2024 Refreshed Hyundai Elantra N Quick Review

Welcome to Extra Throttle House. I'm Thomas. And I'm James. And this is the updated Elantra N. It's a big deal. It is a big deal. Every time we film this car, it seems to be a love letter to this car. Because it's so good. And every time I read about it, everyone's like, everyone underrates that car. But we don't. We rate it exactly as it should be rated, which is good for the money. However, we have shared some of your concerns about how it looks in the past. Not that it would look terrible. So it's funny, what happened is that they've made a bunch of changes this year. One of them was updating the cooling in the front and the way the bumper's designed to make sure the engine's cool. And just as a result, by chance, they've completely changed the front end and it looks better. And it's like getting a boob job because you needed to balance everything out. It's such a cop-out. They're just like, oh, we fixed the cooling, obviously, you know, we changed it. They're so proud. They couldn't admit that it looked like crap before. And we've got a black Hyundai badge. There's a black Hyundai badge and some new wheels, which are lighter. They're lighter. They've reduced the unsprung mass by 33 pounds. Very important. Yeah. Yeah. That's not the only thing, though. There is some changes to the suspension. The steering components are different. Urethane bushings in the rear. Right. Some pretty good stuff is going on. Yeah. Which is not common. Usually when they do a facelift, they just do a facelift. Well, it's interesting because we just got out of the Nissan Z Nismo. We did. And truth be told, we were actually going to put this versus the Nissan Z Nismo as a video. And hold your tongues, because that makes way more sense than you think it does. From a lap time perspective. You'll see. And a fun perspective. Yes. And yeah. Well, no, I'm not saying you'll see with the lap time, because the fact is the previous version of this is seconds quicker than the Z. Than the normal Z. So what's interesting about that is that this comes such a deal. This car, it's such a deal. I still can't get over how well it's priced. They just know what they're doing. Well, they know that they're Hyundai. They don't carry the prestige of a civic type car, that Honda badge and the championship white. There's so much love behind that. They need to generate the love. They need to create love. But like, honestly, though, the amount of performance and the fun that you get out of this car and the way it looks now, I think, I don't say this very often, I think they could charge more for this and it would still make sense. Maybe the changes have ruined it. Maybe some slightly less unsprung masses made it. You always want less unsprung masses. Maybe it's out of control. Maybe it's too fast. Maybe this two liter turbocharged four cylinder monster is now too much for the road. So I have driven this. Yes. And I have set a lap time. Yes. Would you like to drive it? Yeah. This is the manual, by the way. We didn't even say that. We didn't say this is the manual. Well, it's standard as manual. You can but you can get a DCT. Can I just say the DCT is quite good in this and I enjoy it a lot. Yeah, it's not often that we have a car where both transmissions are fantastic. And I've thought on numerous occasions about buying one of these as just kind of like a fun little run around daily. And I have been unable to decide if I would do the DCT or the manual because I like driving both of them. And the thing steering me away from the manual is that you keep stalling it. No, you shut up. I stalled it twice. That was twice. Everyone on the team has officially stalled this car. Super James. He's going to get a tattoo that says I'm the only one that didn't stall it. Our new cameraman, Dan. Yeah. Right of passage. Yeah. Did he stall it? He stalled it. He wasn't there for the original video, but he has installed this. Anyway, I was going to say that the one thing keeping me away from the manual in this is that this has, by far and away, a huge distance. The most hideous shift knob I have ever seen. What? Yeah. Okay. You get in there. It looks like a deconstructed cigarette lighter. It's horrendous. See, some of our issues with the Nismo Z and I bring it up again just because it's same day filming. Yes. Was that the interior just wasn't even close to being up to par. Yeah. Well, I mean, we'll adjust it now for $76,000. This is a perfectly fine interior. It's fine. Absolutely matches the $30,000. It's nice though. It's got some Alcantara. It's got that horrible shift knob. The seats are nice. You're right about the shift knob. It's just, it's toyish. This whole car is toyish. Yes, it is. Especially the gauge cluster. Yeah, it's a bit lacking. Good luck understanding the modes in this car. If you were an owner, you would know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I tell you a secret? When I did the lap times of this this morning, I had to redo it completely because, you know, I'll take that key. Thank you very much. It's a really cheap key, by the way. It looks good at the end, but it's really light. It just upsets me because I know the Genesis keys are so nice. They are so nice. Yeah. Anyway, sorry. I had to redo the lap times because I put the car in sport mode using the drive mode button. Right. Right. So