It’s the little things. The small differences. The way a shifter snaps between gears as deliberately as a steering wheel speaks of remaining grip. The way a suspension cycles at determined rates, each spring, damper, and bushing working in unison to ensure fidelity with the road. Or the way a powertrain can precisely balance acceleration, ­efficiency, and entertainment. These are fine points considered not in numbers but in nuance, the subtle great-making attributes that separate the merely good from the remarkable. And they’re actually the reasons seemingly innocuous cars, such as the Mazda 3 and Volkswagen Golf, are repeat 10Best ­winners while so many worthy challengers fall short.

Though greatness is not ubiquitous among C-segment contenders, pretty-goodness is. Proficiency in the compact class has increased to the extent that standing out means achieving a level of driver engagement, style, and quality that didn’t exist among economy cars a decade ago. That’s the daunting mission faced by newcomers, including the 2017 Hyundai Elantra. It hardly seems fair pitting such a budget appliance against the 3 and the Golf. In their last two generations, this pair collected eight victories in Car and Driver comparison tests. When it comes to compacts, they absolutely transcend the field, even when faced with such excellent new competition as Honda’s Civic.

View Photos The GTI is our favorite of the universally excellent Golf family. TOM SALT, MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI

Hyundai, however, is determined to close this gap. It’s thrown everything at its redesigned Elantra, which is available in three models with three different engines and four transmissions. Its refinement leaps exponentially from the previous-gen Elantra. If there’s ever been a shot across the bow of the segment leaders, then this is it. But participation and most-improved trophies aren’t part of the protocol here at C/D, and we don’t hand out juice boxes and orange slices when the 10Best voting closes.

There are currently five different versions of the Golf for sale in all 50 states, a sweeping armada of excellence that includes three gas engines, front- or all-wheel drive, and wagon or hatch­­­back body styles. Attitudes range from the save-some-fuel base Golf to the kill-some-apexes Golf R. Now in its seventh generation, the Golf’s merits are best on display in our favorite variation on the theme, the GTI. It’s in this form that power, economy, handling, and utility coalesce most effectively to produce a car this staff of professional critics struggled to criticize in a 40,000-mile long-term test.

“There are few cars—at any price and in any segment—that couldn’t benefit from benchmarking the Golf’s ride and handling.” —Jared Gall, senior editor

Even well into its product cycle, Mazda’s 3 still carries momentum in places most of its competitors can’t. Refreshed for 2017, both the sedan and hatchback subtly strengthen the 3’s third-­generation design, which made its debut as a 2014 model. Two ­naturally aspirated four-cylinder engines—a 2.0-liter and a 2.5-liter—partner with the best chassis in the compact class to make a single point: The Mazda 3 is the driver’s choice. Mazda forgoes a dedicated perform­ance version, instead making every 3 a testament to the brand’s wholesale devotion to the principle.

The Elantra’s three-pronged attack mimics our winners in trying to offer something for everyone. The Eco sips fuel, the Sport can roast its front tires, and the all-around practical Elantra ­Limited . . . well, we dispensed with that snoozer during the first week. The turbocharged 1.4-liter Eco was just better in every way. The Sport, however, is the most engaging, both on paper and in practice. Equipped with a rev-happy 201-hp turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder and a multilink rear suspension not found in the other models, the Sport is Hyundai’s own GTI.

View Photos TOM SALT, MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI

Yet hopping from the Elantra into the Mazda 3, it becomes immediately clear that no matter how much more right foot Hyundai gives you, it’s not enough. Despite a horsepower deficit, the Mazda is far more fun to drive. Even faced with the Performance-package–equipped GTI’s 36-hp advantage, the 3 still manages to elicit similar grins. The GTI’s flood of torque, however, is undeniably rewarding. With 258 pound-feet available from the 2.0-liter turbocharged four at 1500 rpm, there’s corner-exit grunt galore. The VW engine’s abilities in the farther reaches of the tachometer, where it makes its 220 peak horsepower, prove that VW had more than commuting in mind during the car’s development.

