Hyundai Elantra N TCR COTY Review: Drives Like a Bite-Sized BMW M Car

Just when we thought we couldn’t say any more nice things about Hyundai’s N division, it goes ahead and gives us the 2026 Hyundai Elantra N TCR—and sends one with a manual transmission to our Car of the Year event, no less. Is this the most joy you can feel from behind the wheel for around $40,000? You can easily make that argument.

The not-so-stellar stuff first: There’s no getting around the fact that this platform, while fun, is also getting old. It shows its age most in the infotainment system, where there’s no wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. It’s wired only. Then there’s the cruise control, which performs lane centering but without radar to help slow you down or speed you up to follow the flow of traffic.

But that’s just fine, because you get a car like this to drive it, not to be driven by it.

On that front, other daily-comfort omissions can be willfully overlooked. The lack of sound-deadening, for example, that lets in enough road noise to drown out even your inner monologue while on the highway? A feature, not a bug. Manual seats? An excellent and pragmatic weight-saving method.

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Upon first introduction to the Elantra N TCR’s six-speed manual, you’ll find that its clutch grabs quite high. If you’re not expecting it and try to take off with too little gas, stalling will be immediate and inevitable. No shame, though, because that’s the whimsy in driving a manual car: You have to learn how to use it. Luckily, the Hyundai is good-natured and tools around town happily once you do.

“On the oval course at the proving ground, this thing gets to 100 mph quickly and easily, with smooth and satisfying gear shifts that sound good while doing it,” Detroit editor Alisa Priddle said.

As expected, the Elantra N TCR really comes into its own on a track, with a revvy engine and light shift action that rewards fast inputs and buzzes for more. Its direct steering quickly boosts driver confidence, and there’s very little lean in the suspension. Gobs of grip contribute to an incredibly balanced feel: This car does not behave like it’s front-wheel drive. Actually, it feels like a bite-sized BMW M car, one whose usable power lets you smack through some gears first before hitting troublemaker speeds. It is, as features editor Scott Evans observed, “much more of a circuit car than a numbers car.”

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Is the TCR worth the $3,650 premium over the standard Elantra N? Depends on how you use it. For one, our test team noted that the upgraded brakes were very fade-resistant in testing. Second, the gigantic rear wing can indeed slightly alter performance.

“I would like to note for the record that my insistence on manually adjusting the rear wing to the high downforce position did buy us an extra tenth of a second on the figure-eight lap,” Evans said.

So the Elantra N TCR is a rockstar at performing its intended function. Sadly, that’s only one of our six criteria. It’s a value, too, from an enthusiast perspective, though its aging Elantra bones set it back in other areas. But based on all our judges’ smiles after getting out of it, it’s proof positive that fun lives in a category of its own.

This review was conducted as part of our 2027 Car of the Year (COTY) testing, where each vehicle is evaluated on our six key criteria: efficiency, design, safety, engineering excellence, value, and performance of intended function. Eligible vehicles must be all-new or significantly revised.