Despite having a traditional trunk, the Hyundai Elantra N continues to carry the hot hatch torch into modern times just fine. Like so many before it, the Elantra N is quick, fun and practical.
For the ’24 model year, the Elantra N gets a few upgrades over previous models, most notably a bushing upgrade in several key spots, including the engine mounts plus several suspension and subframe connections. The front bumper trim has also been streamlined, and Hyundai claims a host of small tweaks for the suspension, resulting in a better-handling car.
We had the chance to check out the newest Elantra N on the autocross course during the launch of the Ioniq 5 N, and that experience confirmed what we already knew: It’s a heck of a performance car. The performance is among the most accessible of any car in this category, allowing the driver to extract 100% of the its ample capabilities with minimal effort.
What we hadn’t done, until recently, though, was spend much time with the car on the road, where most owners are going to spend most time with it.
As a practical daily appliance, the Elantra is a solid call. The trunk is huge and not compromised at all by the strut tower brace located behind the rear seatback. Four adults fit comfortably, and five fit with just a minor squeeze and some lack of headroom for whoever draws the middle seat in the back.
The amply bolstered seats make ingress and egress slightly more cumbersome, but the payoff is in the additional support and superior comfort over the base seats. You’re only going to notice after about your fifth or sixth errand of the day, anyway, so just don’t schedule so much, you workaholic.
Those stiffer bushings and mounts are noticeable, however, and not always in a good way. While there’s notably less driveline lash, and handling and chassis control feel as sharp as a premium European sports sedans, the stiffer bushings do transmit a noticeable amount of additional NVH into the cabin.
This mostly comes through as tire roar, with the car registering 73-75 dB cruising down a California highway at 65 mph. To put that in perspective, our BMW 435i, fitted with lots of urethane bushings, 200tw tires, no back seat and a roll bar, sees similar numbers on the freeway.
On the other end of the spectrum, our Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV barely registers a whisper-quiet 60 dB at highway speeds. So the new car isn’t exactly “loud,” but there is a price to pay for the additional stiffness of those bushings.
Luckily the issue mostly translates as additional noise. The vibration and harshness increase is negligible, and the noise issue will likely be as tire and road surface sensitive as anything. It’s honestly not distracting, but it is noticeable, particularly on heavily textured roads.
Aside from that, we have zero complaints. The Elantra N can eat highway miles all day in comfort while delivering north of 30 mpg with ease.
The same 274-horsepower, 2.0-liter engine and DCT carries over, along with the available six-speed manual still on the menu. Unfortunately, you can’t get the slicktop, non-sunroof version with the DCT to make the ultimate performance combo–all DCT cars come standard with the sunroof–but it’s a small price to pay as the transmission is just that good.
At $35,000 give or take, the Elantra N is a relative bargain in the category. You’re looking at nearly Civic Type R performance for Civic Si money, and there’s just not much else out there that does more for less.
Just turn the tunes up a bit and you’ll never notice the road noise. And if you do, you won’t care because everything else makes it worth it.
I'm actually pretty partial to the red color you can get after seeing one driving around town.
If you want an Elantra N that looks a little more subtle, it's definitely the one to get. In the best way possible, it looks much more like a regular Elantra.
What's up with dropping CarPlay?
JG Pasterjak said:
For the ’25 model year, the Elantra N gets a few upgrades over previous models, most notably a bushing upgrade in several key spots, including the engine mounts plus several suspension and subframe connections. The front bumper trim has also been streamlined, and Hyundai claims a host of small tweaks for the suspension, resulting in a better-handling car.
Aside from that–oh, and Hyundai’s dropping Apple CarPlay out of certain models, including this one–we have zero complaints.
I think all of these upgrades started with the '24 model year facelift. I'm not aware of any differences between the '24 and the '25.
Where are you seeing that Hyundai is getting rid of CarPlay? My '24 N has it (wired only, not wireless) and it's listed as a standard feature of the '25 on Hyundai's website (https://www.hyundaiusa.com/us/en/vehicles/elantra-n/compare-specs).
CrashDummy said:JG Pasterjak said:
For the ’25 model year, the Elantra N gets a few upgrades over previous models, most notably a bushing upgrade in several key spots, including the engine mounts plus several suspension and subframe connections. The front bumper trim has also been streamlined, and Hyundai claims a host of small tweaks for the suspension, resulting in a better-handling car.
Aside from that–oh, and Hyundai’s dropping Apple CarPlay out of certain models, including this one–we have zero complaints.
I think all of these upgrades started with the '24 model year facelift. I'm not aware of any differences between the '24 and the '25.
I just double-checked, and yeah, the refresh was for the 2024 model. The 2025 model is a carry-over. Thanks for spotting that!
CrashDummy said:JG Pasterjak said:
For the ’25 model year, the Elantra N gets a few upgrades over previous models, most notably a bushing upgrade in several key spots, including the engine mounts plus several suspension and subframe connections. The front bumper trim has also been streamlined, and Hyundai claims a host of small tweaks for the suspension, resulting in a better-handling car.
Aside from that–oh, and Hyundai’s dropping Apple CarPlay out of certain models, including this one–we have zero complaints.
I think all of these upgrades started with the '24 model year facelift. I'm not aware of any differences between the '24 and the '25.
Where are you seeing that Hyundai is getting rid of CarPlay? My '24 N has it (wired only, not wireless) and it's listed as a standard feature of the '25 on Hyundai's website (https://www.hyundaiusa.com/us/en/vehicles/elantra-n/compare-specs).
Okay that could have been a peculiarity of my situation then. I could not get ACP to activate in any configuration using several USB ports. Maybe my phone was being goofy or there was somee conflict with the fact that it usually hook to another Hyundai or something. We'll update the text.
In a world where I don't consider any new car to be cheap, the N remains a pretty good deal, maybe even a great deal, at that price point. I'm glad Hyundai stepped into the vacuum created as other manufacturers left.
I also love/respect their commitment to motorsports.
Coniglio Rampante said:I also love/respect their commitment to motorsports.
It seems like they are using the formula that Datsun used from 1965-1975.
For what it's worth, the N Line–which offers the same horsepower as the Civic Si–starts at $28,975.
You only get a 7-speed DCT, though, and they dropped the really awesome shade of green from the 2024 model:
It's still one of the only cars you can take straight to the track, stock, with no overheating or brake fade issues.
I drove one from here in Ormond up to Savannah and back. Yeah, it works very well as a non-track car.
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