'05 GT Hatchback owner in Pennsylvania

[BattleRifleG3]

Found this forum looking for tire resizing info, and as usual, learned more than I bargained for.

I have a black '05 GT with the 5spd man-tran, currently all stock. I absolutely love this car! It gives better room than my old Bronco II, covers some nasty PA roads without any trouble, and gets 40mpg on the highway.

I've stuffed it full of people and/or gear, carried a canoe, and even navigated a mild trail or two with the greatest of care. I can't think of any vehicle I'd want more, even though I wouldn't mind complementing it at some point (though that would be hard to do as sweet as the Elantra is.)

Any mods I'd do would probably be the opposite of what most folks here do. I'd upsize the tires in the diameter, not rims, and give the suspension a wee bit of a boost to best handle the worst Pennsylvania has to offer with roads. Another thread discussed the Elantra having room for an AWD rear differential, if so I might see some day about getting one from a totaled Tuscon or Sportage and end up giving it the Outback treatment... but this would be long after the warranty expires and if some of the parts need to be replaced anyway (sort of like how I wished I had lifted my Bronco II when I needed to replace suspension parts anyway.)

[BlackElantraGT]

When I was looking for a new car, Hyundai was the last place I was looking at. I never cared for hatchbacks either. The price and the GT instrument cluster was what really sold me (I guess it doesn't take much to please me sometimes).

To this day, I still get that same feeling of when you just bought a car and you're always excited about driving it somewhere. I seriously look forward to every trip. Never in a million years did I think I'd fall in love this much with a Hyundai car. My wife makes fun of the fact that it's a Hyundai, and her side of the family always brags about Saabs, but she's admitted that my car is a LOT more comfortable and roomy than their Saab 9-3, Saab 9-5, and their Volvo X90 SUV.

You're going to develop such a great appreciation for hatchbacks that I doubt your next car will be anything other than a hatch or wagon. I've loaded so much stuff in my car that some people passing by actually watch in amazement how much the car can hold. If you're planning on holding on to your car for awhile, you won't regret your purchase.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/Rezerected/DSC00844_edited-1.jpg

[BattleRifleG3]

I was looking for wagons, really hoping for a Taurus wagon, but they were gone and not fuel efficient enough for what they were. I was objectively considering many options, but I really had a thing for the Elantra hatchbacks. In the end it came down to Ford Focus vs Hyundai Elantra, and it was a hard one, but I'm really glad I chose what I did. A Focus wagon would have been my choice, but they just cost too much, so I was looking at a Focus 5 door hatchback - it had to have a hatch and four doors due to my cargo needs. It turns out the Elantra hatchback has about as much space as the Focus wagon, more so than my father's Escort wagon.

Seems to me that Hyundai found the secret to an attractive and incredibly practical hatchback/wagon - the sloped rear instead of the boxy rear. It's quite sporty and for a reason - it's more aerodynamic. And though you lose space at the windshield level, who packs stuff that high anyway? It blocks your vision. The rare cases when you would fill it, you can strap in your gear and have the hatch partway open.

The question is why aren't more cars designed this way? I mean isn't the low angled hatchback the answer to lots of versatility and aerodynamic needs?

[Doohickie]

Your choice was pretty much mine.... I came *this close* to buying a Focus hatch (verbal agreement but I refused to sign anything until I could return with my trade.... then stopped at the Hyundai dealer on the way home and realized what a much smoother, quieter ride the Elantra has). The Focus handles better; I'll grant that. But since my primary use for the car is communting, not autocrossing, smoother and quieter wins. Plus adding the Tibby rear sway bar has helped the handling.

Finding out things like how to improve the car through these forums was a big advantage for Hyundai as well.

[BattleRifleG3]

Yeah, I had the same test drive experience with the Focus. I like the quieter Elantra, plus looking it over it seems more traditionally designed, which is necessary if I'm ever going to work on it. (I fix my own vehicles whenever possible.)

