Since its introduction as a 2018 model, the latest Honda Civic Type R has sort of been the standard by which other compact high-performance cars are measured. Heck, we even led off a track test of the Hyundai Elantra N by mentioning the Civic R in the first sentence. But does the mighty R still des…
If I had the option of replacing my current car with anything (within reason), the Elantra N is at the top of my list.
Will you guys be putting the new Type R on track as well? The N is certainly impressive compared to the old Type R but the new one may have raised the bar further.
How much lap time would the N give up with the manual trans? It's not as fast but that's still what I'd want in a daily driver. The manual trans N vs. manual trans R would be a little more apples to apples.
Looking at your list of FIRM lap times that Triple Threat MX-5 is pretty damn impressive. Not a lot of fancy mods on that thing and it's faster than some impressive cars.
Certainly more attainable and you won't find as many dealers throwing mark-ups on it either like you do with Honda. I'll never not complain about the Honda/Acura dealer experience and it being one of the worst out there.
CrashDummy said:Will you guys be putting the new Type R on track as well? The N is certainly impressive compared to the old Type R but the new one may have raised the bar further.
We promise that as soon as we get our hands on the new Civic Type R (and also a GR Corolla), we'll be taking it to the track. Stay tuned.
DirtyBird222 said:Certainly more attainable and you won't find as many dealers throwing mark-ups on it either like you do with Honda. I'll never not complain about the Honda/Acura dealer experience and it being one of the worst out there.
If you think the Honda dealer experience is bad, just wait until you meet your Hyundai salesman when you go looking for your Elantra.
RadBarchetta said:DirtyBird222 said:Certainly more attainable and you won't find as many dealers throwing mark-ups on it either like you do with Honda. I'll never not complain about the Honda/Acura dealer experience and it being one of the worst out there.
If you think the Honda dealer experience is bad, just wait until you meet your Hyundai salesman when you go looking for your Elantra.
I had a very pleasant experience buying my Kona N. I was in and out of the dealership in less than 45 minutes, including loading it on a trailer.
Every Honda/Acura dealer I've ever been too or communicated with made the experience of dealing with my ex-wife look appetizing. Even when I worked for a Honda dealer for a few years, the salesmen somehow made my life as a tech miserable. I swear Honda must've taken a page out of the Veteran Affairs handbook on how to treat customers when training their sales and F&I folks.
I love everything about the Elantra except the looks. It's a (quick) ugly baby for sure. I guess you could buy one in black to try and downplay the catfish mouth
RadBarchetta said:DirtyBird222 said:Certainly more attainable and you won't find as many dealers throwing mark-ups on it either like you do with Honda. I'll never not complain about the Honda/Acura dealer experience and it being one of the worst out there.
If you think the Honda dealer experience is bad, just wait until you meet your Hyundai salesman when you go looking for your Elantra.
I bought an Elantra N a couple of weeks ago, and the sales experience was nothing short of perfect. In and out with a quickness. No attempts at upselling anything that I didn't need. No ADM. Just an excellent car sold painlessly at MSRP.
In reply to calteg :
I'll admit that it does have some polarizing looks.
Colin Wood said:In reply to calteg :
I'll admit that it does have some polarizing looks.
Way less so than the CTR though, it's a little different as opposed to 4th grade work book doodle.
Glad to hear folks have had positive experiences with their Hyundai dealers. Mine have been nothing but miserable, and I've heard lots of other horror stories. Maybe the times they are a-changin'...
My purchase experience was also really great, and service has been outstanding so far, 100,000X better than Ford dealers who I will never, ever deal with again.
At the first ProSolo in TX, Mark Scroggs took first in DS in an Elantra N, and was 16th overall in PAX. There is a lot of talk about if the DSG makes the EN the car to have for ProSolo, and while its all just bench racing, its awesome that the N cars are causing some buzz.
The reviews of this car have me interested. The fact the Rays on my Si would bolt on to one of these doesn't hurt as I hate the look of most any factory wheel.
CrashDummy said:Will you guys be putting the new Type R on track as well? The N is certainly impressive compared to the old Type R but the new one may have raised the bar further.
How much lap time would the N give up with the manual trans? It's not as fast but that's still what I'd want in a daily driver. The manual trans N vs. manual trans R would be a little more apples to apples.
Looking at your list of FIRM lap times that Triple Threat MX-5 is pretty damn impressive. Not a lot of fancy mods on that thing and it's faster than some impressive cars.
