2011 Hyundai Elantra: Full Reveal Ahead of #LAAS

All that sexy style and what appears to be good views aft from the driver's seat.

The perfect partner for the Sonata.

I must say i really love the exterior, yet dread that color. But it will look amazing next to the Sonata at dealerships... Interior is nice, especially the gauges and controls, but what on earth are they thinking with that vent placement and huge shiny area!??!?! It looks disgusting and offensive, all that prime space and the put in tiny vents way long on the dash?! Otherwise it looks great and navi area looks VERY upscale. Show this to someone and cover the wheel and i doubt they would guess its an Elantra, or even a Hyundai arguably..

seriously, ya'll complaining about vent location? lo

Quite an evolution from the current generation, which was a big step up from the 2000-2006 edition. I wouldn't be surprised if that 40 MPG is accurate - I can get 32 MPG in mixed driving easliy in my 2008 Elantra. I'm planning to drive mine 'til the wheels fall off, but maybe I'll get one of these as a loaner when I bring it in for the 45,000 or 60,000-mile service.

I wish they would add some sort of SYNC-like system, though. Doesn't Kia have something like that? Can they license it from their sister company?

um, isn't this a Mazda3 from the profile view? Hyundai ripped Mazda off.

When you've refreshed a car, and the only thing people have to complain about are the vent locations, and the shiny center console...

You know you have a winner.

"um, isn't this a Mazda3 from the profile view? Hyundai ripped Mazda off."

It's even got the stupid grin on its face LOL

I agree that it looks too much like a Mazda3, and they definitely copied it. I prefer the sportier look of the 3 as well, although both cars look nice for the class. Between this, the Focus, the 3, the Civic, and the Cruze, there are now a lot of good looking choices for a compact car - the bar has definitely been raised.....

....which makes me wonder, who the f*** would ever buy a Corolla? Toyota needs a new one, and fast, because the current gen is embarrassingly boring compared to the cars mentioned above.

Almost 150 horses from a 1.8 liter N/A engine without DI and EPA ratings of 28 city/ 40 hwy MPG.!!
Now you are talking baby!!!

It's certainly distinctive and pulls off the scrunched/melted sheetmetal look with more appeal than the Sonata. The invasion of the front and rear quarter panels by the head and tail lights is getting ridiculous, though.

Not a fan of the interior. Vents too low, nasty looking plastic around the center stack. Looks like some sci-fi robot. Will be interesting to see this car in person.

It1boy commented that "When you've refreshed a car, and the only thing people have to complain about are the vent locations, and the shiny center console...

You know you have a winner."

Definitively agree with that comment. The negative clucking posted by some reminds me of the whiny quacking posted when the recently redesigned, wildly successful Sonata was launched.

It just looks awesome. This will be the best selling car in the class.

Hyundai ripped off Mazda? Lol impossible because this car is not ugly. Mazda took their perfectly good looking 3 and ruined it.

The next gen Civic better be a stunner if Honda really wants to compete with this. Hopefully Hyundai will introduce a sport model with more power, bigger wheels and some led headlights (wishful thinking).

j84ustin says:

um, isn't this a Mazda3 from the profile view? Hyundai ripped Mazda off.

*******

Are you serious?

The rooflines and greenhouses are pretty distinctive

lt1boy says:

It's even got the stupid grin on its face LOL

********

Uhh, Hyundai has been utilizing that large, hexagonal grill design in their concepts since 2005-6.

And oh, Mazda ripped off that "stupid grin" from Peugeot (not to mention the Mazda3's hatch greenhouse/rear window panel shape from the Pontiac Vibe.

That power is quite good and really nice matched to the MPGs. Mazda's wretched little 2.0 isn't as efficient or as powerful.

Correction - the cruddy 2.0 in the Mazda3 has the same power and torque but it's larger than the elantra's engine and far less efficient.

Blueguydotcom,

That "cruddy" 2.0 is also a six-year-old engine, and a very reliable one at that. Mazda will offer its new Sky-G engine in the upcoming 2013 MAZDA3, which will supposedly better this new Elantra and the Cruze @ 30/40 MPG and be equipped with a six-speed auto. Unfortunately, the company was still perfecting these engines and didn't have them ready in time for the 3's redesign.

They already have a prototype on the streets:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/01/report-prototype-mazda3-with-2-0l-sky-g-engine-gets-30-40-mpg/

Every car company is following the trend seen here because they are being forced to. Hyundai, GM, and Mazda will be the first to fit their compacts with this type of efficient new engine, and all of them are technological wonders.

Also - 43MPG will be expected from the new Sky-D (diesel) engine in the upcoming Mazda6. That's better than the Camry Hybrid, Fusion Hybrid, and even the Insight. Diesels FTW!!

This looks excellent. It seems to me the only way this is related to a Mazda, is Hyundai seems to have taken the ideas of the 'Nagare' design language and made them work, both on the Sonata and the new Elantra. What's also cool... these cars have NAMES! It's a welcome change, and a good sign for the brand, that they haven't dropped/changed the names of their cars the way Mazda dropped Protege and Miata... heritage matters, especially over time.

