overall 5 Stars on the NHTSA Crash Tests) being one of the title holders.

Ride and Handling Changes

While I have not driven the 2013 Elantra sedan with its standard torsion beam rear suspension vs. the all-new 2013 Elantra Coupe and GT’s lightweight V-beam design and integrated 22 mm stabilizer bar we have driven, the handling difference between the 2013 Coupe and GT compared to the 2012 sedan is very noticeable. The sedans soft ride with less aggressive suspension tuning was expected but what was not expected is the improvement in steering feel and response that the 2013 Cope and GT provide. As described in previous 2011 Elantra sedan write-ups, the on-center feel is not entirely linear and at some off-center angles is overly light. The 2013 Coupe and especially the user adjustable (Comfort, Normal and Sport) GTs steering feel are not only more linear from lock to lock but are more progressive in assist from high speed to low. A continuous improvement example that is a surprise from any vehicle let alone an affordable C-segment offering.

I cannot wait to get into a 2013 sedan to see if the same steering improvements were added to it.

Infotainment

A few unique although minor improvements for 2013 was in the NAVI display. The Coupe we were driving through yesterday was NAVI equipped and it had a unique star icon on the map and route guidance screen that allows Route cancellation without having to drill down into the menus. In addition, between the map and turn by turn guidance displays in a split screen mode is a new distance to next turn bar graph. Again it is not revolutionary but an evolution from a continuous improvement standpoint.

Miscellaneous

From the 2011 Elantra sedan, throttle tip in was aggressive to the point of being overly sensitive. The Active ECO system added in 2012 removed most of this quick throttle tip in response which was another e continuous improvement. For 2013, throttle tip-in (remember I am comparing the 13 Coupe and GT vs. 12 sedan), throttle tip-in is both smooth, linear and more normal to the point of not being a discussion point.

Clutch action? This comparison is between the 2011 6-speed MT equipped GLS sedan we drove over two years ago and the 2013 6-speed MT equipped GT we drove much of last month. The GTs clutch action is simply much more controllable. Gone is the on-off light switch type action of the 2011 GLS.

I cannot comment much on the action, throw and notchiness of the 2011 6-speed MT since it has been a long ago since we drove it, the 2013 GT can be described as one of the better 6-speed manual transmissions amongst the mainstream C-segment offerings available today. So much so that I have only missed one shift in the GT after over 2,500 miles and well over 10,000 hand shaker actions.

A little about Fuel Economy

While most know I am not a fan of automatics no matter the vehicle being driven, I also understand that approximately 97% of the driving public drives autos by choice. Driving the Elantra Limited with the 6-speed AT though the worst that Los Angeles rush hour had to offer yesterday (85 miles in just under 4-hours), the Elantra allowed 37.8 mpg while running A/C and never touching the key. Even the first 50-miles of stop light to stop light and sign to sign while running errands around Torrance, out onto the stop and crawl called the 405 to Cost Mesa and continue on the I-5 towards San Diego saw the AT equipped Elantra Limited at 33.8 mpg in the absolute worst of it and far tougher than the EPAs city cycle.


We will have more on the 2012 Elantra Limited sedan over the next few days…

Re: Hyundai’s Elantra Spells “Continuous Improvement”
 

Hi All:

Some of the other "strange" things you might see in Southern California ;)


Wayne

Re: Hyundai’s Elantra Spells “Continuous Improvement”
 

I hear Venice Beach is a great place to see some major oddities. :p

I love the numbers you were seeing in normal LA traffic. :)

Re: Hyundai’s Elantra Spells “Continuous Improvement”
 

I wish I had a need for a small car because at the dealer's last week I got a real good look at the 2012 Elantra GT and just loved it's looks and size.:)

Re: Hyundai’s Elantra Spells “Continuous Improvement”
 

The "melanesian" part of me agrees. :)

Re: Hyundai’s Elantra Spells “Continuous Improvement”
 

Funny you mention continuous improvement, because literally every couple of weeks they send me web surveys asking what do I like about this, or that, or my opinion on various topics. In all my many years of owning Fords, and I had a lot of them, they NEVER once solicited my opinion.

Re: Hyundai’s Elantra Spells “Continuous Improvement”
 

Hi Thunderstruck:

I experienced the same at my first Hyundai short lead last month. After the Veloster, Elantra Coupe and GT drive, the PR team was recording commentary about the three vehicles to be collated and disseminated by the Korean Product Planners and Design team to improve their product directly. I never experienced this with any other manufacturer.

Another continuous improvement detail from the 12 sedan to the 13 Coupe and GT is the headliner. The 12’s headliner is a cloth like texture pressed into the headliner material whereas the 13’s uses an actual cloth like material.

While minor, I have never seen this kind of improvement from model year to model year in any other manufacturer’s vehicles.

Wayne

Re: Hyundai’s Elantra Spells “Continuous Improvement”
 

Hi All:

A little excursion to Yosemite in the Elantra Limited with some brand new Eureka! gear in tow...


Wayne

Re: Hyundai’s Elantra Spells “Continuous Improvement”
 

Hi All:

A few pics from yesterdays visit to Yosemite…


Yosemite’s Half Dome dominates the Valley scaling 4,737 feet almost straight up above the valley floor. As the most recognizable feature in Yosemite National Park, it is also one of the most beautiful geographical features found anywhere in the world.

The sheer rock face of Half Dome is an enormous granite precipice. When glaciers dominated Yosemite Valley, one particular glacier’s gradual movement across the front of Half Dome over thousands of years gradually wore down the rock face into the vertical drop we see today.

From Glacier Point, the back of Half Dome is in fact not as rounded as it appears above revealing that only about 20 percent of the rock was ever actually worn away by the glacier’s movement, not the half as described everywhere.


Wayne

Re: Hyundai’s Elantra Spells “Continuous Improvement”
 

Hi All:

One of the other “must see” sites in Yosemite is Bridalveil Fall.

Bridalveil Falls is a 617 ft water fall that flows off the edge of a precipice. Since this is one of the most driest years on record, most of the water was not reaching its way to the bottom other than as a mist.


Wayne