By Justin Berkowitz
November 28, 2007 -
Look in Hyundai’s high school yearbook and you’ll see “most improved.” Almost every model the Korean automaker has sent stateside has been a quantum leap forward from its predecessor. The Elantra's roots stretch back to the Excel, which excelled at falling apart. The Elantra name survived; the model went from crap, to cheap, to "say that's not bad." Now we've got the fourth generation Elantra. Does the all-new iteration follow the Sonata and Santa Fe in Hyundai's relentless march from cars you buy because they're dirt cheap to cars you buy because why the Hell should I pay more?
The Elantra sits near the top of the economy car pack in terms of not looking too much like an economy car. Thanks to a dorky swage line that dips in the middle and a teardrop-shaped rear window, the Elantra looks like a Corolla with an untucked shirt. Fortunately, the Korean’s front is all business: crispy tailored creases surrounding the requisite Pokemon thousand yard stare headlights. The Elantra’s a color sensitive beastie; lighter shades tend to highlight some of the car’s more awkward proportions.
At 177 inches long, the new Elantra is significantly shorter than the outgoing model. To put that stat into its proper perspective, the Korean compact is now about the same length as the current Toyota Corolla and roughly 14 feet longer than a mechanical pencil– which is, let’s face it, more aesthetically exciting than either machine. Still, nobody buys an Hyundai or Toyota on looks alone. The bottom line: the Elantra's exterior is modern enough that it’ll still appear fresh when its owner’s five-year warranty expires.
Speaking of fresh, Hyundai’s nostril curling crayon/sulfur olfactory signature is gone. The Elantra’s interior now smells as anodyne as it looks. Yes, the cabin’s about as thrilling as alcohol-free vodka. But it's a remarkably large (more interior volume than the Civic and Corolla) and well-ordered space, swathed in a small selection of wildly inoffensive materials, available in a limited range of gray tones. Still, the Elantra’s fit and finish is beyond reproach– if only because occupants can’t stay awake long enough to kvetch.
The Elantra offers integrated XM radio as part of a cheap audio package. Alas, that’s it for toys. The model's Korean taskmasters have denied their baby any of the other high profit, hi-tech [optional] toys that make Nissan's Versa and Sentra so appealing (Bluetooth, keyless go, hard drive in the dashboard, satellite navigation, etc.). At least you won’t die of boredom. The Elantra’s standard safety features include Electronic Brake-force Distribution, six airbags (including side curtains), antilock brakes and active head restraints. The “rich man's” Elantra SE adds electronic stability and traction control.
The Elantra's dynamic demeanor can be summed up in a single word: easy. There's a theoretical manual transmission, but almost all cars come with a smooth 'n' slow four speed automatic. Pop the Elantra into drive and your brain automatically switches off. Although the seconds required for zero to 60 “sprints” cannot be counted on two hands, the Elantra’s whisper-quiet 2.0-liter, 138 horsepower engine delivers enough pep to merge into traffic and amble around town. Should you find a stick shift Elantra, you can shave two seconds from your dash (down to 8.3 seconds to be precise). But that’s like saying a dash of hot sauce can jazz-up a piece of meatloaf.
Sensibly enough, Hyundai’s chassis engineers completed ignored any notion of sportiness and focused on making the Elantra a pothole munching machine. In this they succeeded. The Elantra’s fully independent McPherson (front) and multilink (rear) suspension is more comfortable and compliant than your favorite slightly kinky sexual metaphor. It surmounts road imperfections with big car ease, with only a distant, rubbery judder to remind you that it’s a hard knock life.
There’s a downside to the Elantra’s mortuarial operating philosophy: its electrically-assisted rack-and-pinion power steering system. The helm is so overboosted that any connection between the steering wheel’s attitude and the rubber wheel’s direction is strictly intellectual. The car responds to the tiller both quickly and competently, but without one iota of dynamic feedback, it's best not to attempt anything resembling a driving maneuver. Just ease on down the line.
Don't get me wrong: piloting the Elantra is a disco-era joy. Kicking back and guiding the compact via a single finger hooked delicately around the rim of a plastic steering wheel is more old school than putting a pack of smokes under your shirt sleeve. Alternatively, you could say the Elantra’s the best entry-level model that Buick never made.
Priced to go, temperate in its thirst, the all-new Elantra is a guaranteed hit. People that love frugality almost as much as they hate driving per se should run right out and buy one. In fact, the (literally) mind-numbing sophistication of the new Elantra makes it clear that Hyundai is the new Toyota. How great is that?
