2024 Hyundai Elantra vs. 2024 Nissan Sentra

2024 Hyundai Elantra Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Style doesn’t have to be expensive. At least, that could be the motto for the 2024 Hyundai Elantra and the 2024 Nissan Sentra. These compact economy sedans are among the most affordable new cars on the market, each starting in the low $20,000s. Yet they’re not the anonymous blobs you might expect from the class. The sharply tailored Elantra and the road-hugging Sentra have presence that belies their bargain prices. 

But which is the better car beyond the looks? To find out, we tested the Sentra and Elantra – both newly updated for 2024 – for a week. In this review, we’ll compare the two sedans in eight different categories and then name our overall winner. Keep reading to learn which affordable car is the better choice for style on a budget. 

Exterior Design

Do you like subtle or extroverted? In this subjective category, which we declare a tie, Hyundai and Nissan give you a choice. 

The Elantra’s sharply creased doors, trunk, and bumpers look like an origami project. The angular taillights have a lightbar that runs below a pinched trunklid, and a chunk of chrome and plastic runs past the rear window to simulate additional glass. The redesigned front end has lower headlights that stretch away from the low, slim grille. Not everyone will like it, and some will downright hate it, but others will love this bold design. The Sentra, meanwhile, aims to look special through its overall shape more than its details. It has an assertive stance and confidently hunched fenders – especially in the sport-themed SR, more so than our SV test vehicle – without as much overt aggression or flash. The 2024 model year has a revised front end with a new grille that moves its chrome trim to the outside edges. We’re not sold on the way this leaves a wider expanse of unadorned black on the grille, but you may prefer this more conventional design.

Winner: Tie

2024 Nissan Sentra SV ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Interior Design

Inside, the Elantra is once again the high-style ride compared with the simpler Sentra. Most of the lineup comes with a 10.25-inch touchscreen that flows into a digital gauge cluster (base models get an 8-inch screen instead). These digital displays sit above a decorative strip spanning the dashboard that includes the HVAC vents. And the dash wraps around toward the driver, even including a grab handle on the passenger’s side of the center console. 

The Sentra is plainer. Our test vehicle, an SV with the Premium Package, makes a strong first impression with tan leather splashed everywhere. But its touchscreens are smaller than the Elantra’s (7 inches on the base model, 8 inches on the rest of the lineup), and the main decoration on most trim levels’ black dashboards is the big round climate vents. And yet, we’ll give the Sentra a narrow win for this category. While the Elantra is neither challenging to operate nor cheaply built (especially after a few materials got upgraded this year), the Sentra is both better finished and more user-friendly. 

Winner: Nissan Sentra

2024 Nissan Sentra SV ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Interior Space and Comfort

At various times in the past, the Elantra and Sentra were each designed for massive family-friendly backseats. Now, they’re more typical compact sedans – comfortable for two adults in the front, with space for two more to fit in the backseat without stretching out. Both do have nearly identical 14-cubic-foot trunks, above average for a small sedan. And you can outfit them with optional features like leather upholstery, power-adjustable seats, and front seat heaters. 

Between the two, we give a slight edge to the Elantra. It has a little more rear legroom, and you can adjust the height of its front-passenger seat. (Only the Sentra offers a heated steering wheel, though.) Overall, you won’t find a great difference between those two sedans’ seats unless one of them rubs you the wrong way.

Winner: Hyundai Elantra 

2024 Hyundai Elantra Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Driving Impressions

On paper, the Elantra and Sentra have nearly identical mechanical specifications: 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines with 147 and 149 horsepower, respectively, and continuously variable automatic transmissions. The Sentra does have the more sophisticated multi-link rear suspension and more torque, but we preferred driving the Elantra. 

The standard Elantra model – we’ll discuss its higher-performance variants later – is a master of effortless transportation. Its little engine is peppy at low speeds and doesn’t drone too unpleasantly when you dig in to beg for more power. Its steering doesn’t deliver much feedback, but it’s natural and smooth at low speeds and high speeds. And the Elantra rides comfortably and quietly for an economy sedan. The Sentra is about as quick as the Hyundai and it handles just as well or better, but it lacks the Elantra’s confidence-inspiring smoothness. The Nissan's engine gets loud in a hurry, and its steering responds more sluggishly and inconsistently. The Sentra is still easy to drive, but only the Elantra exudes consistent competence. 