Yet these are, at their core, commuter-­grade cars. Like the Golf and 3, even the most driver-focused Elantra doesn’t sprout gratuitous wings or ducts. Eighteen-inch wheels, wider 225-series rubber, side sills, and chrome exhaust outlets give away the Sport’s intentions only to those in the know. The Elantra Sport is a Hyundai that doesn’t fold when pushed reasonably hard, in contrast to Hyundai’s usual capable but uninvolving chassis tuning. It also sounds as if it cares and it certainly isn’t slow, a ­substantive effort that’s as rewarding at five-tenths as it is at eight-tenths.

“The Mazda 3 moves with a fluidity you won’t find anywhere else in this price class.” —Joseph Capparella, associate online editor

Contrast those big-picture driving ­virtues with Mazda’s detail engineering. Here’s a company that betters its products by researching humans’ sensitivity to changes in the acceleration rate. The discovery that healthy Homo sapiens move smoothly, subtly, and efficiently—without jerking, you’ll notice—and that we like our cars to do the same, isn’t a surprise.

What is surprising is the tech that Mazda pulls out of the effort. G-Vectoring Control, which reduces engine torque at turn-in to make driving more natural and controllable, is as minimalist an approach to technology as there’s ever been. That it actually works means that the brand’s minimum jerk theory is more than just fodder for middle-school jokes. What’s more, this smallest of car companies builds an economy car in the 3 that welcomes left-foot braking, a driving technique ignored by some dedicated performance brands.

View Photos The Mazda 3 is tastiest in hatchback form, powered by the 184-hp 2.5-liter engine. TOM SALT, MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI

With its Golf, Volkswagen manages to imbue every trim level with the same understated feel, regardless of specification or price. Even the R, the 292-hp super-Golf, retains this essence; its perform­ance is additive rather than disruptive to the base car. Volks­wagen fits its lowliest Golf with only 15-inch wheels, yet such a ­concession doesn’t manifest cheapness. All Golfs drive with a solid composure and predictability, with controlled body motions and the ride quality of a far more expensive machine. Similarly, the Mazda 3 line demonstrates control response worthy of single-­purpose performance cars but does so with drop-the-kids-off livability.

Look inside, and their merits are equally vivid. In both the 3 and the Golf, everything a driver touches moves with a precision that punches above C-segment standards. Both offer well-finished stitched leather or functional fabric. Modern materials and styling combine in ways that present beautifully while begging no functional compromises. Despite the Sport’s attractive stitched leather, Hyundai’s finish choices across the Elantra line lack such easily recognizable material and assembly quality. The Elantra, for its part, offers controls that are first-order intuitive. The center-stack buttons, virtual or otherwise, are well prioritized to make tasks like pairing a phone or changing a station simple and rapid. For all the functionality of this vertical slab of secondary controls, however, the thoughtfully fashioned presentation of the Mazda and VW is missing.

TOM SALT, MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI

Recognizing that Hyundai’s perform­ance model struggles to maintain pace with our favorites, some voters were eager to back the Eco as the best of the Elantras. Its 35-mpg-combined EPA rating comes with 156 pound-feet of torque and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. That it’s quicker than Hyundai’s mainstream Elantra models only makes it sweeter. If fuel economy were our only concern, the Elantra Eco would top the miserly versions of the 3 and Golf.

Driving, however, still wins the day. And it’s here that the Eco, like the Sport, struggles. At every trim level, the 3 and Golf are fulfilling cars to drive. Their controls are painstakingly engineered to feel precise and predictable. Their pedals return meaningful response, and their steering wheels deftly manage direction. The Elantra, by comparison, speaks in relatively muted tones. So, despite the Elantra’s huge gain on our winners, it is, ironically, the little things that keep it from beating them.

2017 10Best Cars: Return to Overview

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