Compare the2023 Hyundai Elantra N LineVS 2023 MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Elantra N Line are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Elantra N Line are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests front crash prevention systems. With a score of 6 points, IIHS rates the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist in the Elantra N Line as “Superior.” The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door scores only 4 points and is rated only “Advanced.”

The Elantra N Line’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Elantra N Line’s standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.

Both the Elantra N Line and the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Elantra N Line its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 127 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door has not been fully tested, yet.

The Elantra N Line comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 10,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Elantra N Line 6 years and 50,000 miles longer than MINI covers the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are almost 8 times as many Hyundai dealers as there are MINI dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Elantra N Line’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than MINI vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in reliability, above the industry average. With 25 more problems per 100 vehicles, MINI is ranked 11th.

The Elantra N Line’s 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder produces 67 more horsepower (201 vs. 134) and 33 lbs.-ft. more torque (195 vs. 162) than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder. The Elantra N Line’s 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder produces 12 more horsepower (201 vs. 189) than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door S’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Elantra N Line uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Hyundai Elantra N Line comes standard with an automatic transmission, for driver comfort, especially in the city. Automatic costs extra on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

For better stopping power the Elantra N Line’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door:

For better traction, the Elantra N Line has larger tires than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (235/40R18 vs. 195/55R16). The Elantra N Line’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (235/40R18 vs. 205/45R17).

The Elantra N Line’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 40 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s standard 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Elantra N Line has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 16-inch wheels are standard on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Elantra N Line’s wheelbase is 6 inches longer than on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (107.1 inches vs. 101.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Elantra N Line is 2.9 inches wider in the front and 3.4 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Elantra N Line a Mid-size car, while the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door is rated a Subcompact.

The Elantra N Line has 15.6 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (99.4 vs. 83.8).

The Elantra N Line has .7 inches more front headroom, .9 inches more front legroom, 5.3 inches more front shoulder room, 5.7 inches more rear legroom and 6 inches more rear shoulder room than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Elantra N Line’s trunk can be opened just by waiting momentarily behind the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The Elantra N Line has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Elantra N Line’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

The Elantra N Line has a standard center folding armrest for the rear passengers. A center armrest helps make rear passengers more comfortable and it can provide a boundary between children. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a rear seat center armrest.

The Elantra N Line has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning costs extra on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

For greater rear passenger comfort, the Elantra N Line has standard rear heat vents to keep rear occupants more comfortable. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer rear vents.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Hyundai Elantra N Line has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door Iconic offers wireless charging.

A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the Elantra as the 2021 North American Car of the Year. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door has never been chosen.

The Hyundai Elantra outsold the MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door by over 28 to one during 2022.