3 / 5 Stars | Hyundai Elantra rating summary and performance review
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More Reviews72 Responses to “ Hyundai Elantra Review ”
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POWERED
November 28th, 2007 at 7:40 am
yaaaaawwwn!
…What was that?
zzzzzzzzzzzz
November 28th, 2007 at 8:00 am
Vega :
That was the sound of a hit product landing on American shores.
November 28th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Right now Hyundai is offering heaps of incentives on the Sonata, in the “mid-size” free-for-all.
On the Elantra not so much- they even took away the longstanding customer-loyalty spiff on this model alone. Must mean they are having less trouble moving it.
By price and reliability this is about the best appliance you can suggest anyone climb inside of. That’s not a bad thing.
November 28th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Hyundai’s have come a long way. There was once a time where the only way I’d recommend a hyundai was if you were doing a turbo’d sleeper (Early Elantra’s were powered by the same 2.0 four-banger that was the basis for turbo Eclipses and early Lancer Evolutions), but this looks like about as basic a car as you can get. Sometimes simplicity is a beautiful thing. Less toys = less distractions.
November 28th, 2007 at 9:29 am
When I first saw this Elantra in pictures from the side it struck me that the designer that had penned the 97-01 Tiburon must have done this car too…from the weird crease down the side to the tear drop rear windows on the sides - it looks like a slightly toned down four door Tiburon from the side, albeit taller.
I am seeing a lot of these around Central Ohio, so the dealers here are not having too much trouble moving them. Some of the other newer models aren’t moving so well here though - the Veracruz comes to mind, as does the Entourage (but the Kia Sedona moves just fine off the lots - I am thinking most people still don’t realize that Hyundai sells a mini-van now, even if it is a badge engineered Sedona).
November 28th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Nice little car. Wow, did I just say that about a Hyundai? Well, truth be told, we are actually on our 2nd Hyundai Sonata (2002, now 2007), V6 followed by a four (dropping only 7 horsepower).
We probably would have bought an Elantra instead this time, except that we bought a new little pop-up camper this summer, and obviously wanted to be able to tow it!
Sheesh, to look back and think that, at the time I bought the 2002, I was so disgusted with Detroit Inc that I figured “what the heck, it can’t be any worse than those Neons, preceeded by Cavalier, preceeded by Town Car and Taurus.”
The 2002 Sonata was “better than average” if not up to Toyota/Honda quality, and the longevity did not seem to be there compared to these top tier car makers either. There were glitches starting in about 50,000 miles and getting worse by 72,000 miles when traded off. Not Detroit style glitches, but glitches. Though it did have a mystery no-start scenario which came and went (finally found to be a bad internal ground in the main computer, thankfully replaced under the extended warrantee Hyundai gave us). Only left us stranded for as long as 10 minute at a time. Still, it caused us to not actually “buy” another Hyundai for the long-term.
Instead we leased the ‘07 Sonata for zero down, $211 a month. This was well over a hundred dollars savings over the prior Sonata car payment over 6 years. And we get to turn it in in 2 years and see what we want then.
November 28th, 2007 at 10:14 am
Sales numbers tell the story—-Hyundai year-on-year retail sales are flat to declining despite an all new product line and more cash on the hood than some domestics.
Think this Elantra will change the stagnant Hyundai course ? Unlikely. Domestics have improved—and its unlikely someone that is very happy with their Toyota or Honda will switch.
Net, Hyundai have captured the low hanging fruit—I do not think they will get much more share anytime soon.
November 28th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Anybody else think that the tail lights are vaguely reminiscent of… heresy, blasphemy… the current 3-series sedan’s?
November 28th, 2007 at 10:37 am
When we met, my wife had just bought a used, low-mileage Elantra somewhere between “cheap” and “say that’s not bad.” I wasn’t impressed, but it was low mileage - or so she was told. I happened to read through the owner’s manual, and someone had noted on the last page that the odometer was replaced at 48K miles.
This Elantra has hung in there, though, and since it gets up to 40 mpg, about 10 mpg better than my more comfortable car, we mostly choose it for our weekend jaunts.
November 28th, 2007 at 10:49 am
I’m skeptical about this car being much of a hit…I certainly haven’t seen many around here, but maybe that’s because they’re practically invisible. I see the fuel economy ratings are 25/33…is this for the auto or the stick? The stick Corolla is pulling 28/37. This is like a Corolla that doesn’t hold up as well and doesn’t get as good fuel economy, but is every bit as anonymous.