2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport Review - Best Version of Hyundai's Best Vehicle

This is not the 2017 Hyundai Elantra GT3 Superleggera Stradale Competizione with an optional N Performance Package.

The 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport is not hardcore. It’s not SCCA-certified. It’s not extreme. It’s not uncompromising. And thankfully, it’s not obnoxious, ostentatious, outlandish, or overcooked.

The 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport is not a Ford Focus RS alternative; it’s not a replacement for your Subaru WRX STI; it won’t satisfy your Renault Sport 230 Renault F1 Team R26.R import cravings.

The $21,650 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport is, instead, a remarkably balanced junior sports sedan with classy styling and a terrific value quotient, priced $5,100 below the top-spec Elantra Limited.

It’s the best version of Hyundai’s best product.

WHAT DO YOU GET?

It’s enough, particularly with a pleasing six-speed manual shifter and a friendly clutch, to put clear distance between itself and the regular Elantra and its 147-horsepower 2.0-liter.

A seven-speed dual-clutch automatic costs $1,100 extra, and based on our experience with that powertrain combo in the Veloster, we strongly urge you to save $1,100.

Rather than the rear beam axle of other Elantras, the Elantra Sport makes use of multi-link rear suspension, plus a 15mm rear stabilizer bar, rear disc brakes like the Elantra Limited, and bigger wheels than any other Elantras wearing 225/40R18s.

With unique tuning of the suspension and steering plus 54 extra horses, the Elantra Sport is operating in an entirely different sphere from regular Elantras: quicker turn-in, even-keeled cornering, sufficient shove out of corners, and a surprisingly evocative exhaust note that urges you on.

WHAT DON’T YOU GET?

That’s not a chink in the Elantra Sport’s armor. At this low price point — GTI pricing starts $4,800 north of here — the Elantra’s dynamic repertoire is noteworthy.

But livelier steering, which will surely be helped when the Michelin X-Ice tires come off, would dramatically improve the Elantra Sport’s somewhat isolated personality. A modest increase in roll stiffness wouldn’t go amiss. Slightly shorter shifter throws would add to the performance aura. 20 additional lb-ft of torque would allow the Elantra to never feel wanting for extra gumption.

Yet the items from my wishlist missing in the Elantra Sport permit Hyundai to build a balanced car with a low price of entry.

For a car with this much cornering appetite, ride quality is exemplary. Less aggressive steering response enables the Elantra Sport to be a possible alternative for less enthusiastic Elantra consumers who want the extra power without any edginess. Hyundai’s noise/vibration/harshness work resulted in a car that feels far more closely linked to the Sonata than the previous Elantra.

WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER GET?

The comparably priced Ford Fiesta ST is undeniably the better driver’s car, but given the Elantra’s expansive rear seat, the Fiesta ST is a less family friendly vehicle.

Like the Elantra Sport, the 2.5-liter-equipped Mazda 3 is lacking a degree of outright performance. But while the 3 is the more willing partner, the Elantra’s turbocharged powerplant is noticeably more flexible at every point on the rev counter.

WILL ANYBODY KNOW YOU GOT WHAT YOU GOT?

The Sport badge isn’t hiding, but nobody actually thinks “Sport” means anything anymore, do they? The turbo text in the front grille is partially hidden by slats, and again, even turbos don’t automatically suggest performance the way they did in 1987.

Yet the fact that the Elantra Sport provides only faint enhancements to an already attractive car is an intrinsic aspect of its appeal. Far too many pseudo-performance cars shout loudly about levels of sportiness they don’t actually possess.

The 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport, on the other hand, styles softly and carries a medium-sized stick.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars.