Elantra Exceeds Expectations- The Frankenstein Government Review

Well, I picked up my new Hyundai Elantra in snowy Salt Lake City yesterday. True to form, the buzzards tried to charge me more on the loan docs than the agreed upon price. I made them re-run the docs- of course. I bought an Ipod cable.

I did not know they had In and Out Burger Restaurants in Salt Lake. After 32 days of this sadistic diet, I said screw it. A double double with everything and some fries. About 1100 carbs. Place was a zoo. No place to even sit down. Odd for 2:30 in the afternoon or so I thought.

I had to wait 30 days for this car after the cease fire was announced. It is black with the black and tan interior, has a six speed manual transmission, and Hyundai's comfort package one. That includes cruise, a/c, trip computer, a few other gizmos. It has satellite radio free for 90 days and since I like "jabber free" radio- I will probably order it. The car exceeds my expectations for a couple of reasons you may find odd.

I am 6'4 and 260 lbs. I hate cars that squish me. This one doesn't. I have at least 6 inches of room above my head and I was completely shocked that I did not have to adjust the driver's seat all the way back. The Elantra looks small inside but it is not. The back seats are very usable with lots of leg room.

The gear box is not sloppy- you do not search for gears. The shifter almost snaps into place. I like that a lot.

The speedometer/odometer are white at night. The other dash lights are all blue. I found that color combination very appealing. The glove box is enormous and it uses a recessed opening latch. It has an eyeglass/sunglass case holder mounted in the ceiling. Very clean, no ugly sticking out knobs. The trunk is huge, you can open it with the key fob, and the back seats lay down adding even more room. Visibility is excellent- which brings me to my only two knocks on the vehicle.

The rear view mirror housing looks almost bulky or odd. This car is so stylish it seems weird that they kind of stuck a couple of chunky mirrors on the car. My only other knock is the mileage. Utah and Idaho have 75 MPH speed limits which means we all go 80. With some serious headwinds yesterday, gas mileage at 80 MPH dropped all the way down to 31 as noted by the trip computer. Not even close to the Elantra's EPA stated 40 MPG. However, I dropped my speed to 70 MPH just for shits and giggles and reset the computer for about 40 miles. I ran in the very high 30's around 39 after the winds had subsided. If I lived in a state like Oregon, with their ridiculous and restrictive speed limit of 65 on the interstate (and the biggest speeding fines in the nation) the Elantra would be a perfect blend of speed and gas mileage.

Road noise it almost imperceptible but I had to accept the fact that this car is not a BMW.

I managed to escape with this car for 15,800. It will only take three years worth of gas money to pay for itself as opposed to driving my F-250 around town. Full coverage insurance on this car was cheaper than liability on my F-250 car crusher. I would even recommend this car to people looking at mid-size cars. Hyundai really uses space efficiently in this car.

So today I am going to go wash the road grime off the car and try to burn off that double/double with fries on the treadmill. Back to the sadistic diet for one more month. I hope I can make 30 more days. May dog gless.