2011 Hyundai Elantra

2011 Hyundai Elantra

The Hyundai Elantra is a car that has been working its way up the small car food chain at a fairly quick pace since its redesign for the 2002 model year. The 2002 Hyundai Elantra was praised for its better than average interior materials, competitive performance and best in class warranty. Now for the 2011 model year, Hyundai is debuting the all-new Elantra, a car bound to continue raising the reputation of the brand and the model with its new exterior design, features and performance.

2011 Hyundai Elantra

2011 Hyundai Elantra

2011 Hyundai Elantra

2011 Hyundai Elantra

For the economy minded the new 2011 Hyundai Elantra is going to impress by being able to achieve 40-mpg on the highway and 29-mpg in the city. 40-mpg puts the Elantra right in line with the new 2011 Ford Fiesta and the according to a recent release from Ford, the all-new 2012 Focus. The economy improvements come from mechanical upgrades, an all new platform and weight reduction. Some of the mechanical improvements include a 148-hp 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine. If you are familiar with the previous generation Elantra models you might have caught that the engine has been reduced from a 2.0-litter 4-cylinder. This hasn’t been done on a whim; the smaller 1.8-liter engine is some 74 pounds lighter and produces almost identical power.

The upgrades don’t stop at the engine; the transmission options have also been updated with a 6-speed manual and automatic transmission available. The additional gears helped move the new 2011 Hyundai Elantra in to the 40-mpg club and keep it competitive. Improvements haven’t just been made under the covers, as can be seen from the images of the new Elantra. If the design looks familiar it is probably because it takes after its larger sibling, the Hyundai Sonata, an award-winning vehicle in its own right. Moving to the interior, it has also been redesigned to be more inline with the Sonata as well and will include features like navigation, leather seating and Bluetooth. Even more impressive is the price, which according to The New York Times will start at $14,830.

 

[Source: NYTimes]