Questions from a prospective ET owner
 

Greetings!

First, I'll just let you know that I've become somewhat obsessed since I first learned of the ET's existence a couple weeks ago. The combination of price / room / standard features / mpg / warranty seemed too good to be true. So, my wife and I at currently saving for the downpayment on what will most likely be a 2011 SE auto. (Looking forward to actually driving one at some point. =^)

So, I have a couple questions I was wondering if some of you kind souls could answer:

How does it do in the snow? Would snow tires basically be a requirement for our 4-5 month winters here in northern WI?

Would the USB jack still send audio from an Internet radio stream on a smartphone through the audio system?

Is there somewhere that I might find out how wide the cargo area is at its
narrowest point?

Where the heck are the 2011 SEs?? =^) My ideal ride is a 2011 SE auto in Atlantic Blue with beige interior and Bluetooth, but it seems rather elusive according to cars.com and a couple dealers who are looking for us. I haven't bought a car in 10 years, so I'm a little fuzzy; is it still a little early in the model year to expect a decent selection of color / trim options?

Thanks very much in advance for any assistance with these questions.. Can't wait to get behind the wheel of one of these things.

Best Regards,

Chris
http://www.cbimages.com

I have a 2010 Touring, but not the SE. I have the "base" model. I live in NE Ohio and we had a snowy winter ('09-'10). I had several snowy commutes and it handled pretty well. But, it is colder up in your neck of the woods and Ohio uses lots of road salt so the snow doesn't stay on the roads here for long (I spent a lot of time hosing salt off my car last winter, but I digress...). A friend of mine has the 2010 SE, and he thinks the winter handling could be better.

I can't answer the USB question as I just have an old, basic cell phone. but I don't see why it wouldn't. You'll have to check when you test drive one.

Again, I have a 2010. The narrowest part of the cargo area is between the wheel wells: 41 inches. The top 10 inches or so of the hatch opening is narrow too: ranges from 41 to 32 inches. Don't know if this will help for the 2011.

I am in Quebec.
I think that for the winter the most inportant is snow tires, I had Civic and Fit in the past and I never had any issue.
My ET have 540 kms only problem water that come from somewhere it seems fixed I need to check to be sure.
Exept for that it's a nice ride better than my previous honda.

Thank you so much for the responses. It sounds like snow tires will definitely be the way to go. As others have mentioned, it'll also save on the 17" alloys that come on the car. Lots of road salt is used here, too.

We just yesterday took delivery of a 2011 SE in Regatta Blue, and I couldn't be happier with it. We had found the darker blue ones to be pretty tough to find, and figured we better take advantage of finding this one, about 160 miles away. We also used it to transport a completely assembled fold-up treadmill! (not much room to spare, but it fit!) Made for a very enjoyable drive home. =^) Just needs to go back next weekend for the Bluetooth installation.

I'm very happy to have found this forum and to join the ranks of ET enthusiasts.

==
Chris

Hi all, I'm a new poster. I have also become obsessed with the Elantra Touring and had some questions.

How's the visibility out the rear window?
Any trouble parallel parking?
Is there a way to shut the Traction Control off if you need to blast out of snow?
Is there a way to 'not' cool off the glove compartment?
There is a blinker thing on the highway? What's that all about? Does it happen anytime you signal?
Does the speedometer go up by 20 mph?
Edit: What colors do you guys like on this car? I saw blue?

I've started looking at all the cars when I walk around and go through parking lots. I've only seen one Elantra Touring! Are they not really available? I'm in New England in the US. Pretty much ticks all of my boxes of what I'm looking for in a car.

I think the rear visibility is good, though not great. If there is a problem with visibility, it is the rear of the driver's side, when trying to look over your shoulder to check your blind spot.

I haven't parallel parked mine yet.

I don't think traction control can be shut off. Stability control can be.

There is a switch to turn the air conditioning on and off in the glove box.

In most cars, you can lightly push the indicator lever up or down, but not so far that it clicks into place, to have the blinkers blink. This is commonly done when changing lanes, as you do not turn the steering wheel far enough to reset the lever. In the Touring, you can just tap the lever up or down, and the signal will blink 3 times and shut off automatically.

I don't understand the speedometer question. I like all the colors, but bought the dark gray. My local dealer only had four Tourings on the lot. Northshorehiker and I bought two of them. I don't think dealers are buying a lot of them, as Hyundai is not really advertising them in the US. They sell well in other parts of the world, though.

So far no complain well exept for the water in the trunk that seems to be fixed but tomorow it's supposed to rain so I will check.

The car handle in city better than my Honda Fit.
The visibility is for me better also.

Regarding the creaking and rattling that you could see on other post, I think this is too soon for me I just have 800 kms and it started to be cold, but this morning at -2C no noise.

Have 900 miles so far, All is the same. As for me the Fit was a city Blaster & could keep up or pass any thing in it way, fun car.
As for the ET it is just so so! the small engine 2.0 runs out of power at only city driving, & there is no passing power on the Hwy speeds at 55.The 5 speed might do better then the automatic . We have the Auto one,
The rattle is comeing from the rear hatch door you can slide it just a little when closed, may be ajusted at the first Dealer check up coming next year with a list of other things,

Thanks very much for your replies. I wonder if people have had problems in the snow? I guess tires matter also.

About the speedometer I meant this. In my current vehicle the numbers go up by 10 mph, 10, 20, 30 with midpoint dashes to indicate 15, 25, 35. If I remember right in the Hyundai vehicles it goes 20, 40 etc.?

Oh. Yes, the speedometer goes up in increments of 20 mph.