2014 Hyundai Elantra Sport

A word about the 2014 Elantra Sport.

Bull’s-eye.

OK, maybe that’s two. Or one-and-a-half.

But it has always been my impression—and let’s face it, taste about design is merely a matter of subjectivity, it can’t be quantified—that when it comes to the Hyundai Fluidic Sculpture design language, which was first displayhed on the previous-generation, MY 2011, Hyundai Sonata, the Sonata was too long, which made the swooping forms along the body side too lazy.

The Elantra, however, is taut.

And the design language looks great in the execution.

I would go so far as to say that in the compact category there isn’t a better exterior design out there.

This is all the more impressive in that it is a sedan not a five-door, and oftentimes when you get to a smaller car and try to make it look stylish it ends up appearing. . .odd.

(Case in point: the Ford Focus. There is the hatch. . . .

And then there is the sedan. . . .

Somehow the latter doesn’t seem fully resolved.)

The rest of the Elantra is fine, too. The 2.0-liter engine and the six-speed automatic. The leather seating surfaces and the aluminum pedals.

But it all comes down to the design, which is still superb even though it’s been out there since MY 2011 and retains the same essential styling even in MY 2015.

Selected specs

Engine: 2.0-liter, DOHC I4

Materials: Aluminum block and head

Horsepower: 173 @ 6,500 rpm

Torque: 154 @ 4,700 rpm

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Steering: Rack-and-pinion, motor-assisted

Wheelbase: 106.3 in.

Overall length: 179.1 in.

Overall width: 69.9 in.

Overall height: 56.3 in.

Coefficient of Drag (Cd): 0.28

Passenger volume: 95.6-cu-ft.

Cargo volume: 14.8-cu-ft.

EPA: mpg city/highway/combined: 24/35/28 mpg