2009 Hyundai Elantra Review
Walkaround
The fourth-generation Hyundai Elantra sedan was designed by Americans in Hyundai's California Studio, and is a good-looking compact.
The Elantra received a lot of careful design work, and could pass for being seamless. At the front and rear fascias 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 sedan'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 into 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 Touring model, even taking into account its five-door configuration, looks much different. At the front, the headlights have a more stylized shape that wraps up and over and around the corners. Below the edge of the hood is a thin opening with the Hyundai emblem in the center, and then below that is a large trapezoidal opening that is flanked by prominent foglamps. At the rear are large, vertical taillamp units that should be easy to see by just about anyone, thus enhancing safety. There are also fairly thick pillars at the rear corners that might inhibit outward vision of some drivers.
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