Hyundai Elantra Touring Revealed

Justin Berkowitz
by Justin Berkowitz

At Chicago, Hyundai showed us the Elantra Touring, which is their marketing-friendly term for hatchback or wagon or five-door. It's not just an Elantra with a hatchback though (thank goodness); it's more closely related to Hyundai's European offering in the hot C-segment category (Golf, Astra, Focus). That means the Touring has cop shocks, a cop engine… wait, wrong movie. It means it has Hyundai's firmer European suspension (about 30 percent stiffer than the U.S.-spec Elantra sedan), better springs, larger front and rear stabilizer bars, and a much more rigid body. We can only hope Hyundai improved the steering feedback from the Elantra sedan– which is so light you can steer it just by staring at the wheel and yelling "LEFT." Anyway, the Touring's exterior looks good. Check out the microsite for yourself (stupid welcome screen, lousy music alert) and tell me they're not– even a little— cribbing MINI's cheekiness.

Justin Berkowitz
Justin Berkowitz

Immensely bored law student. I've also got 3 dogs.

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  • Foolish Foolish on Feb 26, 2008

    Any word on pricing? I agree it's a little bland, but the features are nice.

  • Johnny ro Johnny ro on Feb 26, 2008

    For the right price, maybe. It looks cleaner than the Mazda hatch to me. I require a nice value from Hyundai to even think about looking closer, i.e. large discount for being non-japanese. They sure came a long way from the old Execel though.

  • Shaker Shaker on Feb 27, 2008

    It's going to be in the $17k to $19k range I believe, depending on options. They're targeting the Vibe/Matrix and Mazda 3, so the "Big H" will try to undercut them by a grand or so.

  • Donal Fagan Donal Fagan on Feb 27, 2008

    The first thing I look for is mpg ratings. Don't see 'em.

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