Hyundai Elantra : Official Review

[aaggoswami]

Excellent Review without any doubt!

1) The 1.6 diesel means Hyundai has compromised on engine front in this car. Ventos, Cruze and even Jettas would leave Elantra in dust, unlike the 1.6 diesel Verna which is on top or near to top in its segment. Hyundai has R diesel engines in its lineup, the 2.2 format of R diesel engine is on sale in India in Santa Fe. The 2.0 format would have power output straight in range of Passat, and with that motor, battling with Jetta would be easier.

2) Rearward visibility, just like Verna is not expected to be great which is an example of "Form over Function". Crowded streets of India are not good for this design. Thankfully there is rear camera.

3) @TSK: Is the headroom suffering due to sloping roof ? Not the middle passenger, but in other seats, I feel that headroom suffers. If it does suffer than in Indian market it would be tough to justify design.

4) Good to hear that ride and handling is better.
@TSK : How would you rate :
Cruze
Jetta
Fluence
Elantra
Corolla
Laura
Civic
on ride and Handling ? Fluence, Laura and Jetta have the best handling, but ride ? Is the city ride of Corolla better than Elantra ?

5) Less NVH is great. After a long day, in traffic, nobody would enjoy a noisy motor or outside noise filtering into cars. Maruti and even upto some extent Toyota needs to learn this. There is just too much engine noise even in cars that cost in and over Rs. 10 lakh range.

Originally Posted by GTO

Honda must have had a heart attack after seeing the new Elantra. This is the boring, plain-jane latest generation Civic. Couldn't Honda have done better?

Honda tried to copy FCX clarity, but suffered. Their earlier generation Civic ( the one that is still selling in India ) looks infinitely better. Other thing is that Honda did a fantastic job with earlier Civic, so the world had better expectations from Honda for new Civic.

However, IMO, the Lancer still has the best design which I feel is rather honest and pure.

Honda is expected to reveal a new design with Accord which could be adopted for Civic.

[sandeepmohan]

As always, a brilliant review.

I am guessing we now have the latest of latest Hyundai's on our roads except for the Santa Fe which is also new but there is an updated one in the American market. For a car company that once had unappealing designs, this fluidic theme is from another planet. Hats off to the team at Hyundai. All they need to do now and get the same chassis dynamics as the Elantra filtered down to the rest of the line up.

This has to be the only car in India that updates their lineup the fastest, right down to a car like the i10 and up to the Sonata and Santa Fe. Well done Hyundai and keep it up.

[vijayvb]

This is what the honda civic facelift should have looked like!! This so strikingly looks like a civic!! The hood, side profile!

Wish it would have had a 1.8 or 2l diesel engine! But then this is an awesome looking sedan and am sure the top the charts in the coming months!

[MaserQ]

Many thanks for a brilliant review and a good read, as always Tanveer. It is heartening to note that the handling has been sorted out in the new Elantra. This car should tick all the boxes, except perhaps the snob value factor.

Hyundai could have gone even better and stuck a 2.0 litre diesel in the Elantra. Also, while I like the looks of the car, it does look like a blown-up Verna. Not a huge fan of manufacturers sketching a common design through the entire range and up/down sizing in S M L XL.

Having said that, I think the Elantra should beat the Japs in a shootout. And that is a job well done.

[Burn_out]

A great review, thoroughly complimented by the brilliant pictures.

With the new fluidic design it is becoming quite difficult to distinguish the Hyundai sedans at a glance. Having said that, it is cosmos apart (in looks) from the last gen Elantra (which IMO, is one of the ugliest cars. Ever!!!). The interiors are starting to be the game changer for Hyundai. They have the interiors to beat the Japs and even some Germans. Huge improvement from my minimalistic Accent. Thought the steering wheel would not have been out of place on the "Starship Enterprise".

With the introduction of the Elantra the Hyundai Sedan segment seems to be complete. Only car missing from their Indian portfolio is probably a MPV, like the Grand Starex/i800.

Kudos TSK and Hyundai.

[vnabhi]

Lovely review and very good pictures. I am glad that Hyundai seems to have addressed it's Achilles Heel: handling.

And I feel that this is the best-looking among the 3 fluidic siblings (Verna, Elantra and Sonata).

But I feel the biggest cons for prospective customers are:-

1. Absence of DSG in the AT
2. Absence of a more powerful engine in the diesel. Most customers would veer towards the Verna that has the same engine --remember the statement that the Honda City offered 80% of the Civic at 60% of the price?
3. Lack of room for the 5th passenger---remember the SX4 fiasco till they addressed this issue?
4. No sunroof and MID.

And why did they skimp on a small feature like a lighted glovebox?


Let us see how they price the variants.

[RishiSuri]

Looking at specs below and comparing the diesel automatic cars. If Hyundai prices it in same range of these, then elantra might fall in this rank
Cruze
Jetta
Laura
Elantra

The above rank is not taking into consideration the accessories, wheelbase, length etc.

