2016 Hyundai Elantra India review, test drive

What is it?

In the absence of the Sonata, this is now Hyundai’s flagship sedan. The new Elantra comes off as a more mature version of the earlier car. Gone are the swoopy, curvy lines of the earlier ‘fluidic’ car, and in its place are more subdued and crisper lines. It’s what Hyundai defines as Fluidic Sculpture 2.0.

The front is dominated by a large angular hexagonal grille with straight-lined chrome bars; very Audi like. On either side of the grille are angular headlights which on the top-spec model are High Intensity Discharge (HID) units with LED DRLs. Sitting below the lights are large vertical ‘brackets’ with inset projector fog lights, which give the Elantra an individual identity. However, some may find this overdone. These brackets aren’t just design elements, but have a functional job too. They house inlets that send air through the bumper and around the wheels to form an ‘air curtain’ that smoothens the airflow around the wheels thus improving fuel economy and cutting wind noise. 

The side is where the new Elantra bears a strong resemblance to the older car. Both the old and new cars have a tapered rear window line, a gently rising waistline and a sharp coupé roofline. At the rear, the new car gets smart-looking horizontal split tail-light units with LED lights on all but the base version.

Below the new skin is a monocoque with a higher percentage of high strength steel, up to 53 percent over the older car's 21 percent, giving the new Elantra a higher torsional stiffness. Hyundai also states that the new car uses 40 times more structural adhesives over the old car.