go to drive mode. And then I went to the end mode here. I was like, okay, so I'll just check to make sure everything else is in the right settings. And then I swiped over to this screen and I saw this bit. I was like, okay, make sure everything is in the stiffest mode. So engine, steering, suspension, sport plus, rev matching, exhaust sound, sport plus, ESC off, ELSD sport. I was like, good, good to go. Did the laps. Realized you were still in sport. Realized I was still in sport because that is the setting for a custom menu that are these two buttons on the steering wheel. Right. So I changed settings for a mode I wasn't in. Pointlessly. So now I'm in custom one. Now you're in custom one. Thank you for customizing. Yes. My mode. 286 horsepower. Yep. Big number. It's not bad. Bigger than a GLI, not off a front wheel drive. Doesn't, doesn't touch the Civic Type R or the Golf R. No, but it's way cheaper than those. All right. Have some fun. Isn't it immediately fun? You know what's nice is when you get in a car that's developed just for fun and that appeals to us. Yes. I think in fairness, when it comes to actually dropping money on a car, you want it to be desirable in loads of ways. Yeah. Fun isn't the only thing. No. But if it is the only thing, look no further. But don't forget that this is still. Oh, that front grip is great. Isn't it? If BMW made a good front wheel drive car, that's what a BMW front grip car. That's what it would feel exactly right. And the best part about it is that the steering, whether or not you like the weight or not, that's a different conversation. I like it when moving. It just feels a bit synthetic around car parts. Yeah. It's artificially weighted. Sure. But when you're under load, you can feel that understeer on the outside front tire. Yeah. You can feel it come into the steering wheel so you know how to adjust your throttle. Even there when I'm on the bounce, when we're slightly, as we slightly depart from the ground. Yeah. I feel it in the steering wheel. It goes a little bit light for a second, right? Absolutely. It's perfect. That seems like it's obvious. All cars should do that, but they don't. But they just don't. Yeah. And then when you break into the corner and turn, you feel the load gain in the steering wheel. Yeah. And then as you come off, it lightens, right? It's just excellent. Tire limited there. Of course. Yeah. Well, also front wheel drive, right? You got to drive around the front wheel drive. A little bit of pops on the upshift. Yeah. It was always a poppy car. Yeah. It's fun. It's funny. There's two cams. There's like, it's popping. It makes it fun. And then you get in a car that doesn't do pops and like, you know, higher end stuff. And it's like, see, they know they haven't got to be juvenile. They don't need to do those pops. Every once in a while, you want to be a little bit dumb. Better out than in, I always say. The shifter's fun. The clutch is great, right? It's easy to drive this car. Lovely. Yeah, lovely. And then you, like, don't forget, you're in like a practical sedan. I will say the Golf R is not as satisfying to drive as this. Interesting. I agree. Well, the Golf R does drifts. So there's that. It does do drifts. Other than that bit. Other than that drift. Drift, drift, drift. Drifts. But it does do them. And when? When are you going to do them? Golf R's drifts are only safe on a racetrack. Yes, exactly. I own a Golf R, and in the 5,000 kilometers I've done in it, I haven't done one drift. You can't, because the drifts are so big and stupid in that car that you can't do little dinky ones. No, but this car is, it's more fun than the Type R. Big statement, but it is. It's more fun than the GTI. It's more fun than the Golf R. It's more fun than, what else is there? It's more fun than the Integra Type R. It's more fun than the, what's the other? I actually saw an Integra Type R in the wild a couple of days ago in white, and it really looked good. No, they're great looking cars. Okay, but what you're saying, none of that is new. That was always true with the Elantra N before this facelift and changes. Yes, that's true. Have you noticed any difference? Only in testing times. Right, and you'll see in a minute what I'm talking about. A nicer face to look at. A nicer face to look at, but otherwise, no. I would have to back-to-back these cars to be able to detect any unsprung weight differences, or the advantages of the stiffness in the rear end from the bushings. Why is this so much more fun than it is mostly? It's instantly more fun. Also, the gears feel longer, and I don't normally, like, gears are too short. Well, no, the gears in this suit the power band quite well. You get to rev it out, right? You get to experience it. Oh, there's some torque. That's fun. That's excellent. If I didn't live somewhere with winter, the front-wheel drive-ness of this would not scare me away at all. That's what I said, like, I've been, you know, just live with it through the winter, but I've been saying, I think this would be a really fun, like, I'm going to buy a new car from a dealership with a warranty. This is just a fun car because it's fun at any speed. It moves, doesn't it? Yeah. It's such an approachable car to drive fast, too. Any other manufacturer, okay, ignore that there's not a power bump in this, but any other manufacturer, if they did weight