1. Yes. We haven't been told when we're getting a CTR or GRC yet, but they'll be at the FIRM the day after they're delivered to us.
2. The Hyundai paddle boxes are geared VERY well for the FIRM. So much so that they're almost FIRM ringers. There's almost no place on track where you wish for a slightly different gear, which is VERY unlike the CTR. Honestly I can't imagine the manual in the Hyundais being any kind of a speed upgrade in almost any circumstance.
3. It's impressive indeed, but don't underestimate the value of good, modern 200tw tires, either. The factory stuff we test is as-delivered, and tires and lack of camber are a huge part of why the times are giving up a lot to even a mildly prepared car like Andy's MX5.
Also, it's worth mentioning that I have various modes at the FIRM, and my new car test mode is probably a half-click down from "full send." With my experience at the track and some reasonable skill behind a wheel, I think the times are really representative of how the cars compare with each other, but ultimately I'm probably leaving a couple tenths on the table so I never have to write a really awkward email.
Shopping an Elantra N right now. Been reaching out to several local dealers. Some are playing games with the pricing and addons, or been difficult to communicate with, one in particular isn't and has been very straight up with me on pricing with me. (Msrp price) A few more weeks I'll submit an allocation request with them.
The press release shows some basic handling improvements for the 24'MY. My 23 handles so well with 200tw, I'm hoping they didn't make it soft. The bushing changes will be a huge step up though. Most seem to drift towards powerflex for engine&trans stiffening.
If you're shopping this car, you should get one. The 6MT eats up 20 minute track sessions without issue, where as a FL5 CTR at my last event was exiting the track due to oil temps half way through.
I recently had the pleasure of driving a DCT-equipped Hyundai i30N at both Spa and the Ring. That car is similar in specs to the USDM Veloster N. I was blown away by how good the car was. This coming from a long-time Honda fanboi...
The DCT was spectacular...almost on par with my McLaren. Power never fell off during full send lapping (something that plagues the CTR due to heatsoak). Handling was solid, mostly neutral and predictable. Oh, for a set of stickier rubber, though.
Here's a vid of a lap of me passing a ton of BMWs on my Spa day:
Andy Hollis said:The DCT was spectacular...almost on par with my McLaren.
That's some pretty high praise.
As if I wasn't already pining for a Elantra N...
Depends on how you define "the best"... Mini .
The Mini would become revered for from that moment onwards; 31 rallies, including four championships, stamped the legend status.
At the helm of many of those victories was an Irishman named Patrick “Paddy” Hopkirk.
I do have a This vs That 1/4 mile date with a Hyundai N (Sonata maybe Elantra I can't remember). I am looking forward to it. Modern launch controlled automatic vs AWD 6-spd with a bit more power.
DirtyBird222 said:RadBarchetta said:DirtyBird222 said:Certainly more attainable and you won't find as many dealers throwing mark-ups on it either like you do with Honda. I'll never not complain about the Honda/Acura dealer experience and it being one of the worst out there.
If you think the Honda dealer experience is bad, just wait until you meet your Hyundai salesman when you go looking for your Elantra.
I had a very pleasant experience buying my Kona N. I was in and out of the dealership in less than 45 minutes, including loading it on a trailer.
Every Honda/Acura dealer I've ever been too or communicated with made the experience of dealing with my ex-wife look appetizing. Even when I worked for a Honda dealer for a few years, the salesmen somehow made my life as a tech miserable. I swear Honda must've taken a page out of the Veteran Affairs handbook on how to treat customers when training their sales and F&I folks.
I too had a good experience with the purchase of my Kona N. Lot's of follow up post purchase too. Calling just to see if I have had any problems. Been very happy with it. Kona N is going away for 2024 so it turns out that it will be a two year model only.
Should we fear for his safety and well being? Bob has not yet commented on this thread!
I'm at 15 trackdays (4 of those competition), 10 of which are at ~340whp. The car hasn't skipped a beat. Let me know if anyone has any questions.
Here's a POV before I got my data acquisition overlay working.
In reply to goingnowherefast :
I'm curious as to the recipe for getting to 340whp, as that suspension upgrades and tires to fit wider rubber are of potential interest to me.
In reply to Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :
Mostly tune, intercooler and bolt ons IIRC.
The 11 gallon fuel tank is a bummer though. As much as I love the E/V/i30N my passion will always be with the i20N. Hyundai you done screwed up not bringing me that. And why no Kia versions? Bring back the SX trim levels with the N drive trains in the Rio/Forte/K5
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