{"id":36916,"date":"2026-11-13T13:11:43","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T17:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=36916"},"modified":"2026-11-13T13:11:43","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T17:11:43","slug":"flogging-the-2026-hyundai-elantra-n-pocket-rocket-payne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/flogging-the-2026-hyundai-elantra-n-pocket-rocket-payne","title":{"rendered":"Flogging the 2026 Hyundai Elantra N pocket rocket | Payne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/11\/10\/PDTN\/92701364007-hyundai-elantra-n-2026-fr.jpg?width=660&amp;height=372&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The 2026 Hyundai Elantra N features a menacing front end updated for 2026 with blue-winged corners.\" width=\"539\" height=\"304\" \/><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"gnt_pg_img_cap\"><em>The 2026 Hyundai Elantra N features a menacing front end updated for 2026 with blue-winged corners.<\/em><\/div>\n<p><em>Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em>Charlevoix<\/em> \u2014 Pocket rocket is my favorite auto segment. From $33,000-$51,000, buyers are served a choice of fun, utilitarian, affordable cars spiced with goodies like turbocharged engines, manual transmissions, all-wheel drive, hatchbacks, summer tires and head-up displays. Rockets like the Honda Civic Si, Subaru WRX, Mazda3 Turbo, Civic Type R, VW Golf R and OG Golf GTI.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Add to this delicious assortment the stylish, high-tech Hyundai Elantra N.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">N for Namyang, the South Korea R&amp;D center where Hyundai\u2019s N performance division was born. N for the famed Nu\u0308rburgring race track in Germany where the model\u2019s skills were honed. N for Not Boring.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Dressed in a similar, head-turning sky blue and red trim wardrobe as Hyundai\u2019s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge-winning car, my $37,095, 276-horsepower tester channels premium supercars costing five times more. Entering the M-32 twisties in Otsego County west of Gaylord, I pressed the red NGS button (for N Grin Shift) in the middle of the steering wheel and the rocket tensed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Maximum turbocharger overboost added 10 horsepower. The gearbox automatically downshifted to fourth gear for optimal torque at 5,000 RPM. The driveline primed for quick shifts for 20 seconds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Just like the $150,000 Porsche 911\u2019s Sport Response button.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">FOOM! I blew by a Ford Mustang in a two-lane passing zone and disappeared though a series of S-curves, the stiff, adaptive shocks gluing the Elantra N to the road.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Adaptive shocks in a $37k car? That\u2019s right. The better to offer multiple modes (including N Mode) for when the twisties rise before you \u2014 or a track day beckons. Like a six-figure Porsche, McLaren or Lamborghini.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/business\/autos\/2026\/11\/12\/hyundai-elantra-n-is-nonstop-entertainment-payne\/92701237007\/\">Read full article here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 Hyundai Elantra N features a menacing front end updated for 2026 with blue-winged corners. Henry Payne, The Detroit News Charlevoix \u2014 Pocket rocket is my favorite auto segment. From $33,000-$51,000, buyers are served a choice of fun, utilitarian, affordable cars spiced with goodies like turbocharged engines, manual transmissions, all-wheel drive, hatchbacks, summer tires [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36916"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36916"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36917,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36916\/revisions\/36917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}