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The Cruz is the same way. $100 option to add the spare. For that price, you can just get the inflator and sealant (not bad to have them), and get a donut elsewhere.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
What bugs me is if your car has alloys, and they ding u for a full size spare, but cheap out with a steel wheel. Putting it into the mix looks bad. The only real benefit is no overall perimeter changes that can throw off ESC especially on AWD vehicles and of course basic AWD operation. (you want all four fr and rr tires turning the same speed)
Has no one at all found the seat back in the Cruze a bit intruding on you at shoulder height?
And with my early car searches, I have acquired the beginnings of true honest hate for anti-whip lash headrests. :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: So far, Hyundai and Kia seem to be the worst for this. And the Impreza was only marginally better. At both Hyundai AND Subaru, the salesmen both said people are turning them around backwards, so this is a very real PITA for us. And if so many people turn them around BACKWARDS, then they are not AS safe as just the plain old non anti-whiplash styles were! Plus they look terrible backwards.
I thought the idea was to come up and grab the back of your head in event of a rearender? Not push your head so aggressively forward that you're inspecting the lint in your belly button. I like my seat back fairly upright due to my bad lower back and of course that just exasperates the darn new super aggressive head restraint positions.
I guess I will have to buy used
-Sonata, Tucson, Sportage, Forte, Cruze, Impreza, Outback and i think i am forgetting a few.
Having the big sturdy head restraint is considered safer, but it does seem to bother a lot of people. So you either get used to it, or find an older car you like and keep it forever!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I think you will find that adjustability (I don't count height) is a rare commodity among most new cars cuz they can better manage and predict the results of whiplash resistance when they are fixed.
Of course they can not make them safe for all drivers if the driver is not smart enough to adjust it high enough to catch his head. Worst case would be one of these new fixed type, with a really tall driver that doesn't move it and have it catch at neck level instead of head.
If memory serves, the very most intrusive ( I could not drive the darn car without removing or turning them around, and I'm not kidding) were the Sportage, Tucson, and i think Forte too, but there are tons of cars i have yet to sit in. I strongly suspect these new head restraints will all be an annoyance, and you will have to find one that bothers u the least.
But you watch...make a mental note of they day I am saying and predicting this..you watch....in 4 years from now there will be stats on a HIGHER incidence of whiplash cuz they will find more HR turned around, or removed altogether.
Such is life, it is hard to find the happy medium, and it just figures gvt was involved with some white shirt that laid out the guidelines without thinking down the road, that.."if we make 'em too aggressive, drivers won't use 'em".
I call it the pendulum effect..you can likely figure out why...it can be applied to most new laws and rules.
What I got from this was that I believe it depends on the person and how they sit and at what angle they keep the seatback. I think the straighter(close to 90 degrees) you keep the seatback the more problem it may be.
The Verano's trunk is substantial for its class: 15.2 cubic feet when equipped with a tire inflator kit or 14.3 with a spare tire and a jack.
Even the entry level premium type brands are going to this type of choice. 14.3 cu ft is enough trunk for me in a compact....I'll take the spare, thank you!
The driver's seat is very comfortable and wraps around you nicely. However, it may feel too tight for wider folks. The height adjuster raised the whole seat from the back (so it still tips forward slightly but not near as bad as the old single knob), instead of just the bottom cushion, and the lever works better than the old knob. This was a definite improvement over the one in my Accent. The rear seat had loads of leg room but the backrest felt a little lumpy and the high windowsills give a more claustrophobic feeling.
This car definitely sits lower. You sit down into the car. Getting into the backseat, you have to be careful to watch your head. Style definitely won over function here. I much prefer the high chairlike seating in my Accent which provides easy ingress/egress and near SUV like views of the road. Visibility out the front was restricted by very large A-pillars and a heavily raked windshield. I feel my Accent has a much better view of what's ahead.
The shifter was smooth, definitely on par with Honda. It didn't feel clunky and the throw wasn't too long. It also has a very neat automatic style button integrated into the bottom front of the shift ball that when pressed, pulls up a rod to release the reverse lockout. Much more intuitive and easier to operate then shift rings that you have to pull up on. I loved the feel of it and how easy it was to get into reverse. As long as the clutch engages smoothly, manual tranny people ought to love this shifter.
The AC control knobs felt cheap when turned. A definite backslide here and another casualty to design flare. My Accent's knobs feel much more expensive.
