Hyundia Elantra 2011

Hyundai has definitely been on a role lately.  The Sonata came onto the seen and moved Hyundai forward to compete with the big guys.  The 2011 Elantra is another lethal weapon in their arsenal.  It is very similar in style to the Sonata but on a smaller scale. 

The head lights are very cool and very organic.  Inside the casing you have very "Audi" looking bar that squirms its way around the main head light and then around the secondary lights, this adds some pretty good design interest.  The grill area of the Elantra could be better.  It has an opening right as the hood ends, which is small, followed by a larger opening lower and is divided by thin cross bars.  This is all wrapped up with an unusual indentation surrounding the two openings.  This design feature makes the Elantra distinguishable from the Sonata, but not in a good way.

The rear of the Elantra is the highlight of the vehicle.  The tail lights are organic looking like the head lights, but for a small car it gives off a very upscale look. The character line is picked up by the tail lights and makes the car feel like it is moving while standing still.  The trunk lid follows the design of the tail lights and carries nicely from one side to the next.  The Elantra takes advantage of some nicely places lines to dress up the back end.

The profile of the Elantra has some interesting lines, the character line is strong as it comes off the tail lights and fades as it heads towards the front wheel well.  The vehicle has distinctive rounded wheel wells, this effect usually does not play well with such a distinctive character line, but the Elantra pulls it off just fine.  As the real wheel well moves front to back, it grows and becomes one of the lines that rounds the back of the car, helping the profile work nicely with the rear.  For its size, the Elantra has very nice lines.

One nice thing about the rear of the Elantra is that the trunk seam matches up with the rear quarter panel seem (outlined in yellow), keeps things nice and neat, However there is a seam under the front door that breaks the design (outlined in red).

All in all, this is a very nice design for a small car. Well done Hyundai!

2011 Hyundai Elantra

Grade: 8