Hyundai Elantra 2.0 Petrol

[Abhay]

I had this white Elantra petrol as my rental car for the last month in the US..Driven about 2500 kms in it during the 4 weeks including one ong trip of about 900 kms. Rest was commuting to work in sub-urban areas and places close by.

I was kinda put off by the car, as it was white and the fact that I dont really like Hyundais and on top hate the looks of the Elantra.
After driving it for 30 days I kinda got used to it, the rear end looks better than the ugly grille though..but it did change my opinion on of its quality..Its a nice enough car if you forget its looks and altho I won't buy it even if I had the money I have to say I liked driving it!

Features - it came loaded with usual stuff - cruise control, power windows/mirrors, a/c, cd player, ABS, TC, sun-roof etc

2.0L engine makes 138bhp with a 4 speed automatic on it.
Tyres - Goodyear 195/60 R15 tyres on the car wihch had decent grip

Interiors - pretty decent, fabric and all controls nice and easy to use
audio system was good enough as well for normal usage.

Performace - surprisingly the car is fun to drive with engine very responsive early on and it kinda doesnt shift into higher gears quickly.....if needed it has good whack to get you quickly off the block and accelerates nicely as well.

Engine sound is Very rough when you push it though ~4k rpm the sound is even raucous from such a small engine.......so refinement freaks prolly wont like it.

Handling - Ride - Suspension is bit soft but gives good ride , cushioning through hundreds of broken bits of roads where I am and handling is good enough altho could have been better.

I still had enough fun taking the car thryu massive curves (exits mostly) at 45-50 mph....which is a decent challenging speed on those curves where bigger SUVs would drop back so far it was funny!

Brakes - you can feel the ABS working thru the pedal and brakes work nicely...altho sometimes you have to push it slowly for a looooong time for the car to slow down...of course if you jam on it it slows down but for smoother slowing down the car takes a long time.....auto Xmissions dont help either.

Fuel economy - it supposedly is 28-30mpg (or roughly 12 kmpl on mostly highways)....I didnt calculate or anything but I know I had to put a lot of fuel in it over the time....prices here are high now !

Its a nice car actually, but it would be better if they do something about its grille and looks...coz the new Sonata looks great (even tho its an Accord copy)

I had to give it back as it was due for an oil change so now I am driving a Ford Focus zx4 sedan instead which although looks better and has all the gadgets doesnt feel as spirited as the Elantra (atleast in 2 days...will report on that after coupla weeks!)

[ajmat]

I drove one today - Accent + a few inches - sounded like an accent. Felt like one. My wife felt that it looked like one.

Nice climate control system - not much more than that

end of test drive

[Samurai]

You reviewed an US version of Elantra, how much of it applies to the Indian version? Don't they have different specs here...

[hawkeye]

I typically found the Hyundais in US pretty poorly built than the ones in India. I mean I felt the harshness in the engine when I test drove an Accent in US, whereas I feel my Indian version is a lot more refined and better built.

However, they give a 100000 mile / 10 year warranty on the car.

Originally Posted by Abhay

I had this white Elantra petrol as my rental car for the last month in the US..Driven about 2500 kms in it during the 4 weeks including one ong trip of about 900 kms. Rest was commuting to work in sub-urban areas and places close by.

You were in US and you are talking about kms?

[Abhay]

hawk, yeah coz I am an Indian not Amerikanisch ;-)
I switched the Fahrenheit / Miles thing Off once I landed here ..hehe
Yes as I said the engine does sound very rough when pushed.....so much for refinement freaks

Samurai - yep its the US version but the basics would remain the same right

the one in India is 1.8L DOHC 16V DOHC 127 ps which is comparable to the 2L

[Insane Devil]

i drove my uncle's Elantra petrol version, fully loaded, and was surprised by the awesome pickup! from outside, yea it doesnt look so good, but inside, it looked real luxurious! comapred to the Octavia & Corolla.

[.anshuman]

Elantra is a decent car not that bad to criticise so badly over here,its got the best interiors,it might not handle like a sports car but tell me how many people will take it to corners at crazy speeds,most people will buy it to be cheuffer driven and its has a good soft ride to tackle rough urban roads and the engines are peppy enough make most people happy,the main reason its not selling well is the looks,front end is not at all good and looks too korean with that typical hyundai grill spoiling the looks,rear end and sides are digestable but at this price its a nicely loaded good ,comfortable car.

[.anshuman]

the best part of elantra is soft ride and very soft controls thats the primary thing in a luxury car.