Now to the things I noticed missing. It's the little things that Hyundai always impressed me with and now they seem to be deleting them. There is no driver's side grab handle, but my Accent has one. There was only one lighter socket, which was hidden by a door with a very cheap feeling latch that felt like it could break easily. I looked in the center console to see if a second one was hidden there, but there wasn't one. Very disappointed here as my Accent has 2 standard. The lighted vanity mirrors require you to turn on a switch to get light. On my Accent, all I have to do is slide open the mirror cover and the light comes on automatically. Lastly, was the complete lack of a handle to close the trunk lid. You must dirty your hands and put prints on your car to close the lid. My Accent has a nice big recessed handle to close the hatch without having to touch the outside of the car. I will say the trunk lid was at least carpeted, which was a bit unexpected. It was these glaring omissions that stood out the most to me and made the Hyundai value equation seem like a step back.
As for the spare, the styrofoam tray housed the compressor and sealant. I lifted the tray up and noticed there is a threaded hole to screw down a clamp to hold a spare tire in place. So adding a true spare would only require buying the threaded clamp.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
BTW, the second lighter/DC outlet is on the passenger side of the center stack!
I thought I would not like the beige interior after reading comments online about it being orange-ish, but when I saw it in person (in a Desert Sand GLS) I thought it was just fine, not dissimilar in color to beige interiors in BMWs etc., and preferable to the more dour gray interior. Or maybe I've had my fill of gray interiors since the 2 cars I drive now have gray interiors. To each his own I guess.
Hyundai has hit another grand slam with the Elantra...also hoping the new Accent will be just as good!
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
IMO the streamlined profile does in fact compromise rear head room. No surprise there. I can barely fit in back, with hair brushing the headliner, and I'm only 5'10". Certainly fine for younger kids and smaller adults, but anyone with 6-foot+ people who need to ride in back had better let them do a test-sit back there.
I wasn't a big fan of the beige interior. If i was going with the desert bronze, id go with black interior if they offered it.
But i'm happy with my Indigo Blue Limited with the Grey Interior. Liking the car so far, not loving the door handles, but thats pretty minor
16" steelies are an option on the M/T GLS, which comes standard with 15" wheels.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
Hopefully they don't wait for a modern version of the Corolla. That might not arrive until 2016 at this pace. Man, what an also ran that car is now.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I remember the same kind of delay on test reports when the 2011 Sonata rolled out. Took a few months to get reviews in print. But there's quite a few reviews online on the Elantra.
I think the mags will wait for the 2012 Focus and maybe the 2012 Civic before doing comparos with the Elantra (and Cruze). That will make for a very interesting comparo: the latest from Ford and GM with the latest from Japan and Korea.
just googled, and the official Honda site says the new civic will be out in the spring. so not that long, unless they mean late spring!
will give that a look too, if they decide to come out with 5 door this time. And better seats. could not stand the current ones.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Hopefully they'll also outfit the cars with the same features...think a lot of folks decisions will be based on this comparo!
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
and skip the corolla, at least until a new design comes out, it just would not be fair!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
The Sandman :sick: :shades:
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2015 Golf TSI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I also found that I could adjust the driver's seat on the Elantra (Sonata also) up high enough to where the low profile wasn't an issue, i.e. I did not feel like I was in a tomb. I wished the steering column on the Elantra tilted up just a bit more, however.
I decided the gray interior would be OK, as it's two-tone so not too dark. But I think I prefer tan (cloth), with either the bronze or red exterior. Silver/gray is OK, just kinda boring (and I have a silver car now, and have owned several other silver cars). But have never owned a brown/bronze car.
As I mentioned earlier, the Elantra's cabin appears to be perched forward, and the hood appears short. What was your impression of this appearance both in the exterior styling and sitting in the cabin?
Yes
"Will it warm up faster and cool off faster?"
Yes...however, cooling off faster not an advantage.
"How about cylinder life for wear/oil consumption?"
This depends largely on oil quality and maintenance service history AND cyl bore design...are the cyl bores linerless?
" I read somewhere that it is coming from China."
Not sure exactly what the potential innuendo is with this question? They have been known to copy and cut corners. But they have also been known to copy and improve. They own a LOT of USA debt if that means anything at all??
Regular oil changes, and most of the driving is highway.
It now has 355,000 miles. A couple timing belt changes, new clutch at about 290K. I'd bleed the clutch now and then. Brakes have been fiddled with a few times.
I've always thought the Beta engine was bulletproof. At this point, it uses around a quart every 2 thousand miles. A local dealer told me about a girl who used her Elantra as one of those highway vehicles that tails oversized loads. She had over 600K on hers.
I'm now suggesting that when the time to replace it comes, he seriously consider the Kia Forte 5. It's the closest he can get to the old GT, with the 'extremely rare' fold-flat rear seat, along with what I think is the latest iteration of the Beta, including timing chain which I think they went to in 2008.