Re-Thought Elantra Yields Class-Leading Interior SpaceOver the past 24 months, Hyundai has developed a total of seven
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| The new Elantra is bigger and better than ever. (Photo: Hyundai Motor America) |
new models. No, this does not include different trim levels, or mild adjustments such as facelifts; they're doing the real deal: completely new cars. This means by the time autumn of this year rolls around, every single Hyundai model, except the Tiburon, will be no older than two years of age. Line 'em up and count them down, there's the new Accent with three or four doors, the Sonata (our Editor's favorite), the sumptuous Azera, and the dynamic SUV duo, theTucson (oldest of the bunch) and soon-to-arrive Santa Fe (our editor's next favorite). There's also the new Entourage minivan, a North American first for Korea's biggest brand. Color me impressed (and the competition wary).
For
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| Tall body creates an unusual amount of interior volume for a vehicle of its size. (Photo: Hyundai Motor America) |
2007, Hyundai has officially adopted the new corporate identity for the Elantra, mind you, it's surprisingly Corolla-like in terms of appearances, mostly due to its tall shape, large headlamps, and high-mounted tail lamps. Aside from this, the Elantra has a very unique looking nose that's certainly striking to look at, while its side flanks have a high metal to glass ratio that appear free of rub strips or contortions. The upside-down trapezoidal grille, combined with canted headlamps and a narrow lower intake give the car an unusually aggressive look, while around back the styling of the tail mimics the nose with a reverse trapezoid recess for the license plate, and swept bezels. All models feature sixteen inch wheels as standard.
All of that extra height pays dividends in terms of the interior volume; l
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| The Elantra is a midsize in all but its exterior dimensions. (Photo: Hyundai Motor America) |
ike the Volkswagen Jetta, the Elantra is classified by the EPA as a mid-size vehicle. In terms of physical interior volume, it has a total of 112.1 cu-ft, topping key rivals, the Honda Civic (102.9 cu-ft) and the new Nissan Sentra (110.8 cu-ft), and even though the Elantra still occupies compact car ground, it manages to provide more interior room than the Acura TL (110.4 cu-ft), which has a much larger exterior footprint. Another volume-related area where the Elantra leads is in trunk space, providing 14.2 cu-ft, an 18-percent improvement over the Civic and a 5-percent gain over the Corolla.
Over
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| Frame isn't much bigger than the vehicle that it replaces. (Photo: Hyundai Motor America) |
the past three years, Hyundai has learned a great deal about packaging and use of space with its domestic- and European-bound subcompact cars, and has applied this knowledge to the Elantra. Despite being 0.2 inches longer than the outgoing car, the wheelbase has been stretched by some 1.6 inches, width 2.2 inches, and height by 2.0 inches, which means the new Elantra is roughly the same size on the outside as the current model, but the big surprise is the gain made in interior and cargo space, despite having a fairly space-inefficient, although handling-enhancing multi-link rear suspension.
