What is perhaps most telling about the Elantra Sport is how Hyundai is trying to position it. It’s a little more expensive than a base Golf or 3, but it’s better equipped and has so much more power (the 2.5-liter–powered 3 makes 184 horsepower and the Golf’s turbocharged 1.8-liter four is rated at 170 horsepower) that it might be tempting to compare it instead with Volkswagen’s GTI,the pricier performance Golf model. Yet the Elantra Sport is several thousand dollars cheaper than a GTI.