Defected from Mazda for my first Hyundai!

4977 Views 21 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Racer1ab, Aug 12, 2017

Racer1ab

Discussion Starter · Jul 28, 2017

Hey all!

Figured I'd introduce myself, just picked up a 2017 Crystal White ES during Hyundai's summer sale and traded in my old 2013 Mazda 2 for it. Coming from the Mazda, the Elantra feels positively luxurious! I've been breaking it in the last two weeks and will copy my impressions from another auto site about it:

Just broke a thousand miles this morning in the Sport, and I'm feeling better and better about my purchase.

The power and torque are welcome and fun additions to my daily drive, but the car feels very buttoned down and more mature than the FiST I was after. Even without the tech package, the base Sport packs a lot of niceties that I wouldn't really expect of a car at this price point. I'm also pretty pleased that Android Auto just enabled Waze to be used for navigation, so my base radio gives up almost nothing to the more expensive tech package's radio.

I don't really have any complaints about the car, I'm getting about the same mileage as my old Mazda 2 on regular fuel. (31-33mpg) I'm glad this car doesn't have the same E-LSD trickery as the FiST, and I haven't really wanted for a mechanical LSD during my drives. Maybe if I planned on tracking or autocrossing it, this would be more of an issue. I'm looking forward to winter driving on snows in this thing.

My only real concern about the car are the long term consequences of direct injection and carbon buildup on the intake valves. I'm kind of tempted to add an oil catch can, but speaking with a couple techs and a service writer lead me to believe that if I have an issue with the engine, Hyundai would likely point to my mod and deny my claim.

1 - 20 of 22 Posts

n0thing

· #2 · Jul 28, 2017

Welcome!

Mazda2s are really fun cars. I opted to go with a Fit (manual transmission of course) over one and had a blast autocrossing it. That said, Mazda2s kicked my ass. lol

E-LSDs are for the birds. I had it in my Focus ST and just wasn't a fan. It's all the cons of not having a limited slip and additional brake wear added into it. Stupid.

I've bounced back and forth about a catch can as well. Having simply a catch can it'd be really hard for Hyundai to prove it caused anything, but they have better lawyers and more money than me. That and having a catch can is typically a giveaway in the Hyundai scene that the car might be running a tune. That is more worrisome to me than anything.

We're getting away from the spirit of the post now. Again, welcome to the board and you picked a great car!

Racer1ab

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 28, 2017 (Edited)

Agreed on all counts on the E-LSDs. I had a guy on another forum keep dogging me for my opinion and kept claiming they were "better than nothing".

Maybe for the driver who doesn't really care about performance, but I'd rather have an open diff over electronic trickery (and I don't need an E-diff melting my brakes, I do a fair job of that on my own) mechanical LSDs or nothing!

Thanks for the welcome! I really like the Fit as well, and if I had to haul more people or stuff it definitely would've won out over the 2. That being said, I've been so used to 100 hp for so long, the Sport feels amazing. I can actually merge with fast traffic and 0-60 in less than ten seconds!

R1600Turbo

· #4 · Jul 28, 2017

Legally dealerships have to prove that an aftermarket part caused a failure, and even then they are not allowed to deny warranty claims on anything other than the failed part. But it all comes down to the dealership, some don't want anything to do with mods and others welcome it. Just gotta find the right one. If you have a part installed that you think they might try to link to a failure, best to put the stock part back in before taking it down there. Case in point, I may have a small issue with the turbocharger (not confirmed) and I do plan on putting the stock intake back in just so they don't try to blame it on the intake. (super easy to swap back and forth anyway, less than 10 minutes)

Welcome!

Racer1ab

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 28, 2017

I'm definitely on the lookout for a better dealership for warranty concerns rather than the one I bought from. They didn't even bother to adjust the tire pressure from the factory before pre-delivery prep! (Note: the car doesn't even ride that badly with 50+ psi in the tires, but best to set it closer to the factory recommended values. ;-) Plus, I wish their "detailers" hadn't touched the car, but it is just a daily...I have to accept that things WILL happen no matter how much I love the car.

Thanks for the welcome! Still on the fence about modding the car, I'll probably do a few minor mods after a while. I'm blown away at how good factory tuned performance cars are right out of the box these days!

KDMSpecial

· #6 · Jul 28, 2017

Racer1ab said:
I'm definitely on the lookout for a better dealership for warranty concerns rather than the one I bought from. They didn't even bother to adjust the tire pressure from the factory before pre-delivery prep! (Note: the car doesn't even ride that badly with 50+ psi in the tires, but best to set it closer to the factory recommended values. ;-) Plus, I wish their "detailers" hadn't touched the car, but it is just a daily...I have to accept that things WILL happen no matter how much I love the car.

Thanks for the welcome! Still on the fence about modding the car, I'll probably do a few minor mods after a while. I'm blown away at how good factory tuned performance cars are right out of the box these days!

