The pivotal word here, friends, is ‘car’. The American motor industry barely builds them any longer. Ford, for example, has just one model that is neither an SUV nor a pick-up: the Mustang. Naturally, it is hardly a fresh arrival. Chevrolet’s sole non-SUV, non-pick-up offering, the Bolt EV, is no newer. These days, you have to rummage about and look very closely to find a manufacturer launching a new car in the US.
Welcome, then, to Top Gear’s US Car Of The Year shortlist. These are not obvious competitors. The Hyundai Elantra N is a compact performance saloon, while the Kia K4 shares its dimensions, silhouette and Korean origins but omits the key elements of power and pinstripes. Representing the home team is the latest Tesla Model 3 Performance, which may be the least conspicuous 500bhp car ever offered to the public.
Only dedicated Tesla anoraks will notice the giveaways: its reshaped front bumper, turbine-style alloy wheels and peculiar jump-to-hyperspace emblem on the bootlid. They hint that it can cover 0-60mph in 2.9 seconds, with rollout subtracted. Whatever that is supposed to mean. Apparently, American drag racing lets you give yourself a running start. Just as well the Olympics does not follow suit: the 100-metre race would finish after 87 yards.
Words: Ollie Kew, Alex Kalogiannis
Photography: John Wycherley
Three contenders for US Car Of The Year
This is not a race, nor an exercise in determining which car travels furthest between refuelling stops. Instead, we are applying some Top Gear nuance to the contracting realm of the ordinary four-door saloon. Which is the most rewarding overall: in design, as a usable family vehicle, as a long-distance companion, and as somewhere to spend the 38,000 hours that the average American devotes to driving during their life? That amounts to more than four years. Nobody should have to spend that long in a dud.
The total might be lower in the Tesla. Blimey, it is quick, delivering the semi-violent, disdainful and thoughtless teleportation that EVs so enjoy. The experience is stranger still here because Tesla makes no real effort to involve the driver. There is no synthesised techno-warble soundtrack, no imitation paddle-shift gearbox and no paddles whatsoever. There is not even a gear selector: changing direction means swiping the touchscreen, an infuriatingly foolish arrangement for the opening half-hour that reluctantly becomes habitual.
Tesla gives no impression that it wants driving to be engaging. The Model 3, which has been around since 2017 and received a wholesale update in 2023, seems determined even in $54,990 Performance specification to persuade you not to drive at all. It longs to take charge. On home soil, at least, Autopilot is remarkably impressive when it does.
It is somehow bolder on American roads than the hesitant, learner-driver behaviour encountered in the UK, making decisions, tackling problems and showing uncanny initiative. We told it to navigate to a hotel that had only recently been completed. The Model 3 was unsure whether the car park was open - it was - so it played safe, took the following turn and parked at a shop opposite, neatly centred in a bay. “Hmm, I think this is as close as I can get you – will this do?” it seemed to say earnestly. Forget OpenAI’s Sora - this is persuasive artificial intelligence.
Yet we are not trying to make ourselves redundant, and if you are reading this, you probably enjoy cars because you enjoy driving them the old-fashioned way. That is where the Model 3 lands flat on its shapeless face. Its steering remains burdened by detached, artificial force feedback that is simply unpleasant. Although it stays flat and composed, the ride sends too much ‘feedback’ into an otherwise tranquil cabin. This is not a persuasive sports saloon; it is more like an airport car-park pod that has escaped and can outrun a Lamborghini.
Hyundai Elantra N: family saloon and performance hooligan
In contrast, the Hyundai Elantra N feels as though it came from a Bronze Age cave painting. It cannot drive itself. It still has buttons - remember those? - for adjusting temperature, volume and comfort, rather than a touchscreen Apple might admire. For $20,000 less than the Tesla, though, it effectively provides two cars: a reasonably practical compact family saloon and a genuine performance tearaway. That makes it useful in both directions of the school run.
Apart from the ‘it’s a boy!’ blue N buttons on the steering wheel, its cabin is the greyest, glossiest place this side of an estate agent’s suit. Adults can nevertheless sit in the rear, while lifting the boot lid reveals a pleasing bright-red scaffolding bar between the rear suspension towers. Hyundai does far more than fit a bodykit when it applies the N treatment.
It’s a sign of strange times afoot in the car world that the K4 represents something of a palette-cleanser
The gruff 2.0-litre turbocharged engine sends 276bhp and 289lb ft to the front wheels. While the optional eight-speed twin-clutch automatic fitted to our test car adds some polish and smoothness, even this relatively modest output can occasionally overwhelm the Elantra’s front axle. It demonstrates every variety of -steer: a little safety understeer when you turn in with ambition; a hilarious lump of lift-off oversteer when you ease off to correct it; torque steer squirming through the wheel as boost builds; and the occasional bump steer when the overworked front axle meets a crest or camber change.
It is not the world’s most refined performance car, then. In short, sharp bursts, however, it is exciting, gratifying and entertaining. It turns a tightening slip road into a laugh. For British drivers, it is a bittersweet experience: this is essentially a booted version of the sorely missed i30N hot hatch that Hyundai no longer sells in the UK. It was the rambunctious yin to the clinical Civic Type R’s yang, put Hyundai’s N division on the European enthusiast map, then vanished almost as rapidly, leaving £65k+ EVs as the only fast Korean cars available in Britain. Americans, buy this Elantra N. You don’t know how good you’ve got it.
The Elantra itself is slightly old news by current new-car standards. This frowning version has existed since 2020, albeit with a comprehensive update earlier this year. Buyers seeking something genuinely newer may therefore look elsewhere. Kia is one of the few manufacturers ready to oblige with the new K4.
