2011 Hyundai Elantra

2011 Hyundai Elantra

It is no secret that Hyundai is trying to go up market with their car offerings. The 2011 Hyundai Sonata gives customers offerings that are perceived to be higher-end offerings like reverse-camera, heated seats, navigation and Bluetooth to name a few. In fact, the Sonata has even made the Car and Driver 10Best. The Elantra is headed for the same track with lines that are very similar to its stable mate, the Sonata, and class-leading features.

2011 Hyundai Elantra

2011 Hyundai Elantra

Recently our partners over at TheCarConnection.com reported on their first drive in the 2011 Hyundai Sonata. Over all they seemed pretty impressed…as did the folks over at Car and Driver. In fact, something stuck out in both reviews—the rear heated seats. Yes, the newest Elantra will be the only car in its compact car class to be available with front and rear heated seats. Of course, to get this feature you will have to shell out near $23K. This is just one of the areas the new Elantra is excelling in the category however.

Other impressive feats include an EPA highway fuel efficiency rating of 40 mpg and a stopping distance from 70 mph to zero in 172 feet—nine feet less than that of the all-new 2011 Chevrolet Cruze LTZ. It could also be argued that the new Elantra is one of the most striking cars in the compact car category with the swooping body lines that Hyundai calls “Fluidic Sculpture.” This is not to say that the 2011 Hyundai Elantra doesn’t still exhibit traits common to that of the economy car segment. Some of the downsides still include noticeable road and engine noise in the cabin, light steering wheel feel at highway speeds and stiff suspension.

No matter how you slice it thought, the fifth generation Elantra will turn some heads and reset some people’s expectations of what is possible from the economy compact car segment.

 

 

[Source: TheCarConnection.com and C&D]