2020 Honda Civic Hatchback vs 2020 Hyundai Elantra

The 2020 Hyundai Elantra retained its bold geometric styling from the previous year, which was a departure from its earlier Genesis Jr. design cues. This design was a precursor to the more angular 2021 model. Available in six trims—SE, SEL, Value Edition, Eco, Limited, and Sport—the Elantra's price ranged from $19,300 to $24,150. The Limited trim, with the Ultimate Package, brought the price to $27,630. The Elantra's black paint accentuated its angular features, contrasting with chrome details, resulting in a stylish appearance that might not appeal to everyone. Inside, the Elantra's interior was updated with silver trim to give it a more upscale look, though it still had some hard plastic elements typical of a compact car.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback, redesigned half a decade ago, received minor styling tweaks for 2020. These included body-color crossbars on the air intakes, a new grille, and smoked headlights. The Sport Touring trim, with its Platinum White Pearl paint, stood out with glossy black detailing. The Civic's interior featured stitched leather and quality materials, though it still had some hard plastic. The Sport Touring trim offered a six-speed manual gearbox, previously exclusive to the Sport trim, with a price of $28,980. Despite its cost, the Civic Hatchback was considered more practical and enjoyable for daily use compared to the more performance-oriented Civic Si.

The 2020 Hyundai Elantra offered a base 147-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine paired with a new CVT, replacing the previous six-speed automatic. The CVT, standard on SE trim, contributed to a $1,100 price increase from the previous year. The Elantra Eco featured a 128-horsepower turbocharged 1.4-liter engine with a seven-speed DCT, offering better torque and fuel efficiency. The Elantra Sport, with a 201-horsepower 1.6-liter turbo engine and independent rear suspension, provided a more enjoyable driving experience. However, the Elantra's torsion beam axle rear suspension detracted from ride quality, making it less inspiring to drive.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback, with its turbocharged 1.5-liter engine, produced 174 horsepower in LX, EX, and EX-L trims, and 180 horsepower in Sport and Sport Touring trims. The engine delivered 162 lb-ft of torque with the CVT and 177 lb-ft with the manual transmission. The Civic Hatchback offered a quieter and more refined driving experience compared to the Civic Si, with a softer ride and wider seats. Despite its comfort-oriented design, the Civic Hatchback remained fun to drive, achieving 32.7 mpg in testing, slightly exceeding EPA estimates.

The 2020 Hyundai Elantra provided roomy accommodations for four adults, with a fifth person fitting for short trips. The Limited trim featured power driver’s seat adjustment, leather upholstery, and a sliding center console armrest. All Elantras came with a dual-zone automatic climate control system, though rear passengers lacked air conditioning vents. The trunk offered 14.4 cubic feet of space, comparable to some midsize sedans, with a convenient interior grab handle for closing the trunk lid.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback offered 25.2 cubic feet of cargo space, slightly more than the HR-V Touring. While it couldn't match the HR-V's maximum volume, the Civic Hatchback provided better acceleration and fuel efficiency. The Sport Touring's heated leather front seats offered ample thigh support, though the passenger seat lacked a height adjuster. The center console storage area was versatile, with a sliding armrest, tray, and cupholders. Rear seat comfort was good, but passengers lacked air-conditioning vents and sweltered on the black leather bench.

The 2020 Hyundai Elantra came with a touchscreen infotainment system, Bluetooth, and a USB port. The SE trim had a 5-inch screen, while the SEL and higher trims featured a 7-inch display with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and SiriusXM. The Limited trim added wireless smartphone charging and a premium Infinity sound system. The Ultimate Package increased the screen size to 8 inches and added navigation and Blue Link services. The infotainment system was user-friendly, with shortcut buttons and volume/tuning knobs.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback featured a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system in all but the LX trim, with Bluetooth and a volume knob. The Sport Touring trim included Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, satellite radio, navigation, a quick-charging USB port, and a 12-speaker premium sound system. However, it lacked a tuning knob and had limited voice-recognition capabilities. The Civic Hatchback offered automatic climate control and Smart Entry with Walk Away Auto Lock for added convenience.

The 2020 Hyundai Elantra featured Hyundai Smart Sense as standard, including forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and a driver attention monitor. SEL trim added blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert. The Limited and Sport trims had full LED headlights with automatic high-beam operation. The Ultimate Package added adaptive cruise control and pedestrian detection. The Elantra earned a Top Safety Pick from the IIHS with LED headlights and a four-star overall rating from the NHTSA.

The 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback included Honda Sensing as standard, with forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, automatic high-beam headlights, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and Road Departure Mitigation. Adaptive cruise control was also standard, with low-speed following capability for CVT models. However, the Civic lacked blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, relying on LaneWatch for the right-side blind spot. The Civic received top crash-test ratings but did not earn a Top Safety Pick due to poor headlight performance.