I hope you are reading on what ever reviews they have on Google, Yelp and the other review sites. Even checking out other Hyundai forums for owners in your area should help. Sometimes I like to see which dealership network owns them, sometimes that alone can reveal a lot.

Racer1ab

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 28, 2017

I take those reviews into consideration, but greatly trust the word of car enthusiasts over someone who's mad the dealership isn't stocking their favorite K-cup in the waiting area. :-D

grinsaplenty

· #8 · Jul 29, 2017

Welcome.

Well have to appreciate your choice of car and colour.

Voodoo Idol

· #9 · Jul 30, 2017

Welcome to the ES forums!!

Racer1ab

Discussion Starter · #10 · Aug 3, 2017

Thanks to everyone for such a warm welcome!

I happily made the first payment on the car this morning, I feel like its definitely worth it over what I was paying for my fun little "penalty box" Mazda!

Reactions: 1

KDMSpecial

· #11 · Aug 3, 2017

Racer1ab said:
Thanks to everyone for such a warm welcome!

I happily made the first payment on the car this morning, I feel like its definitely worth it over what I was paying for my fun little "penalty box" Mazda!

Fortunately the Mazda's being sold these days aren't nearly as bad. I actually like them enough that buying one over the ES is very possible. New Mazda 3 impressed me, even more so the new CX-3, and these are just the early years, who knows what else is left for these models.

Racer1ab

Discussion Starter · #12 · Aug 3, 2017

Honestly, the 2 wasn't even "bad", just kinda Spartan by modern standards. At first I was thrilled with the 2, because I had been daily driving an old '06 Crown Vic Police Interceptor. Reliability was the biggest luxury afforded to me by the Mazda, and as a bonus it got nearly double the mileage of the big Vic. I mean, every other week the Vic seemingly needed something and was thirsty to boot. But years and years of "slow car fast" got to me, and I was tired of being a rolling chicane in a world of aggressive brodozers and pissed-off moms in minivans.

The Elantra Sport seems to be the perfect "regular car" remedy for me at the moment.

Racer1ab

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 3, 2017

I do kinda regret not driving the Mazda 3 before buying the Hyundai. But I really wanted something with Fiesta ST power, and the price point would've pushed me into the Hyundai anyway. I'm really impressed with the strides in quality Hyundai have made in the last decade!

Wolf_Speed

· #14 · Aug 9, 2017

wow im also one of the dozen ppl in the states to have owned the mazda 2. loved that car even though it was slow as $hit. the 5MT was an amazing transmission though. i lowered mine and it felt like driving a high powered go kart.

now the es is a whole different beast. probably my top 2 favorite cars ive ever owned with a 99 integra gsr being the first--although the es is much quicker, of course.

anyways dude, you chose wisely. now start modding her up and go tear up the streets!

Voodoo Idol

· #15 · Aug 9, 2017

TIL what a Mazda 2 is.

ClownSlap

· #16 · Aug 10, 2017

Racer1ab said:
I do kinda regret not driving the Mazda 3 before buying the Hyundai. But I really wanted something with Fiesta ST power, and the price point would've pushed me into the Hyundai anyway. I'm really impressed with the strides in quality Hyundai have made in the last decade!

I almost like you I was down to the Ford fiesta st and Honda civic But elantra sport was just a better all around car and it is so nice to be in rare car

Racer1ab

Discussion Starter · #17 · Aug 10, 2017 (Edited)

ClownSlap said:
I almost like you I was down to the Ford fiesta st and Honda civic But elantra sport was just a better all around car and it is so nice to be in rare car

I'm a little surprised how many ES's I'm seeing in my day to day travels! I parked near one just like mine the other day at the DMV, and then yesterday I spied a red one in the gas station parking lot I was in.

Maybe they're catching on.

ClownSlap

· #18 · Aug 10, 2017

I have not seen a sport yet where I am

birdman

· #19 · Aug 11, 2017

Welcome, also loving my ES

Elantra

· #20 · Aug 11, 2017

I had a mazda 3 GT w/premium package and within 2 months sold it for the ES. The mazda 3 I think handling wise, is as good as a fwd you can get next to possibly the SI and obviously the type R. But the dampening was terrible, road noise was unbearable. Bose makes the worst sound systems. The infortainment system in conjunction with steering wheel mount controls had a delay response, and no mode switch button. I think the mazda 3 is showing it's gray hair now, compared to the ES and other sedans. ES has more noticeable understeer than the 3 and has a bit of unpredictable rear end sway when cornering. But nothing you really notice in comparison to the 3 on a day to day drive. You'll probably notice the difference if you autocross or treat the public streets like your auto cross.

The throttle response was amazing on the 3 along with its low end torque, but when you take advantage of the throttle response real world MPG was terrible.

Anyways alls that to say is I'm happy with the ES. Extremely happier! the community for the ES here is so friendly and helpful as well.

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