2007 Hyundai Elantra Compact Car Review & Performance

The 2007 Elantra was designed by Americans in Hyundai's California Studio, and its styling is totally new, and radically different. It's vastly better looking than before; the Elantra no longer announces that it's for old folks. It's 2.2 inches taller, 2.0 inches wider, and 1.6 inches longer in wheelbase than the previous-generation Elantra. Still, with all the aggressive designs on the road nowadays, a compact car like the Elantra, clean as it is, won't catch many eyes.

The new Elantra has received a lot of careful work, and could pass for being seamless. At the front and rear fascia, the seams are so tight that the body appears to be one piece, until you look very closely. That quality fitting also reveals itself in the smooth opening and closing of the doors.

The Elantra's good looks move this Korean compact car toward the world of the stylish. Its sculpture is clean, with a high beltline running along at the body-colored door handles. It's got a subtle face, with trapezoidal headlamps having rounded edges, leading down and in to a cup-shaped grille with three simple chrome bars. At the bottom of the fascia is a long, slim air intake with two bars. It lacks definitive fender flares because it doesn't need them; the Elantra doesn't shout to be seen. The wheel covers, which are silver plastic on the GLS, look good from a distance.

The redesigned Hyundai Elantra is larger for 2007, making for a roomier car than the Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. The added width and height increase the Elantra's cabin volume to 112.1 cubic feet, tops in the compact class; the Nissan Sentra is a close second with 110.8, but the Toyota Corolla with 103.9 and Honda Civic with 102.9 are far behind. The Elantra's interior space actually meets the government's standard for mid-size.

The front seats are quite comfortable, with good bolstering, and the standard beige cloth is smooth but decidedly un-hip, unlike, say, the material in the Mazda3. There's an especially large dead pedal, although one wonders why, because the Elantra is not meant for hard cornering so the driver's left foot doesn't need the support.

The blue backlighting of the gauges has a youthful spirit, and makes the driver feel like it's a cool car. The arcs of the speedo and tach are a thin blue line, with red needles pointing the way.

The radio control knobs are blessedly simple, like radio knobs used to be. Hooray, we say. But we didn't care for the trim on the dash; imagine a silver plastic golf ball.

In the rear, the 35 inches of leg room is a half-inch more than the Civic and Sentra, and a half-inch less than the Corolla, give or take a tenth. But the Elantra has the most hip room. It also has the largest trunk, by a significant amount.

For carrying cargo, the rear seatbacks fold down to allow a pass-through into the trunk. However, the opening isn't vast like the Nissan Sentra's.

Storage compartments are abundant. There's a neat box inside the top of the dash, and a sunglasses container in the headliner. The fixed door pockets have built-in bottle holders. Below the three climate control knobs there's a small companion to the glovebox, and below that, forward of the shift lever, there's also an open storage area. There are two cupholders behind that, and a double console under the driver's elbow.

Generally, the interior is notably quiet, for a compact car. Then the wind picked up, and as we watched the dust devils ahead of us on the road, we listened to the whooshing against the glass.

The new 2007 Hyundai Elantra takes some solid strides toward spirited handling. We drove it like we stole it, pushing it harder than it was ever meant to be pushed over twisting bumpy roads, which is not something you would or necessarily should do with a compact car. The Elantra is surprisingly, pleasantly, game, however. When pushed beyond its limits, it didn't do anything unpredictable or dangerous.

One thing it doesn't do, surprisingly, is plow the front tires when you stand on the gas in a slow corner. We're not suggesting you drive like that, but we do test like that, because such extremes reveal limits, in this case capabilities of the suspension. It's a rare front-wheel-drive compact car that can pass this test. The Elantra will spin the inside front wheel, but it keeps turning around the corner instead of sliding straight ahead. The suspension engineers have done something right, in the front end of the Elantra.

The Elantra is softer all around than the sportier Nissan Sentra or Mazda3. The ride is good, although after a couple hours on a bad freeway, the sharp bumps will wear on you. Overall, it's a good fit for someone who just wants good transportation without attitude. It asks less involvement from the driver than those other two.

The brakes are excellent. We really stood on them a few times, and they didn't allow the car to dart or weave while they sharply brought down the speed.

The five-speed manual gearbox worked well. Out on the freeway, 80 miles per hour doesn't feel like 80, always a good sign, especially for a compact car. The tachometer shows 3500 rpm at that speed, and it's not in the least bit buzzy. It feels long-legged for such a small car.

There's plenty of oomph in the four-cylinder engine, which makes 138 horsepower, nearly matching the Sentra. Our test model had the five-speed, and the engine revved right up to the redline of 6500 rpm, and liked it. It also accelerates away at low rpm in a higher gear, with 136 pound-feet of torque.

The Elantra gets about 28 city and 36 miles per gallon. The mileage has been improved by small engine enhancements. It's been tuned to idle at low rpm, so low that sometimes you can't even hear it. But that might not save fuel, at least not with the manual transmission, because it requires a deft touch with the throttle foot to pull out from a standstill without giving it more gas than it needs.

The 2007 Hyundai Elantra comes in three trim levels, all of which use a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. Buyers have a choice between five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission ($1000) for each trim level.

The GLS ($13,395) is the most basic and comes standard with power steering, power locks, windows and keyless entry, power heated mirrors, tinted glass, a 60/40 split rear folding seat with access to the trunk, and 15-inch wheels with full-size plastic wheel covers. The Preferred Package for the GLS ($1500) includes things that most car buyers consider necessary: air conditioning, AM/FM/CD six-speaker sound system, cruise control and foglamps. XM satellite radio is built into the sound system.

The SE ($15,695) is the sporty model and includes all the options in the GLS Preferred Package, plus a telescoping leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, and 16-inch alloy wheels with wider profile tires. The only option is a Premium Package that includes a power sunroof and heated front seats.

The Limited ($16,695) features leather seating surfaces and trim, and heated front seats. The Sun and Sound package includes a power sunroof and 220-watt premium audio system with a six-CD changer having MP3 capability, with standard XM satellite radio.

Safety features that come on all Elantra models include four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes with electronic brake-force distribution, frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side curtain airbags, and active front head restraints. Electronic stability control is not available. But 24-hour roadside assistance for five years comes with the Elantra.

There's also a PZEV model, producing very low ("Partial Zero," in government terminology) emissions, for California, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine. It comes with the automatic transmission and is available in GLS, SE or Limited trim.