reduction and change things and under-chassis bracing and thinking, this would be called the N-Plus or the N-Performance or the N-Competition if you're Audi. Right, so you're saying they just improved the car and it's still just the N. Yeah, they're so quiet about the updates. Yeah, yeah, like, they could have easily called this, you're right, the N-Competition and charged more money for it. And it looks better as well. But from the driver's seat, I don't feel that much difference. The steering feel is supposed to be slightly improved, but I already liked it in motion anyway. Yeah. So the question is, is the difference on paper? Let's take a look at the lap. All right, the Elantra N. As I mentioned before, I had to do this more than once because there are too many settings, but once I got it dialed in, it was a great little track car. So the truth is, without back-to-backing this in the previous year, you probably won't tell the difference. But like all Elantra Ns I've driven, this one was fantastic. Great communication from the front end made it so easy to drive the car right at the limit of the front tire's adhesion, allowing me to get as much power down as possible coming out of the corners. And the damping just feels right. It keeps the car planted here. The Elantra N manual that we tested before. Yes, on PS4S. This is also on PS4S. Also PS4S. Did a 114.6. Respectable. Which is respectable. Yeah, it was actually right behind the Mark VIII Golf R manual. 114.4. And it's down on power compared to that. It's down on power compared to that. And it was actually quicker than the GR Corolla. Okay. Right, that was the previous one. So what was it? A 114? It was a 114.6. The new time. Give me a second to boot this up. All right, hold on. For a moment, I just need to go back. The Nismo Z was 113.36. And had we done this video together, it would be vying to beat that. Yes. Well, no, we shouldn't be vying to beat that. Well, it'd be the normal Z. Because that car is almost twice the price of this one. It'd be the normal Z. Okay. Are you ready? 113.36 to me. No, 114. Okay, whatever it is. If it's in the 13s, it's a huge win. It is a 113.57. Pretty good, right? Now you're a really loud clapper, Jesus. Yeah, I've been told. So that's a really, really great time. I feel like I want to drive it hard now just to celebrate. Just to celebrate? Yeah. First of all, it has no business being that close to a Nismo Z on the same day with the same driver. Two tenths, two tenths. Two tenths away from a Nismo Z is hilariously good. And it's more fun. And it's more usable. And it's more usable. And the interior is just as nice. Yes, it is. Oh, there's so much grip from that front. It's great. Yeah, so that puts it... Wait a second, is it? What did I say the time was again? 113.57? Yes. Oh my god, it's almost the same time as an FL5 Type R by a couple hundredths of a second. Well, that's what happens when you lose mass while everyone else is getting fatter. Yeah. This is getting skinnier. That is... That's phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal time for this car. Seriously. Wow. I still wouldn't buy one. What the heck? Why? Something about it. Well, you just can't get over the Hyundai, you bad schnub. That's what's happening here. It's a bit bad schnobbery. Yeah. There's a bit too much toyishness. I just feel like I've aged out of it. That's what it is. There's nothing wrong with it. Yeah, yeah. Fair enough. It's like the new Wonka film. All right. Yeah. I watched that on the plane. I'm like, okay, this is a good film. It's fun. I'm too old for it. You're too old for it. Yeah, yeah. And I haven't aged out of many cars because I'm not that old. Yeah. But for some reason, this is the beginning of me aging out of a car. No, that's fair enough. Yeah, you're more of like a Porsche design piece. No, I have a Golf R. I have a Golf R. Yeah, that's also a mature choice. It's not that mature. It does drifts. It does drifts, yeah. And it has stupid infotainment you have to get used to. Yeah, it does have stupid infotainment you have to get used to. You can't do that if you're old. Yeah. That's a Gen Z skill, being able to adapt to the world around you. No, again, I think I wouldn't buy this as my only car, but like, you know, also having sports cars in the garage, this has to be a fun little daily. I love it, and I'll high five anyone that buys it. Yes. For some reason, I don't know. You personally. I think the FL5 looks better. I think the Golf R does more. Well, the all-wheel drive is nice. I'll say that. Just none of them are as fun. No, this is the most fun of the front-wheel drive cars. That's where I realize I've aged out. I don't put fun as the most important metric. I see. And that's sad. That's sad. I stopped dreaming. Yeah. That's the difference between children and adults. We gave up. We gave up. Yeah. This car dares to dream, and I really appreciate it for that. Well, that was interesting. That was fun. Great lap time. Well done, Hyundai and all the engineers behind the end products. What now? What's next? Like, what's the next front-wheel drive thing? Like, what's the next thing coming out that's supposed to give us a, you know, say, well, that one takes our money over this. I don't know. I don't think that. This is for a while. This is my pick. This is my recommendation. Yeah. Interesting. Bugatti Tourbillon.