Honda Civic RS vs Hyundai Elantra SR Turbo New look (Wonderful) Find out for yourself

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Honda Civic RS vs Hyundai Elantra SR Turbo New look (Wonderful) Find out for yourself

It was only July when the Honda Civic VTi-S outshone both the Skoda Octavia Ambition and Hyundai Elantra Active. Here though, we have just two rivals going head-to-head: the 2016 Honda Civic RS and 2017 Hyundai Elantra SR Turbo. And, based on their most recent individual reviews – the Civic RS scoring 9/10 from Mike Costello, the Elantra SR Turbo scoring the same from Matt Campbell - this has the potential to be a rather close-fought little battle

The cars

Intended to be the sportiest 10th-generation Honda Civic sedan model currently available, the 2016 Honda Civic RS is sharply styled and sharply packaged

In a notable departure for the Japanese brand, it also teams a familiar front-wheel-drive layout with a brand-new turbocharged engine

Fresh for the upcoming model year, the 2017 Hyundai Elantra SR Turbo too – as its name suggests – incorporates a turbocharged engine

Also front-wheel drive, the SR Turbo sits atop the all-new sixth-generation Elantra range, with the South Korean car maker claiming the more aggressive-looking variant genuinely sports some ‘hot’ potential. We shall see

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The Plan

Despite both cars wearing ‘sporty’ badges – RS for the Honda and SR for the Hyundai – neither is a hard-core circuit weapon. Hence, while our 220km-plus road loop comprises plenty of curves and challenging bends (as well as urban and highway stretches), this test will be confined to public roads rather than a race track

We’re also not going it alone. For this particular twin test, we’ve called in Australian racing driver, and friend of CarAdvice, Emily Duggan

Previously competing in the Kumho Tyre Australian V8 Touring Car series, Emily spends most of her time racing her own 1998 Hyundai Excel – named Katie – in the Excel Cup. She’s also helped us out before, taking part in our Abarth 592C v Volkswagen Polo GTI comparison

Honda Civic RS

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Price and features

As we said at the start, this is one comparison that could go down to the wire. And starting with price and features, it’s easy to see why

Priced from $31,790 (before on-road costs), the 2016 Honda Civic RS is exclusively available with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), paired to steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters.

It rolls on 17-inch alloy wheels, and standard equipment includes keyless entry and push-button start, automatic LED headlights and daytime running lights, LED fog lights, rain-sensing wipers, heated front seats with an eight-way power adjustable driver’s seat and black leather-appointed upholstery, dual-zone climate control, a three-mode rear-view camera, a ‘LaneWatch’ blind_spot monitoring camera, and front and rear parking sensors

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Hyundai Elantra SR

Additional goodies consist of an electric sunroof, electric parking brake with automatic brake hold, hill-start assist, rear privacy glass, a 11-speaker premium stereo, and a 8.0-inch touchscreen with Bluetooth connectivity and audio streaming, DAB+ digital radio, as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility

Cruise control with speed limiter is standard, although, radar-controlled adaptive cruise, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, and satellite navigation, as well as automatic emergency braking (AEB), a road-departure mitigation system, forward collision warning, lane-departure warning, and lane-keep assist, are reserved for the $34,580 flagship VTi-LX model

Safety is addressed, however, with six airbags, two ISOFIX child-seat anchor points, and tyre pressure monitoring
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Honda Civic RS

Cabins and practicality
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Regardless of which car gets your vote- or your cash - your daily commute will see you immersed in a largely dark cabin

Crack open the Civic’s heavier, ‘stickier’ doors and you’re welcomed by a wider array of more premium-feeling materials than in the Elantra, with scattered silver highlights breaking up the predominantly black interior

High quality touch points, such as the leather-wrapped gear lever and multifunction steering wheel, are joined by subtle grey stitching seen throughout the cabin, while the driver’s instruments feature a digital speedometer housed within a digital representation of an analogue tachometer

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Hyundai Elantra SR

Up front, the Civic’s softly padded seats are vastly comfortable at first sit, and can be lowered well into the floor. They are short on bolstering, though, as well as lumbar support – the latter particularly a killer for long drives

Although some might view the Civic RS’s interior as more ‘refined’, the Elantra SR Turbo’s feels the sportier of the two, thanks largely to its leather-wrapped, flat-bottom multifunction sports steering wheel, red stitching highlights, alloy sports pedals and kick plates, and black headliner

The Hyundai is home to harder, scratchier, plastics and trims, and its floor-mounted boot and fuel flap releases do it no favours. However, its firmer, ‘Sport’-stamped seats are better bolstered, and more bucketed and supportive. Annoyingly though, the seats can’t be lowered enough – particularly frustrating for taller folk
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