2006 Hyundai Elantra Reviews

When criticised, car companies can, and do, react in a number of violently different ways. My personal favourite is the silent treatment, which is easy to deal with (and, if you're really lucky, can go on foryears).More common, however, is the huffing Hinch approach, where someone who sounds like they've just inhaled a supertanker load of righteous indignation gives you a point-by-point analysis of why you're an idiot.If you've really offended them, this conversation might end with you being banned from driving their cars, for ever more. In the case of some companies, this is what is known as a blessing indisguise.Then, at the most extreme end of the spectrum, there are companies who actually take on board what you've said and do something about it.Step forward Hyundai Australia, which reacted to some rather cruel and cantankerous criticism of the lifeless steering on its new Elantra, written in these pages, by having three engineers flown out from Korea to fix it.Hyundai spokesman Richard Power said he believed the cars delivered for the Australian launch were specified for the Asian region, rather than Europe, which has similar demands to the local market."A few days after the Australian launch we had an international launch, with journos from the Middle East right across to the Pacific, and we think the cars came with their spec," he said."We took your comments on board and swung into action, asking Korea if we could do something about it."Three specialist chassis engineers were duly dispatched and spent an intensive week comparing the Elantra with other cars sold here, testing and re-testing the steering and recalibrating it."We now have our own, unique steering setting for Australia," Power said."Basically, it was a case of changing the feel of the set-up to something that might be better accepted by a greater range of Australian motorists."It's got more feel and more self-centring as speed rises, yet it's still very light at parking speeds, which is what you want."The Koreans then flew home and instituted a change on the production line, so that all cars delivered in Australia will have the new steering.It's quite common for global companies such as Hyundai to produce cars with two or three suspension settings, applicable to particular markets.Meanwhile, we were asked to have another go at the Elantra, to revise our opinions.Sure enough, the steering is much improved. It's still not class-leading, and it's certainly not Porsche-challenging, but at least it loads up a bit in corners and there's decent feedback about what your wheels are up to.Compared to the previous ropey and dopey steering, it's a solid 300 to 400 per cent improvement — and for that, Hyundai should be applauded.Unfortunately, the other criticisms we noted on the launch drive were still valid after a week of living with the car.Most notable is the touchy throttle, which can tend to make both driver and passengers look like Muppets as their necks bend at unfeasible angles.Although the two-litre engine can be rowed along with reasonable ease if you've got the manual gearbox, which is a reasonably smooth unit, we spent more time in the auto, which tends to complain long and loud when asked to perform more than a traffic trundle.Still, it's an honest enough performer for an engine developing just 105kW and 186Nm.The cabin is a passable copy of more expensive cars — the blue mood lighting at night is a particularly nice touch — but there's still an overall feeling of thin-ness to the car, which kind of comes with the price territory.It's also annoying that, at night, there's no indicator light to tell you which gear the auto is in.One of the Elantra's big selling points is supposed to be its fuel consumption, with claimed economy of 7.4 litres per 100km (7.8 in the auto), but over a week of fairly relaxed motoring we averaged 9.0 litres, which isn't quite so spectacular.On the plus side, with a range that begins at $19,990, the Elantra is actually quite a lot of car for the money.It rides much better than past models and, thanks to that quick fix, it steers pretty well, too.There's also a decent back seat, with more leg room than you'd imagine, and the styling — which is a bit of a mish-mash of ideas borrowed from Japanese companies — somehow works as a whole.For those who simply have to have a new, family-ish-sized car, but don't want to spend a lot of money, the new and improved Elantra is an obvious option.

Some things just feel instantly comfortable - an old pair of jeans, a fat roll of $100 bills in your hand, the driver's seat of a Ferrari.Then there's the new Hyundai Elantra.From the very first minute, this car like wearing socks with sandals.The seats are flat rather than flattering, the steering wheel has all the tactile feel of a garden hose and as you attempt to drive off you find the accelerator pedal is touchier than a domino expert at the end of a long day.The instantaneous thrustiness gives a misleading impression that this is something of a jackrabbit in the acceleration department.Obviously, the Elantra is a budget mid-sizer, not a sports car, but while it boasts an engine size advantage over some of its 1.8-litre competitors, the 2.0-litre powerplant produces just 105kW and 186Nm.Hyundai claims a 0 to 100km/h time of 8.9 seconds, but they must have had a cyclonic tail wind of when they recorded that time. It's also noisy and rough sounding.Then there's the steering, which is about as talkative as Humphrey B Bear. The lack of feel would be mildly annoying, but it's actually worse than that. There seems to be a disconnect between the steering-wheel position and the reaction of the wheels.In fact, it gives new meaning to understeer. Not only does it exhibit this tendency in the traditional sense, it actually is literally under steered.Throw in the generous amount of bodyroll and you've got a car that doesn't exactly inspire confidence.When my colleague and I swapped places I discovered that these feelings weren't entirely my own as she apologised for wandering around the road like a drunken wombat. She couldn't get to grips with the Playstation-like steering either.To be fair, on smooth freeways the Elantra's ride, with its new rear suspension, is reasonably supple and indeed, amid the mundanity of everyday driving, the car's failings would hardly be noticeable.It's roomy, with a decent back seat, it's got a sheen of classiness and the exterior styling, with the “curvaceous character line” along its waist will no doubt turn heads.As will the pricing. The base SX model of what Hyundai calls its “very big small car” is $19,990.But at that price you miss out on some things - like steering-wheel adjustment, side-impact airbags, curtain airbags and buttons on the wheel for the stereo.The rest of the range, which tops out at $28,990, gets all that and more, including a very capable ESP (Electronic Stability Program) system.Buyers of the SX, who will make up the vast majority of customers, have the option of paying for a Protectz Pack, for $1790, which adds ESP, traction control and the curtain and side airbags. While this option is a potential life saver, safety just isn't sexy and realistically people are more likely to shell out for alloy wheels.Hyundai already offers a similar pack for its Getz and out of the 1800 units it sells a month, only 10 to 15 buyers have chosen to Protectz themselves.The company tips a similar take-up rate for the Elantra, which it expects to sell between 750 and 800 a month when it goes on sale in October.It's a real shame Hyundai couldn't have made ESP standard across the range, but a sub-$20K price is a far better selling point.The other attraction for buyers will be the claimed fuel consumption of just 7.4 litres per 100km (7.8 in the auto). Strangely, though, our car on the launch drive returned a less impressive average of 8.7 litres per 100km.Even so, at least drivers will get a good feeling from the Elantra when they get out of it to approach the bowsers.