Elantra Touring SE

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Pulled the trigger on an Elantra Touring last month, drove from New England to Tampa, haven't seen a single one besides mine. Anyone have one? Traded an 08 Accent sedan for it. BIG difference in everything, especially the gadgets and comfort. My first automatic transmission ever, too. But they must have imported very few. One would think I'd have seen one by now..
 
I've seen quite a few up here. That's what I had wanted before I got my Spectra (I love station wagons/hatchbacks), but I could not find one used. I settled for Spectra.
2009-2010 Elantra Touring is based on European Hyundai i30, same as the upcoming 2011 Elantra. Suspension and steering are tighter than on the current Elantra sedan, among other things.

What trim level did you get?

I envy you. Enjoy it. You probably already know about www.hmaservice.com, being a former Accent owner.
 
Beautiful car.
See them from time to time here in nova. I might talk my dad into getting one. He is into the whole hatchback thing.
How's it been to you?
 
The little used car dealer that I like dealing with bought one at auction.

He sold it so quickly, I never had a chance to see it.

Bet he wishes he had a couple more...
 
Great choice - you will have many good miles with it.
(wife's 03 Elantra is still going strong at 155k miles with 0 repairs...)
 
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Tx for the replies, Y'all. Mine's SE trim, Charcoal (some call it Gunmetal, others charcoal metal flake) outside, black interior. Pretty nice outer finish and the interior is perfect with lots of soft-touch finish and padding everywhere. Has the roof racks, wheels, all the goodies inside. I got the mud flaps and the draw-cover for the cargo area (throw-ins at the SE level). Heated seats, remote locking, power everything, cruise control, trip computer, range and MPG estimator. Really, ya can't list em all, they loaded it. The one thing they didn't have was the BlueTooth and I'm having that installed Wed. in Tampa while I'm on vacation. $425.00 installed.

I really did want the 5 Speed B&M short-throw with this puppy, but they didn't have it in stock, so I "settled" for the automatic. The automatic they paired with this engine is pretty good. It does a fair imitation of a leap from a standing start, rolls well up to around 75-85MPH and then is flat out of legs above that. Not terribly buzzy at all, to my ear, anyway. This car is exceptionally well noise-damped. In one particularly harrowing stretch of I-10 West when EVERYONE was passing me, cutting in and out and in general demonstrating the Mr. Digit hand puppet for not keeping up, I got it up to around 101 and it was wheezing. Absolutely out of steam. But, the handling was wonderful throughout. Nice and firm, cushions the bumps and strips and tracks laser-true no matter how fast or slow the trip. It have a stability-control system that tweeks the gas and individual brakes if the car gets sideways, but I hope never to challenge that particular system. 4-wheels disks with 4-wheel ABS, too. Best brakes ever on a Hyundai of mine and I've been driving these critters since 1986. But then, for $18,000 all told, they ought to be, no? The cruise control is utterly seamless, no surging or up-and-down yo-yo effect like some.

Gas mileage three thousand miles in is in the area of 27 out on the road, 25-27 back home in mixed driving. A short trip I took across Florida at 55-60 MPH speeds yielded 32.5 MPG over 140 miles. All of these with the AC going and of course, it isn't really broken in yet. First oil change Wed. when I get the BlueTooth put in. Dealer oil, I assume I'll get their bulk 5W-20 and a Hyundai filter. Suits me.

This engine is called a BetaII 2.0 four cylinder with CVVT, but other than some very basic stats on the thing I can't find anything about the engine. Some versions are cast iron bottom end with aluminum heads, but I'm not sure about the Touring. It gets the job done and I understand it's the engine from the turbo Genesis, but Hyundai is pretty tough about dispensing history and details. Maybe the service manual for the car will be helpful that way.

There ya go, peeps. All (and maybe more) than ya wanted from me on the subject, but I do go on, I suppose. If anyone has some detail on the engine and automatic transmission though, I'd be curious. And in keeping with tradition, oil recommendations. My instinct is 5W20 Synthetic for 7500 mile drains. Likely M-1 or Pennzoil. I like the 0W20 for the New England winter, too. I've always used the oversized Wix filters in my 92, 2005 and 2008 1.6's don't know what I'll use now, but Hyundai's filters will work fine, I'm sure. Thanks all!
 
The turbo Genesis is a version of the GMA world engine. The Beta II in your Elantra Touring is a Hyundai engine with design roots in the Mitsubishi engines Hyundai used a while ago. It's iron block and aluminum head. It's been around since the mid-90's in various forms. It took 5w-30 for a long time, even with the introduction of CVVT in mid-2003.

My old 1999 Elantra had the same engine without the CVVT. With a 5-speed stick that thing went very nicely. It did run out of steam above ~85 mph, and 100 was a long time coming.
 
Wow! Thanks, Sciph..

It's an undersquare engine (stroke longer than the bore is wide), yet it's twin cam and 4-valves. And the CVVT is intake valves only. I suppose that accounts for the jump off the line and little kick at high revs/speed. But thanks fer the rundown, Sciph. Amazing how little these folks spill about the background on their powerplants. It suits me, this engine, but like everyone here, ya get curious..
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
The turbo Genesis is a version of the GMA world engine. The Beta II in your Elantra Touring is a Hyundai engine with design roots in the Mitsubishi engines Hyundai used a while ago.


Yes, Hyundai/Kia call their version of the world engine the "Theta". I have a 2.4 Theta in a Kia Rondo. The later 2009+ versions are the Theta II and they have about 10-15 more HP. Not sure what they call the direct injected (GDI) ones. The 2.0T in the Genesis and the Sonata Turbo is also a Theta.
 
Oh and I had a 2006 Spectra5 before my Rondo. The Spec5 looked pretty similar to the Elantra Touring. I found the Beta CVVT engine to be noisy at cold startup but after warming up it was quiet as could be. The bigger issue was the shimmy. I thought when I first got the car it just needed to have the tires balanced. Apparently, not so, unfortunately. Many Spectra owners never could get it fixed. I traded away the problem, in my case. Hopefully your Elantra does not suffer from these issues.
 
Hope it doesn't, but the coldest morning I've cranked this beast at was around 60 degrees, given I left N.E. for Tampa Bay three weeks back. So what was your oil, Brons?
 
Originally Posted By: Concours14
Wow! Thanks, Sciph..

It's an undersquare engine (stroke longer than the bore is wide), yet it's twin cam and 4-valves. And the CVVT is intake valves only. I suppose that accounts for the jump off the line and little kick at high revs/speed. But thanks fer the rundown, Sciph. Amazing how little these folks spill about the background on their powerplants. It suits me, this engine, but like everyone here, ya get curious..


Welcome!

The engine design is ~15 years old now, however there's nothing wrong with it. It'll run forever and get pretty good gas mileage.

Coldest I ever started mine was -5*F or so, after sitting outside all night. With dino 10w-30 in the crank. It sounded like a metal grinding symphony, but it cranked and started. Synthetic 5w-30 later in its life when I knew better made cold starting much easier.
 
Hyundai has come a long way...their in-house design engines are first-rate (although the older models were not as fuel-efficient as their competitors, their newer models have closed that gap and are as good or better in fuel economy than competing models). I know a lot of satisfied Hyundai owners. Hyundai/Kia has become an automotive force to be reckoned with.
 
Even their older models were plenty efficient. My old 99 Elantra got far better than EPA estimates. That was driving for speed, too.

Now, they're leading the industry for fuel efficiency. How times change
 
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