Tour(ing) de force

The emergent powerhouse that is Hyundai lacks for nothing in its line-up of consumer vehicles, offering a daily-driver for almost anyone’s taste and budget. Indeed, if it offered a light-duty pickup, the company would have the entire board covered.

The stretched and wagon-y Elantra Touring is outfitted to compete against segment leaders like Toyota’s Matrix. The Touring differs from the sedan version by being longer and heavier (naturally), and bringing five-door practicality to the platform.

Powered by the same 2.0-litre engine used in the sedan version, the Touring gets ample power (138 horses, 136 lb.-ft. of torque) for its frame. It’s a nimble accelerator for an economy car, easily coming up to speed for merging/passing, with enough guts under the gas pedal that one doesn’t have to re-think one’s driving style when operating in dense city traffic.

The test car, a GL trim with automatic tranny (you can shave 1,200 bucks from the MSRP by selecting a manual five-speed) displays decent road manners and handling for its wagon body, staying upright and competent when cornering, with only the slightest feel of twist in its relatively boxy body.

Interestingly, the Touring is no bigger than its sedan sibling (in fact, it’s slightly shorter in overall length), and so is a good size for urban settings. Easy to manoeuvre (and with good visibility all around) in tight situations, it does well at the malls and big-box store parking lots.

The interior, upholstered in dark, tough fabric and with few frills, is comfortable enough in both rows of seats. Roomy overhead in the driver’s seat (possibly because my GL has no sunroof), and with enough range in the rather basic seat adjustments and tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, finding a comfortable position is easy, even for long drives.

As you may expect in a car in this segment, the layout of the gauges and center stack is simple and basic, yet includes all the necessities. The four-speaker stereo features an auxiliary jack (and a USB connection) for mp3 devices, and while it may not be an audiophile’s delight, it does its job just fine.

With the rear seats folded, the Elantra Touring offers decent cargo volume (a maximum of 1,848 litres, compared to 402 in the sedan), which is the whole point of buying a wagon. The Elantra also posts better passenger and luggage volume than Toyota’s Matrix or BMW’s 328 SportWagon, for that matter, though I doubt anyone is cross-shopping Bimmers against econo cars.

Overall, Hyundai’s near-entry-level small-hauler leaves little room for complaint. I get very good fuel economy in my tester, it holds everything I need it to hold, and its engine and brakes (four-wheel disc with ABS) never let me down.

The only critique I hear a lot while motoring around town is about the appearance. When you drive a wagon, you’re going to hear it called “ugly” a lot. Now, while that’s a fairly subjective and pedantic judgment, the proportions of the Elantra Touring can be helped out a lot by selecting the “sport package” trim, which gives bigger wheels (17-inch alloy rims, as compared to the standard 15-inchers with wheel covers on my tester).

Of course, that will just drive the price up – you can make an Elantra Touring cost as much as $22,395 – but, frankly, I don’t think I’d bother; the car is all about practicality, not fashion statements.

It starts at $14,995, and my tester in GL trim (GL adds niceties like driver’s side lumbar and seat-height adjustment, trip computer, cruise control and the aforementioned tilt-and-telescope wheel) comes in at $19,995 - for a car that will suit the needs and budgets of most suburban buyers.