"It just looks awesome. This will be the best selling car in the class. "

Put down the crack pipe- that isnt happening. You drastically underestimate the power of Toyota and Honda's reputations and their heavy ad budgets. A huge proportion of American buyers will go for Corolla and Civic without even giving this thing a secong look. That is the beauty of being Toyota and Honda, their reps are so strong that the actual product is secondary. This can beat the Corolla in every measure and Corolla will still outsell it by 100k units next year.

I am not a fan of the interior, too much going on. I prefer cruze and focus interiors but this interior is better than Corolla and Civic. Exterior is better than Sonata.

Excellent job on Hyundai's part. But in order to trully take the top market share position, it needs to improve the previous generation's image of quality and value as well. Being one of the bottom dwellers in terms of resale value cannot bring the new model to the position of the top seller.

Drastic improvements at each design/overhall cycle is good for the launch of new vehicles, but such drastic (rather than incremental) change may bring down the value of the past generations even further, resulting in an unintended depreciation (or inability to appreciate) the resale value of the past generation models. And, as long as the resales value of the vehicle stays low, it will be extremely difficult for Hyundai to achieve the sales level that of Corolla and Civic.

The car looks like a winner but those vents are in a terrible spot. Way too low. I wouldn't be surprised if they move them up in a year or two like they did with the last generation Sonata.

@zoomzoom22: Agreed, why would anyone buy a Corolla.

Here is a link for an album of pictures taken at an Irvine, Ca car show within the past few days. Mr. John Krafcik drove a new Elantra GLS with PEP to this local show, and allowed persons there to get a first hand look at this new machine. Looks much nicer in these natural, non enhanced pictures. Pictures are by Frank Filipponio, Frank4cars. Enjoy . . .

http://frank4cars.fotki.com/photo-shoots/2011-hyundai-elantra/

John Krafcik can be seen in a few of the pictures.

Wow, aggressive styling. I like it, maybe too crazy for some. I'd love it if Hyundai made a version of this to compete w/Mazdaspeed3/GTI/Si et al. They have the hot turbo 4 from the Sonata...

"The 2011 Elantra is powered by a 1.8-liter inline-four that makes 148 horsepower, 131 pound-feet of torque and returns 40 mpg highway and 28 mpg city. And it does all of this without the benefit of direct injection. "

Everybody's making such a big deal over direct injection. In turbocharged applications the technology has proven itself but in normally aspirated applications the benefit to cost of implementation ratio just inst there and the performance/efficiency benefits are little to none.

Its been proven that multi geared transmissions, reduced friction of the internals, efficient induction and exhaust systems have proven to provide a higher level of efficiency, simplicity, reliability and are much cheaper to implement.

I like! Great job, Hyundai! I hope there will be a hatchback version....

@zoomzoom --
"That "cruddy" 2.0 is also a six-year-old engine, and a very reliable one at that."

May be reliable but it's inefficient and runs like an old truck.

"Its been proven that multi geared transmissions, reduced friction of the internals, efficient induction and exhaust systems have proven to provide a higher level of efficiency, simplicity, reliability and are much cheaper to implement."

Di and turbos arent going anywhere, just because Honda doesnt use them doesnt mean they are technologies that deliver poor value.

Ha, 1487 tells me to stop smoking. Times are quickly changing. Maybe the Elantra won't be the number one seller, because the Civic (which we all have to admit is still very relevant despite it's age) gets a redesign next year. And Honda knows they can't screw this up. But the next gen Corolla won't be here for another few years, so I would bet that the Elantra cruises past the Toyota in sales (if the Corolla is in the no. 2 spot), just as the Sonata cruised to the number 3 spot effortlessly.

And don't get me wrong, I love the new Cruze (though I think Ford could have given a better effort). But I just think the new design easily takes second place to the Hyundai. I mean, look at the rear of the car. It doesn't look like as much of an afterthought as the Malibu's rear end (though I am also a Malibu fan), but it looks like it could be on a car from 5 years ago. In contrast, the Hyundai looks so fresh from every angle. I'd say interior wise, the Cruze and Elantra are about equal.

The styling works better here than on the Sonata, but the interior is way too busy. I'd love to see these on the road, but would hate to stare at the inside of one during my entire commute.

@blueguy,

"May be reliable but it's inefficient and runs like an old truck."

Explain to me how it is inefficient. A Civic with the 1.8liter four gets 29 mpg mixed, while Mazda3 gets 28 mpg mixed with a larger engine. It does lag in fuel efficiency somewhat compared to its rivals, but what do you expect from an old engine design? Inefficient is the wrong word to use.

The 2.0 and 2.3liter engines in the current 3 are smooth, quiet, and powerful for the class, and the 2.0 does not "run like an old truck". What a bogus comparison - I hope you are joking. The 3 wouldn't have won so many comparison tests - from a lot of different sources - and wouldn't be seen as a car at the top of its class with an engine that did. Avoid saying stuff like that.

Did you even read what I wrote? I was trying to start a conversation and prove a point, but you bypassed that entirely. Thanks for your insightful, legitimate addition to what I thought was an interesting post. What a Negative Nancy you are.