As a former owner of 2015 Elantra GLS manual, ride quality is a night and day comparison. Yes, it is stiffer, but it is not Golf GTI or Focus RS level of teeth breaking stiffness. The suspension wonderfully eats all the road bumps, except for the smallest ones. You will feel every minor crack of the road, but at same time you will not experience rear end fish-tailing of MD generation of Elantra. For me, it is fine, but as previously mentioned, do go for a longer test drive and judge it by yourself. I do not regret my purchase.