2017 Hyundai Elantra Eco review: Stuck in the middle

[DeaGLe^]

Despite its modest 128 hp and 156 lb-ft of torque, the 1.4-liter turbocharged I4 moves it along well, and it's plenty quick enough to be driven normally without having to anticipate lane changes and merging onto the freeway.
Hyundai's seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission has been refined to eliminate jerky motions when power is initially applied. Shifts are quick compared to a traditional automatic, but slow compared to real, performance-oriented DCTs.
The surprising performance is probably due to the fact that this thing weighs less than 3,000 pounds. The light weight actually makes this little Hyundai more fun to drive than it should be.
Sure, the steering is on the numb side, and the brakes aren’t anything to write home about, but it feels sort of like cars did in the mid-90s...only now your car will sync to your smartphone.
The Hyundai Elantra Eco gets good fuel economy, and has nice build quality, but it's still up against the new top dog: Our default $20k sedan remains the Honda Civic. Still, if you want to be different, the Elantra Eco shows how far Hyundai has come.

This Elantra Eco represents a modest improvement over past Eco-flavored Hyundais we’ve tested, largely a function of Hyundai’s overall product improvement push. Yet it still seems that the Eco trim trying to carve out a niche in a market full of affordable, fuel-efficient competitors -- and on top of that, it has to make a case against more-economical alternatives in the Elantra lineup.
It’s not that the powertrain is a dog. As we noted in our review of the Hyundai Tucson Eco (which gets a 1.6-liter turbo), the small motor/DCT combo should be a red flag. Here, it actually works well enough to make me realize why, once upon a time, DCTs seemed like they were going to be the way to go when it came to fuel-sipping cars.
It helps that the Eco’s 1.4-liter turbo gets a decent torque advantage over the Elantra’s standard naturally aspirated 2.0-liter -- 156 lb-ft to 132 lb-ft, accessible over a wider rpm range. Plus, as Wren notes, it isn’t a particularly heavy car especially by modern standards.
With a base price of $21,485, it’s certainly affordable, and the Android Auto/Apple CarPlay-enabled seven-inch audio display help bring it into the 21st century. Thing is, an Elantra SE with similar entertainment tech goes for…$21,085, offers a more familiar automatic transmission-equipped driving experience while asking you give up just 3 mpg combined fuel economy. (If you must have built-in navigation, you’re stuck hopping up to $25,685 Elantra Limited with the tech package, which isn’t offered on the Eco anyway).
The Elantra Eco is a solid car that would make a stronger case for itself if it offered better fuel economy, a lower entry price of some combination of both.
Is that a tall order? Maybe, but as it stands, this trim doesn’t seem to do any particular thing well enough to stand out on its own -- or steer fuel economy-crazy consumers away from more efficient cars (like the Prius) or value-oriented customers away from similar compact offerings (including the regular Elantra).