Hyundai Elantra

On the inside, the previous generation Elantra’s flowing-themed dashboard has made way for a sharper looking all-black cabin which looks more European than it ever was.

Like most of the European cars, the centre console is now tilted towards the driver, with the 7-inch touch screen infotainment system atop the centre console, the star of the package. It comes with all the modern amenities one looks in such systems. The automatic climate control console comes with a silver finish around it, thus adding a dash of premium-ness to the cabin.

In terms of features and equipment, the Hyundai Elantra is currently the segment leader. With elements such as leather upholstery, electrically powered driver’s seat, keyless entry with push-button start, cruise control, reverse camera, 60-40 rear split folding seats, smart trunk opening and tyre pressure monitoring system present to make the overall cabin feel up to date.

When it comes to interior space, the Elantra is quite capacious with enough legroom and shoulder room. However, thanks to sloping roofline, the headroom is quite limited.

The Hyundai Elantra sports company’s second-generation fluidic design theory. At the front, the Hyundai’s trademark hexagonal grille with chrome slats has now become a bit curvier and larger in visual appeal, making it look more elegant than before. The eyebrow-shaped headlamp units come inbuilt with projector bulb and daytime running LEDs for enhanced visual appeal.

From the sides too, the Elantra is now less curvy, but sharper than before. The coupe-like roofline has been kept intact. However, the sedan now boasts crisp lines towards the rear, making it look more angular and leaner than before. At the rear, the Elantra comes with a tweaked boot lid which looks less bulky and slimmer, with sleeker LED tail lamps.

The Hyundai Elantra comes with MacPherson struts at the front and a tubular beam at the rear, which unlike in all the previous generation Hyundai cars, has been tuned in a slightly stiffer manner. The steering feels livelier and heavier than before, during high-speed driving. The presence of disc brakes all around the car makes the overall braking very well-controlled.

The Hyundai Elantra in this Philippine-spec version is blessed with two petrol engine options. While the smaller 1.6-litre petrol engine produces 128PS of power and 154Nm of torque, the bigger 2.0-litre petrol engine pumps out 152PS of power and 192Nm of torque.

While the 1.6-litre engine gets both the options of 6-speed manual and 6-speed automatic gearboxes, the 2.0-liter petrol engine is mated to only the latter.

Being a premium mid-size sedan, the Elantra is fully loaded with all the bells and whistles in terms of safety equipment. The list of safety features present in the Elantra includes a total of six airbags (front, side, and curtain), ABS with EBD, Electronic Stability Control, Hill-start assist control, brake assist, and vehicle stability management along with reverse parking sensors and camera and cruise control as well, for better controllability.

In its current generation, the Hyundai Elantra feels like a desirable  Hyundai car. With an expensive exterior coupe-like design, the Hyundai Elantra is meant to turn many heads on the road for sure. The interior layout might have lost the funkiness of the previous generation car, but then, it still oozes out a lot of sophistication and premium feel. The engine feels peppy and powerful, and the overall ride and handling balance have been well sorted out in this car. Overall, the Hyundai Elantra now feels more European than an Asian car, with more focus on driving dynamics than ever before.