| re: Driven: 5th-gen Hyundai Elantra
Recently went on a trip to the hills (Barog in Himachal) and I drove my uncle’s Elantra petrol automatic for some distance – so thought should give some views about the drive.
Disclaimer: I am used to diesel vehicles (currently driving Punto 75 HP & Sumo Grande MkII Dicor), so the Elantra petrol automatic was super smooth for me. Someone used to driving petrol vehicles might have a different opinion.
• The colour of the car was bronze and it looked great. I was comparing it with the Titanium colour of Honda City and this is a lighter shade which my uncle thinks looks like a shade of light pink under some light conditions. But overall I like this colour – not too dark or light
• Space inside is fairly decent, though the fifth passenger at the rear would not be very comfortable due to the slightly raised portion where the armrest folder into the seat and also due to a small hump on the floor and the rear A/C ducts. One does feel a bit hemmed-in at the rear seat due to the rising window-line and low seats – short people will find it difficult to look out (especially on a scenic route) as was the case with the grandmother travelling with our uncle. I was impressed with the rear seat headroom though – there was some space even with my turban on and I’m 5’7”. Though the view for the driver out of the rear windscreen is not that great as it is sharply raked.
• Coming to the climate control, it was very effective with two rear A/C vents between the front seats and vents under the front seats cooling the rear sufficiently and also fairly fast. The fan speed was really fast when the ACC unit was turned on after the car was parked under the sun – but the noise was quite refined and not annoying.
• The automatic comes in the fully loaded version so it had all the bells and whistles including 6 airbags, ABS+EBD, ESP, hill hold, dual zone climate control, electrically adjustable driver’s seat (one can raise the seat height quite a lot – but so much as to see the bonnet), ventilated seats (the feature I liked the most), audio controls on rear seat armrest, etc.
• One feature I read in the manual and knew would surely come handy when I was driving and my uncle had to take a call privately as the mic is located on the roof above the driver’s seat and it was not very clear to the caller if someone from the passenger seat was talking – may be it was also due to changing signal station on the highway as one was driving at high speeds. One has to press the green call button on the steering wheel for a couple of seconds and the call is not taken via the cars bluetooth system and one can answer the call on the mobile phone itself.
• Didn’t try the cruise control feature as there wasn’t any decent stretch with no/very less traffic – also was a bit apprehensive about using it on our unpredictable highways as one would have to intervene every now and then due to the erratic traffic conditions & wild-life!
• A curious omission, as in all other Hyundai’s, is the fuel average display on the MID. It is there in the version sold in the US/Europe (I had downloaded the US owner’s manual to read about the tip-tronic transmission system before driving the car). One view I read on Team-BHP itself is that Hyundai’s are generally not very fuel efficient that is why this feature is skipped in the Hyundai’s sold in India. By the way the average that we calculated on the way back came to 10.3 kmpl which was a mix of highway (70%) and hill (30%) driving. On the other hand our Sumo Grande mkII gave 11.9 kmpl. The Elantra was only about a week-10 days old with little miles under its belt.
• The keyless entry system severely limits the range at which the car can be opened – the key has to be in very close proximity so as to allow unlocking. Though this has been done in terms of safety – we thought it was a bit irritating as compared to normal remote locking wherein one can lock / unlock the car from a distance – say from third floor or a distance. They could always program it in a way that the key has to be in immediate proximity for start the car – not to unlock.
• The build quality of the car is fairly decent with soft touch plastics and light brown/cream coloured leather seats. But somehow I didn’t think one was getting their money’s worth (petrol auto costed almost Rs 17 lakhs on-road). I could feel a sharp edge at the top of the speaker cover on the rear doors. The car tips the scales at around 1300 kgs which is fairly decent and not as lightweight, which helps when cruising on highway and over bad roads.
• Coming to the ride – being a semi-independent suspension the ride was pretty good. Me and my uncle concurred on this fact and I told him how my Indigo and his older Elantra also had independent suspension which should ideally be one of the main criteria behind upgrading from say a hatch to a sedan. All the current crop of hatchback derived sedans have basic torsion beam suspension and I for one would not like to plonk close to a million rupees if a hatchback and sedan has the same suspension setup and one will be chauffeur driven for most of the time. The only bit I didn’t like was a slight jiggle when the car went over a pothole at high speeds – I believe European cars would handle this scenario in a slightly more refined manner.
In comparison to Sumo Grande mkII, the Elantra’s ride was quite mature and fairly comfortable. In Grande’s middle row I could feel the bumps and bobbing on undulations, which is expected from a basic leaf spring suspension at the rear. On the lighter side my dad said that there ought to be some difference between a Rs 7 lakh and 17 lakh vehicle. Also the Elantra didn’t bottom-out anywhere even though it was loaded up – we had chosen this destination as the route has good roads.
• Ingress and egress is not as easy as say in a Corolla which has slightly higher seating. My parents used to the Sumo Grande felt the car to be awfully low, but I being used to the Punto, found it to be O.K.
• The handling was fairly neutral (I didn’t drive much in the mountains) and the electric power steering was not so inert or overly light at high speeds. But I definitely like the feel and feedback from the hydraulic unit in my Punto. Maximum speed I touched was around 140 kph. I was of the opinion I was doing around 120 and I don’t look at anything but the road while driving at high speeds. Later my father told me that he was following at 130, so I must have been going faster than that.
• The acceleration was a bit disappointing for a car with 147 BHP and decent torque (178 Nm-though less than FIAT’s small Multijet diesel) – considering I’m used to diesels and riding the wave of torque at low RPMs. I’ve driven the old Elantra, Accent, i10 & the Santro (all petrol). But for me, Santro is still the best driving Hyundai and it justifies the number of horses under its hood, plus the hydraulic steering is most feel-some. But I must say that the Elantra masks it speed quite well, which though is expected from a 1.5 million rupees car.
• Was driving a tip-tronic automatic for the first time and that also on the highway. The need to press a clutch pedal and change gears was felt for the first few kilometres but easily got used to driving the automatic, whereas my aunt had slammed the brake a couple of times while thinking it was the clutch pedal - it was a bit dangerous on the highway. I liked the response as compared to the automatic Honda City (dolphin model) I had driven once earlier – which is obvious considering one is comparing an old generation 4 speed automatic with a modern 6 speed unit. Though both cars crept forward when in Drive mode. The best part was that the gear change was seamless – I could never hear the gear change – the only indication was the RPM meter and on sudden acceleration or tip-tronic mode when one could hear a bit of engine noise inside.
• Tried the tip-tronic mode also for some distance but the automatic gear change itself is so seamless and with the six speed gearbox one can reach the power band faster – there was little need felt for the tip-tronic mode – after all, if one has bought an automatic, might as well use it as one. Also I couldn’t really feel the gear changes and the spike in power – the RPM needle was the only indicator. For me using the tip-tronic mode felt odd, as am used to manual gearshifts. But must say the engine-gearbox mapping is pretty good and one won’t feel the need to use the tip-tronic mode.
The two families own quite rare vehicles other than the Santros in each family. I was able to spot about 4-5 Puntos, 1 Sumo Grand MkII, but no new Elantra on the highway. The surprise on the highway was seeing so many Hyundai Vernas (after the ubiquitous Marutis & Innovas of course). Hyundai indeed is selling them a lot and it is reflected in the market leadership. | 
29th April 2013, 10:49
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Thanks
