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2018 Hyundai Elantra Buying Guide | Questions answered about a popular compact sedan

The Hyundai Elantra is a sensible small sedan that scores big when it comes to overall value and safety. But the 2018 Elantra won't get any pulses racing when it comes to driving excitement, or a look-at-me exterior. Rivals like the Honda Civic and Mazda3 are simply more fun to drive, and the Civic in particular stands out with racy looks, but it's worth noting that the newer Elantra has made great strides in refinement and comfort compared to its predecessor. Hyundai also offers the Elantra GT, a handy – and handsome – four-door hatchback. Since it was significantly updated for the 2017 model year, the 2018 Elantra receives only minor changes, focused primarily on available options on specific trim levels. Here you'll find all the information needed to make an educated buying decision if you're considering a 2018 Hyundai Elantra, including safety and reliability ratings, engine specs, horsepower, fuel economy ratings and pricing. We'll also summarize what Autoblog's professional auto reviewers think of the Elantra. Is the 2018 Hyundai Elantra Safe? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives the 2018 Hyundai Elantra an overall crash-test rating of four stars. In every crash test, the latest Elantra scored a four-star rating, though the NHTSA results do mention that rear passenger safety was compromised in the side barrier crash test. According to the NHTSA, this "simulates an intersection collision between a standing vehicle and moving barrier at 38.5 mph." During this test, the interior door panel intruded into the passenger compartment, raising the risk that a rear occupant could be injured – though the four-star rating remained. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which provides ratings for new vehicles based on its own comprehensive crash tests, has given the 2018 Hyundai Elantra its "Top Safety Pick+" award, the highest rating available. The Elantra earned a "superior" rating for front crash prevention, along with "good" ratings in all but one of the IIHS' crash tests. Front passenger protection in the notoriously demanding small overlap test was deemed "acceptable." The Elantra also scored an "acceptable" rating for its LATCH anchors for child seats. Headlight performance, meanwhile, received a "good" rating.

This Hyundai commercial may be the weirdest of Super Bowl 50

It happens every year at the Super Bowl. For every headline-making, Twitter-breaking commercial, there's an ad like this one, simply titled "Better," from Hyundai. An ad that's so odd, people will focus not on its message, but the overarching weirdness of the spot. The ad in question follows the life of a man born with an exposed V8 engine where his heart should be (it's actually a little high, but we're nitpicking). Yes, it's as strange as it sounds. According to Hyundai, the man "strives to make the world a better place," but the only time we see anything approaching that is when he opens a jammed umbrella for a woman. For most of the ad, it's hard to tell you're even seeing a car commercial. It's not until the end, where the man is shown working in a Hyundai design studio alongside people with similar anatomical features, that the ad begins to make sense. Perhaps part of our disappointment with Hyundai's latest Super Bowl spot is that the NFL's official automotive sponsor has done so well otherwise. The brand has become a fixture during the big game over the years, and will likely see some success in 2016 with spots featuring both Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart. Those successes aside, though, we'll be surprised if there's a great response to this particular Super Bowl 50 commercial from Hyundai.

2020 Toyota Highlander vs other 3-row crossovers: There can only be one!

We've done quite a few spec comparison posts involving three-row family crossovers, and when included, the Toyota Highlander has always been the runt of the group. While the rest increasingly seemed to be benchmarking each other toward greater girth, the Highlander was the outlier.  That changes a bit for the 2020 Toyota Highlander, but only a bit. It's now larger and more competitive, specifically in regards to the amount of cargo space aft of the third-row seat. As you can see below, this aligns the Highlander most closely to its long-time competitor the 2020 Honda Pilot. However, let's see how it stacks up to others in the segment, which is heavily populated now, so for the sake of space, we've selected the newest entries: Kia Telluride, Hyundai Palisade, Subaru Ascent and Ford Explorer. The order in which they are presented is random.  Performance and fuel economy The 2020 Highlander is more than 200 pounds lighter than its predecessor, but has the same 295-horsepower V6 engine that was already one of the strongest in the segment. We'd say that would give it a leg up, but the Pilot and Explorer have proven to be sprinters, delivering 0-60 times in the low-6 range by some publications' stopwatches (or VBoxes, whatever). We don't expect the Highlander to beat them, but it may dip into the 6's. The heavy, less-powerful Subaru Ascent is most likely to take up the rear. It's fuel economy of 23 mpg combined also matches the Highlander and Explorer for segment-best. Remember, however, that the Explorer's turbocharged inline-four engine is likely more susceptible to differences in driving style (read: a heavy foot).  Of course, if you're really interested in fuel economy, the Highlander and Explorer are the only vehicles in the segment to offer hybrid versions. The Ford Explorer Hybrid puts a greater emphasis on performance, however, resulting in lower estimates of 25 mpg combined (AWD) and 28 mpg combined (FWD). By contrast, the new 2020 Toyota Highlander Hybrid is estimated to return 36 mpg combined.  Passenger and cargo space According to Highlander chief engineer Yoshikazu Saeki, he had a choice of two directions with the new Highlander. He could have indeed made it bigger, matching these very competitors, especially in terms of third-row and cargo space. Or, he could have maintained a smaller-than-average size. He obviously chose the latter. First, it was the size customers had come to expect. Would they be put off by something bigger?