I guess I just attract bad drivers.

After all, it was about this same time two years ago that I was sideswiped by a drunk driver on a road trip in Arkansas. I suppose I should have been anticipating that car parked on the highway shoulder would suddenly make a left-hand turn exactly when I was passing. It’s funny; for some reason that scenario never came up in my Driver’s Ed simulators.

But, this time it was nothing as dramatic as a drunk driver on a lonely highway. The math was simple: lost woman making a left-hand turn (not a lane change, a turn for goodness sakes) from the middle lane into my lane equals an unscheduled meeting with a telephone pole.

So, with my 2000 Hyundai Elantra GLS, a.k.a. “the G-ride,” now just an intriguing work of metal origami languishing in collision center purgatory, I was forced to find a new car to use in slogging to and from the salt mines. A crisp, clean insurance check in hand, I walked into my local Hyundai dealership and drove out with a brand new 2003 Hyundai Elantra GT.

You can almost feel the eyebrows raise quizzically upon reading the letters “GT.” Yes, the Elantra comes in a GT model, but the key is not to think of the acronym in the traditional The Fast and The Furious context. Vin Diesel will not be drag racing this car against anyone, anywhere, ever, though Penelope Cruz and Eva Mendes are certainly welcome to ride shotgun with me anytime. The “GT” here has more to do with, “hey this Hyundai looks kinda Euro-Gran-Turismo sporty!” than anything relating to actual vehicle performance.

The original 5-door hatchback design loosely emulates some of the European sedans with the fat rounded back and modest profile, and is equipped with rear windshield wiper, sport wheels, a mini-spoiler, and a moonroof. Since hatchbacks have gotten such a bad rap in the US thanks to its clunky predecessors (more than a few of which churned out by Hyundai), a more traditional 4-door sedan with a larger spoiler is also available. It’s a shame that hatchbacks have that stigma attached to them, because the 5-door is by far the more stylish of the two. My mind reels with different ideas for freaking it, few of which I can actually afford…

But, to ignore the attributes that help it earn the Elantra earn its GT stripes would do Hyundai a major disservice. It may not be the Hemmy fuel-injected monster you’ve been dreaming about dragging down the strip, but the 2.0 Liter, DOHC 4 cylinder engine is more than sufficient for normal driving. It does have quite a bit of zip when accelerating at higher speeds, but the engine does tend to growl a bit when taxed excessively during low-speed acceleration. Although to be fair, since I spend waaaaay too much time in traffic and like my hands free to select CDs, I opted for the automatic instead of a manual, and that does adversely affect the acceleration performance. Getting the stick will help you manually navigate through the rough spots.

Once you start whipping the car around tight corners and down some of the serpentine roads Madison Avenue romanticizes in the majority of sports car commercials, you’ll definite get a feel for the not-too-shabby independent suspension with sport tuning that comes standard on the GT. The Elantra GT stays balanced and smoothly eats up curves on turns that inspired Olympic bobsledder-type passenger leans in the 2000 Elantra. I get a great feel for the road while maintaining control in this car, easily placing it high atop my “most fun cars to drive” list.

For some strange reason, I passed on getting anti-lock brakes this time around and already I’m regretting it. The disc brakes are adequate, but they offer a much softer stop than every other ABS-equipped vehicle I’ve ever driven. I’m honestly dreading having to make a sudden stop in the car one day. I highly recommend paying the extra for ABS, packaged in with the traction control system (TCS). The TCS helps balance out the traction on terrain with different friction levels, and has a noticeable stabilizing effect when zipping through puddles and rough spots. It worked reasonably well in the test drive, but I doubt it’s overall effectiveness in severe weather or extreme conditions. Texas weather eats up cars and SUV’s with 4-wheel drive for breakfast; what chance does Hyundai’s the TCS have?

The Elantra GT’s sporty feel doesn’t end with the exterior and engine workings; the interior is designed with both style and comfort in mind. The seats, steering wheel, and stick are all wrapped in dark leather, adding a rich feel to the interior. The dash and accents are designed to mirror the color and feel of the leather upholstery. Obviously crafted to emulate more of a cockpit than a dashboard, every dial and switch is electric and within easy reach of the driver’s seat and designed to operate with minimal effort.

Dials and meters on the dash sport non-traditional designs as well. While the one-dimensional design of the speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, and engine temperature gauge appear more like toy decals than actual useable dials, the way they glow a funky purple (versus the traditional green) when the headlights are turned on is fairly cool. One unfortunate innovation is the fact that the odometer and trip meter housed in the dash are both LCD readouts vs. traditional dials, and anyone who has ever owned one of those old LCD pocket games can imagine how this innovation might cause trouble over time. The secondary “miles to empty” and “miles per gallon” functions on the trip meter are certainly handy, but I would have much rather had a traditional trip dial.

Anyone who has been watching Hyundai in the past few years know that they’ve been working hard to live down their reputation from mass-producing automotive crap from back in the Rodney King days. By now, most car buyers are familiar with their introduction of America’s Best Warranty™, a 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty on engine and transaxle components, and a 5-year, 60,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty that includes roadside assistance. They sweeten the deal with their beefed-up options packages that include cool goodies such as leather, moonroofs, and anti-theft devices with keyless entry, and the option to upgrade the bumper to bumper warranty to 10 years, 100,000 miles.

Last, but not least, we come to the most important part of any car – the component that in my opinion truly makes or breaks the vehicle -- the stereo system.

Though it’s certainly not the “boomin’ system” LL Cool J rapped about, most drivers will be pleased with the Elantra GT’s stereo. The CD/AM/FM stereo (cassette deck optional for you old heads) is hooked up to a vibrant 6-speaker system (versus four in the regular Elantra) that consists of two rear-mounted 6”, two low door mounted 6”, and two semi-spherical 1½” jobbies mounted high on the front doors. The two mini ones are kind of a gyp in my opinion; putting two speakers on the door that are smaller than my average headphones should be considered more as “sound-supplementers” than actual speakers in and of themselves. Regardless, the audio quality is adequate, even for a music addict like me. Serious audiophiles will definitely need to hit up their local “car hook up” spot though.

With a base price starting around $14,900, the 2003 Hyundai Elantra GT is a very sensible choice for those shopping for low-priced, good quality vehicles, but are tired of the bland, “everybody and their momma has one” alternatives offered by Honda (Civic), Nissan (Stanza), or Chevy (Cavalier). It offers just as much car as the rest of the manufacturers, plus a few standard extras that you’d have to shell out for with the other guys. Car buyers will have to pay attention to depreciation thanks to market perception of Hyundai autos -- the Elantra GT will depreciate by nearly a third as soon as you drive it off the lot. But, hopefully you’ll love it so much, you wouldn’t dream of selling it anyway.

Amount Paid (US$): 14,900
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: GT, Automatic