Having been impressed with a recent test drive, I'm seriously thinking about getting an Elantra Touring (Sports, manual transmission, Vivid Blue or White) in the next couple of months. Part of the motivation is to get a reliable commuter vehicle (100 kms daily round trip) with reasonable costs of ownership.

However, just had a couple of questions re the 2.0 litre engine. How do you find the low end torque acceleration, and how intrusive do you find the engine at highway speeds ? Many of the ET competitor models (eg Golf, Matrix, Impreza have larger engines in the 2.5 range) and I'm wondering if I would have any long term regrets with respect to the Touring's smaller engine displacement ? Also, has anyone felt the need to switch to synthetic oil yet ?

Thanks in advance.

 

The one flaw (in my opinion) of the Touring is the choice to use the 2.0L Beta engine. I personally felt Hyundai should have used the newer 2.4L (or even the 2.0L version) Theta 4-cylinder that is used in the Kia Rondo and Forte as well as the Sonata.

As a daily driver The ET with the 2.0L Beta is a great car but just don't expect to win any stoplight drag races with it.

On my new cars, I always change the oil with regular oil at 2,500 miles and then switch to synthetic at 5,000 miles and change it every 5K after that. For used cars, I switch to synthetic at the first oil change.