I have to say the Ford salespeople were really annoying. I've had a bit of sales training and can smell a pitch a mile away. One guy tried to get me to tell him all my family's finances so he could tell me how to best finance the car when I hadn't even decided what to buy. Another guy told me I was crazy for wanting one for the MSRP, it took some digging to find that every Focus is loaded with options so that even though the base MSRP is lower than other cars, it gets driven sky high with options.

That's another great thing about the Elantra, so many things are standard so the price you think it is is the price it really is. I found in so many cases that options aren't really optional, take A/C for example. It's standard on the Elantra, not on the Focus. But every single friggin Focus has it, and the price is nearly a grand higher because of it. Power accessories, etc.

Now I have a nice deal story - I was looking for an absolute base hatchback with a man-tran. Only option I wanted was cruise control. With the Elantra, they always put cruise control and a CD player together, which was OK for me. So I went into the dealership knowing exactly what I wanted. They did a search and found a GLS with just those options past Cincinatti. Normally the procedure would be to send a couple guys out to bring it in. But this was Memorial Day Weekend on a sale that ended that month, and getting the guys to drive it in would be a tall order. So the manager offered a manual GT that they had on the lot for a small amount more, which fit the bill nicely. So I ended up with a very fine car for a very reasonable price. Everyone except a couple alchoholic redneck mechanics who hate anything short of a truck has been impressed by it.

[metalfetish]

mine has cruise but didn't come with a cd player?? (04) when did they start packaging them?

ok sorry on- topic.

I like my sedan, but a lot of people have hatches and love them. hatchs arent my thing but i definitely love my elantra.

[only1db]

where abouts in PA??? i have soem pics for ya...they are floating around here somewhere.

[OPZ]

I think he said somewhere near Pittsburgh. And I second what he said, you would be damn well surprised how well the XD/XD2 does off-roading.

[BlackElantraGT]

where abouts in PA??? i have soem pics for ya...they are floating around here somewhere.


This one?

http://www.nitrousworld.com/pictures/packed%20car.JPG

[BattleRifleG3]

That pic sure does illustrate how amazingly spacious the Elantra hatchback is.

[Vampyrate]

ill be sure to take before during and after pics on the 20th of me moving back from school, i have:

clothes, tv, computer, 4ft tall fridge, microwave, bookshelf, books, awards, random nick nacks, and myself to fit in my car. my dad is coming with his explorer, so i may not get a chance to load it all up (dont want to kill the clutch on the way home)

[BattleRifleG3]

Proud to announce another Hyundai owner in this area. My fiance is now the proud owner of a 2001 Hyundai Tiburon 5spd. Not sure what the trim would be called, but it has spoiler, cruise, power accessories, and cassette, and I think that's it. I got to drive it a little and am generally impressed.

Question - rims seemed to be identical to my '05 Elantra GT. Are they really, or is there a subtle difference? We've considered swapping tires at some point to see if the same sizes fit. Her tires are 205/50-R15. Is this the stock size? Seemed to have plenty of power, more than my '05 GT, but mine has oversized tires. I'd also venture a guess that hers uses smaller total diameter wheels and thus has higher acceleration with the same engine and tranny at the expense of a lower max speed. Yes, no?

Suspension actually seemed to be the same height - I had thought the Tib was lower. Only reason mine is higher off the ground is my oversized tires. I did however notice hers being a great deal less tall and more streamlined. I wonder if her aerodynamics combined with my high efficiency driving techniques would cause her fuel economy to surpass mine - which exceeds 45mpg in some cases.

If you're planning on holding on to your car for awhile, you won't regret your purchase.
Oh believe me, I'm tempted to try to get a second one and keep it hermetically sealed for when this one wears out. A shame this is the last year of the XD. It wasn't until my fiance got her Tib that I laid to rest the idea of getting her a second XD hatch.

[omghi2u]

I'm an xd2 hatch owner myself and love it, welcome to the hatch/elantra community. I'm in the eastern panhandle of WV and off roads are 2nd nature here and it performs great. Welcome to the community!

[SuperGLS]

Yes the wheels are the same.