Its just sheer Liters, BHP and Torque.


Specs Comparison:

[dezrskb]

Thanks for an excellent review and beautiful pics too.
I am eagerly awaiting to hear more and more from people who have test driven Jetta, Fluence, Laura and Elantra. The wider service network will be plus for Hyundai though we dont know how well trained are those guys to handle this segment vehicle. If Elantra is considerably cheaper than Jetta and Laura, could be attractive enough for me who is considering a D1 sedan buy in next few months and Altis is out of race, Fluence and Jetta yet to be interviewed, Laura interviewed already (impressive).

[deetjohn]

Thanks for the excellent review tsk1979.

Good to know that the car rides well. Too bad Hyundai couldn't dial in some feel to the steering. The deficient MID and missing sunroof is puzzling. But love the addition of ventilated front seats.

Hyundai' trump card is the popularity and the demand for the new Verna. If the Elantra is priced well, I think many customers will be willing to upgrade.

I guess it will be priced well, the 1.6L engine is pointing in that direction.

[brraj]

My 6th sense tells me that in future they are going to leave a powerful 2ltr diesel just by seeing the dials.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by dezrskb

If Elantra is considerably cheaper than Jetta and Laura, could be attractive enough for me who is considering a D1 sedan buy in next few months and Altis is out of race, Fluence and Jetta yet to be interviewed, Laura interviewed already (impressive).

The current Verna already touches Rs. 12.5 lakh OTR. Hyundai wont keep the car with just Rs.1.5-2 lakh above Verna IMO, as this would result into serious cross shopping. At that price point, they have to fight Cruze, a car with a very strong motor, a name for itself unlike Elantra which is a name associated with a failed car. Above Cruze sits the formidable Laura and Jetta, both quite strong in almost all parameters except service network. But they have brand value associated with them.

So, in the competitive segment, it would make sense for them to price the car in the range of Cruze, not above it. Except the incredibly overpriced Corolla Diesel, all others have significant positive along with brand strength. The small diesel of Elantra not helping matters.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

3) @TSK: Is the headroom suffering due to sloping roof ? Not the middle passenger, but in other seats, I feel that headroom suffers. If it does suffer than in Indian market it would be tough to justify design.

Actually, I am 6'2", and it was all right for me. Not really as much as a hatchback, but for sedans, pretty adequate. Due to the seats being bucket type in rear, headroom is liberated.

4) Good to hear that ride and handling is better.
@TSK : How would you rate :
Cruze
Jetta
Fluence
Elantra
Corolla
Laura
Civic
on ride and Handling ? Fluence, Laura and Jetta have the best handling, but ride ? Is the city ride of Corolla better than Elantra ?

I have experience with Corolla A/T petrol and Civic A/T petrol. I would say the Elantra is more like the corolla. I am told Laura and Jetta are really good as far as handling is concerned. The Elantra would be closer to cruze, rather than the Germans.

Originally Posted by brraj

My 6th sense tells me that in future they are going to leave a powerful 2ltr diesel just by seeing the dials.

I think they will stick to FE and thus not go to a 2.0 liter.

As for Eco mode this is what it does

1. It makes the A/T upshift sooner, and downshift later. Acually helps you ride the torque curve
2. Did not find much difference in M/T

[mail4ajo]

Amazing effort from Hyundai. Interiors are well laid and quality is excellant. But after reading the review, doesnt look like it will be close to the class benchmark, Jetta. Also Civic doesnt stand a chance unless they get diesel.

Like someone said, snob value is something the buyer will miss. The Jetta and Civic has that in abundance. I agree with GTO's idea of having it named Avante. Market duds leave a bad mark on the buyer's minds, but vice versa is also true. Estilo had limited success inspite of having ZEN tag to it.

[brraj]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I think they will stick to FE and thus not go to a 2.0 liter.

What i meant was releasing 2ltr as an option with the existing 1.6ltr engine.

[blue_pulsar]

Brilliant Review, tsk1979!

The Elantra to me is just a big Verna. The Verna might just cannibalize sales of the Elantra, considering they are so much similar looking. I feel they have taken the fluidic theme way too far.

Also, doesn't look like Elantra can boast many 'first-in-class' features like the Verna or the i20 can. Talking of features, I didn't read about rain-sensing wipers, auto headlamps etc in the review. Or probably they are standard for this segment?

It is very heartening to know about the way ESP functions so perfectly. A big to Hyundai!

Hyundai Sonata is the best implementation (and first?) of the fluidic design theme. One look at the pic where all Hyundai car are placed together says it all! Sonata looks smashing and all smaller Hyundai's look like wannabe Sonatas. It is right from a design and marketing perspective but none look as smashing as the Sonata.

EDIT: I feel I have one more point to add. Its regarding the interiors. I still feel the Civic interiors look better than this. Also, the exteriors. While this fluidic design will age pretty fast, the Civic still looks chic. Thats is after ~7 years since its release in India. Well, you guys might disagree, but beauty is in the eyes of its beholder