At Chicago, Hyundai showed us the Elantra Touring, which is their marketing-friendly term for hatchback or wagon or five-door. It's not just an Elantra with a hatchback though (thank goodness); it's more closely related to Hyundai's European offering in the hot C-segment category (Golf, Astra, Focus). That means the Touring has cop shocks, a cop engine… wait, wrong movie. It means it has Hyundai's firmer European suspension (about 30 percent stiffer than the U.S.-spec Elantra sedan), better springs, larger front and rear stabilizer bars, and a much more rigid body. We can only hope Hyundai improved the steering feedback from the Elantra sedan– which is so light you can steer it just by staring at the wheel and yelling "LEFT." Anyway, the Touring's exterior looks good. Check out the microsite for yourself (stupid welcome screen, lousy music alert) and tell me they're not– even a little— cribbing MINI's cheekiness.
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Hopefully in a couple of years they will bring out a more strippo version of the car – as currently configured, too expensive and too much stuff on it.
The interior looks really nice, and the exterior (though a bit bland) looks good in the blue color.
The B&M shifter that they’re offering should improve on the (published) shortcomings of the stock Hyundai unit.
But… can the same 2 liter from the Elantra motivate this larger (somewhat heavier) vehicle along Smartly; and will my long legs Fit under the wheel?
Time will tell, and from what I’ve seen, it will be offered here in the Fall. I might not be able to wait that long…
I kind of like it…a little conservative in the styling department, but that never hurt Toyota’s sales numbers.
I really think Hyundai is becoming the new Toyota, come to think of it.
Steering “so light you can steer it just by staring at the wheel and yelling ‘LEFT’.” Next year’s add-on for Ford’s SYNC!
It’s remarkably similar to the Kia Rondo without the third row, at least appearance wise from the side. I was playing around with their site and when I put it completely to one side or the other I had to pull up an image of a Rondo and the door (not glass) outlines seem to match up as does the wheel base, fuel filler door, etc.
I compared the wheel bases, and they are perfect matches, although the length, width, and height of the Elantra are all smaller by an inch or so here and there.
Looks like they ripped off some of the front end features from the previous gen Accord.
There is an Elantra hatchback in some markets that has a strong resemblance to the Touring, but the Touring is approximately 2 inches longer and just a little more boxy-looking at the rear.
what a cool lookin car! I wish it had a yellow color – would be perfect. I think the front looks more mazda-ish.
Any word on pricing? I agree it’s a little bland, but the features are nice.
For the right price, maybe. It looks cleaner than the Mazda hatch to me.
I require a nice value from Hyundai to even think about looking closer, i.e. large discount for being non-japanese.
They sure came a long way from the old Execel though.
It’s going to be in the $17k to $19k range I believe, depending on options. They’re targeting the Vibe/Matrix and Mazda 3, so the “Big H” will try to undercut them by a grand or so.
The first thing I look for is mpg ratings. Don’t see ’em.