Kia K4: a welcome dose of common sense
The K4 being a kind of palate cleanser says much about the odd state of today’s car world. It is effectively a Kia Jetta, a My First Camry seemingly destined for a dull existence shuttling between airport hire-car compounds and body repair centres. Yet as more cars adopt The Tesla Way - more technology, fewer physical controls, more nannying and less common sense - the staid, straightforward K4 becomes rather appealing.
Its starting price is ten dollars below $22,000. Take it from us Brits: that would be enough to make a queue of overcharged UK motorists scramble for green cards. It is packed with practical thinking, including a logical interior arrangement, a well-judged driving position, plentiful storage for bits and pieces, and numerous easy-to-reach sockets for charging devices.
The rear seats are slightly flat, although legroom and space for feet are generous. Anyone over six foot will not enjoy the sloping roofline intruding on headroom, but Kia has made that sacrifice because anybody considering a K4 is plainly choosing not to buy a boxy SUV.
There’s much to recommend all three ‘cars’, even if the general American public has moved on to bigger and worse things
Before Uber places a huge order, note the handle integrated into the backs of the front seats, apparently intended to help rear passengers get in and out. It pulls on the driver’s or front passenger’s backrest in exactly the same way as when you are settled on an economy flight and the person behind hauls themselves up for their fourth visit to the loo. Irritating.
Still, that is an unusual misstep in a car that is otherwise almost painfully sensible. The plastics are unremarkable, but everything feels securely clipped and screwed together. The boot aperture is a little narrow, while the touch-sensitive heater controls are fiddly because Kia has inexplicably placed these vital functions behind the attractive squircle steering wheel. There are at least enough proper buttons to live with, and the old Audi-style ship’s-thruster gear selector is a pleasing detail.
If only it had more power. The K4’s compliant, forgiving chassis would happily spend time with an entertaining young engine. Instead, it is stuck in a loveless relationship with a thin-sounding 190hp 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder that is neither spirited and eager nor creamy smooth. It returns 37mpg on test and settles down at motorway speeds, but the agreeable K4 probably merits more.
There is, then, plenty to commend in all three ‘cars’, even if most American buyers have moved towards larger and worse alternatives. Each is roomier than expected, each has a broader range of talents than the SUV marketing machine would have you believe, and all offer convincing value across three very different performance bands.
But the Tesla is too joyless to qualify as a genuine all-rounder, while the Kia has no defining feature. The Hyundai Elantra N, by contrast, is one of those increasingly scarce cars that can do everything for everyone. You could lend it to your grandmother and she would value the gesture, or attempt a new Cannonball Run record and probably come close. It wins this test - but, in proper American wrestling-entertainment fashion, I am told a late arrival is about to disrupt the victory celebrations. Time to speak with my American colleague, Alex Kalogiannis…
Alex Kalogiannis: That is funny you should say that. Take a look at the Dodge Charger Sixpack, a completely new version of a classic American muscle car… built in, er, Canada.
Ollie Kew: For those of us across the Pond, what on earth happened to Dodge’s muscle car? Didn’t it become electric and then immediately flop?
AK: Correct. The Dodge Charger Sixpack is an exciting return to form following the arrival of the Charger Daytona, the EV muscle car that was something of a failed experiment despite actually being quite good.
It looks cooler, it sounds better and it’s more satisfying as a performance car
Either way, it was not what Dodge enthusiasts wanted, and the Sixpack brings the Charger closer to their expectations.
OK: So, has the V8 returned? And why is it named after a surfer’s stomach?
AK: Even the Charger must downsize in 2025, although a petrol engine has returned. Beneath the bonnet sits a 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six producing 550 hp and 531lb ft of torque. It powers all four wheels as standard, although the full output can be directed to the rear if AWD is not sufficiently muscle-car-like for you.
Because it was developed alongside the EV Daytona, it gains the sleek, streamlined styling that makes it stand out, plus a matching cabin that is both stylish and functional. Various driving modes allow it to cope with differing surfaces or be tailored for more sporting use. Together with a usable rear seat, this makes it a versatile everyday car rather than a toy reserved for weekends. Its boot can even accommodate a complete set of wheels should you wish to take spares to a track day.
OK: I have no idea what a hood or trunk is, but it sounds like a proper all-rounder. Then again, so is my beloved Hyundai.
AK: Certainly, the Elantra N is also designed to perform that double role, but I would argue that the Dodge Charger does it more effectively. For a start, it is not a factory retune of a family saloon, so its presentation feels a little less “how do you do, fellow kids”.
It is a car that recalls the sensation of driving to high-school American football practice, even if you… never did that. It has that character, and it is infectious. I reckon you would like it too, regardless of what you call football.
OK: America has always excelled at creating cars for its own backyard, much like the ‘world series’ is nothing of the sort. Is this Dodge genuinely a sorted performance car?
AK: I think so. In Sport mode, the 40/60 power split offers a strong balance and does an excellent job of disguising the car’s width and weight, up to a point. Can it be flung around as playfully as an Elantra N? I would say not, but the Charger communicates its behaviour better and does so more naturally than the Elantra’s, shall we say, performative oversteer. With rear-wheel drive available at the press of a button, the Charger’s tail-wagging is genuine and considerably more satisfying.
OK: That leaves us in a predicament. The Elantra is charming but definitely not ‘all-new’, whereas this sounds like a huge return to form for one of America’s icons.
AK: I like the Elantra N an awful lot, but I am afraid the Charger Daytona Sixpack is a persuasive last-minute upset: it looks cooler, it sounds better and it is more satisfying as a performance car, while still swapping effortlessly into the role of family transport.
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