Winner: Hyundai Elantra

2024 Hyundai Elantra Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Fuel Economy

The Elantra also beats the Sentra at the pump. In EPA testing, the Nissan gets an EPA-estimated 30 mpg in the city, 40 mpg on the highway, and 34 mpg combined in most trim levels – pretty good even for an economy car and about 1 to 2 mpg better than last year’s Sentra. (The SR model with bigger wheels gets about 1 mpg less.) We came up just shy of our Sentra SV test vehicle’s EPA estimate to average 33 mpg in a week of mixed driving, and we’ve observed similar mileage from past Sentra test vehicles. 

The 2.0-liter Elantra’s EPA ratings are similar. The base SE model gets an excellent 32 mpg in the city, 41 mpg on the highway, and 36 mpg combined, while the SEL and the Limited like our test vehicle dip to 31 mpg city, 40 mpg highway, and 34 mpg combined. The difference is that unlike the Sentra, we beat the EPA figures in both current-generation 2.0-liter Elantras we’ve tested – averaging 37 mpg on a 2021 model and 38 mpg on this 2024 model. The trip computer even topped 50 mpg during a stretch of mostly highway driving. Turbocharged Elantra models, which have no equivalent Sentra version, are less economical. But the Elantra even offers a gas-electric hybrid powertrain to cement its mileage win. 

Winner: Hyundai Elantra 

2024 Hyundai Elantra Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Pricing and Features

The 2024 Hyundai Elantra is one of the most affordable cars in America, with a base price of $21,625. But the 2024 Nissan Sentra starts at an even more affordable $21,180. 

Both cars come standard with infotainment touchscreens and a host of advanced safety features. The Elantra adds alloy wheels versus the base Sentra’s plastic hubcaps and includes three years of free scheduled maintenance, but the standard Sentra has push-button starting instead of the base Elantra’s metal key, rear parking sensors, and rear automatic emergency braking. As you add features, the Sentra’s sticker price also typically undercuts the Elantra’s. It’s much less expensive to get the Sentra with leather upholstery, a sunroof, or adaptive cruise control. Still, both remain well under $30,000 so equipped. Anecdotally, we’ve also seen bigger discounts on Sentras than Elantras; we recommend getting dealer price quotes on both vehicles if your budget is a big factor. 

Winner: Nissan Sentra

2024 Nissan Sentra SV ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Model Range

The Sentra is available in a choice of three trim levels, all with the same engine, transmission, and suspension. It lines up with the base Elantra setup, which is the basis for this comparison review. 

But we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the variety the Elantra lineup offers: a gas-electric hybrid and two levels of turbocharged performance. The Elantra Hybrid gets an EPA-estimated 50 to 54 mpg in mixed driving (depending on the trim level) with no penalty to the car’s acceleration. Its biggest gains are at low speeds and stop-and-go conditions; as we mentioned, we hit similar highway mileage even with our gas-only Elantra. The Elantra Hybrid starts at $26,250 (roughly $3,000 more than an equivalent 2.0-liter model). For more speed, the Elantra N Line, priced from $28,465, brings a 201-horsepower turbo engine, a dual-clutch automatic transmission, and sportier suspension tuning. Then there’s the Elantra N, an all-out performance monster with 276 horsepower, an even stiffer adaptive suspension, and an available six-speed manual transmission. It starts at $33,700. 

Winner: Hyundai Elantra

2024 Hyundai Elantra N ・ Photo by Hyundai

Safety

Both the Elantra and Sentra come packed with advanced safety features and perform well in crash tests. But overall, the Hyundai comes out a bit ahead. 

Both sedans come with forward automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warnings, and blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alerts. Many far more expensive cars charge extra for some of these technologies. The Sentra further adds rear automatic braking, which the Elantra reserves for top-of-the-line models. Only the Nissan offers a surround-view parking camera, while only the Hyundai has a blind-spot camera that activates when you put on the turn signal. The Elantra firmly takes the lead by edging out the Sentra in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s side-impact crash test (the highest Good versus the Nissan’s second-highest Acceptable) and by earning a Good score for its headlight illumination versus the Sentra’s lowest Poor. 

Winner: Hyundai Elantra 

2024 Hyundai Elantra Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Final Thoughts

Especially if you love its subtle but purposeful stance, there’s a lot to like about the 2024 Nissan Sentra. It’s an affordable, comfortable, user-friendly, feature-packed sedan at a great price. Stylish, affordable, yet packed with safety features and not too fast, it’s also a solid choice for a new driver. 

Still, the Hyundai Elantra takes the lead for us. We’d happily pay a little extra for its more natural driving manners and superior real-world fuel efficiency. Plus, you might also appreciate its hybrid or performance models. Especially if you find a particularly compelling discount on the Sentra, it’s another fine economy sedan for the money. But our pick is the Elantra. 

Winner: Hyundai Elantra

2024 Hyundai Elantra Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt