2015 Hyundai Elantra- Facelift Review

The Hyundai Elantra falls into the segment that is dominated by the Japanese giant and global number producer, the Toyota Corolla. The Corolla Altis puts up quite the challenge to it’s competitors, but Hyundai has never been far behind them. After the Elantra got the Fluidic Body Design it got a huge promotion in the market. Now Hyundai have decided to update the car for the year 2015. We get our hands on it and show you the reins.

The 2015 Hyundai Elantra get a few updates on the exterior as well as the interior. The changes on the body are not slap bang in your face but are noticeable when you decide to take a closer look. One of the first things you will notice is the white strip/band that runs through the headlight and acts as the day-time running light for the car. The projector headlamps are placed below the DRLs. The front bumper gets new contouring and incorporated the fog-lamps that seem slightly lower placed than that on the previous model.

Another change you can notice are the new rims. The Elantra gets 16-inch alloy wheels that look quite decent. The rear seems to have the most noticeable change.

The rear bumper is slightly blackened out and has headlights that look like LED’s buy in reality are not. The changes make the Elantra feel newer but it doesn’t really make one feel like they are driving THE new Elantra.

The old Elantra came with a beige/grey interior, which has not become a black interior with blue lights and accents. The dashboard gets a new 4.3-inch touch screen infotainment system that is easy to use but it does feel on the smaller side. The screen doubles up to act as the rear view camera display as well. Apart from that the A/C vents are now slightly bigger and Hyundai has also equipped the car with a metal finish on the pedals.

Since the car is quite long, there is enough space for the passengers.

The rear seats are comfortable providing back and thigh support but personally I feel that they could have had a little less of a recline. The rear arm-rest misses the audio controls that used to be available in the old car. With all these new features, Hyundai has still maintained the best seller features such as , key-less entry and go, rear AC vents, auto-headlamps, cruise control, 10-way electrically adjustable front row seats with ventilation, six airbags and most importantly bluetooth that allows you to connect your phone and play music easily.

The engine is unchanged from the last car. The Elantra comes with two engine options, a 1.8-litre petrol and a 1.6-litre turbo diesel. The Diesel car is the most selling Elantra in the market. We had the diesel variant on us. This car produces 126bhp and about 260Nm of torque. This is than enough for driving around in the city, doing some quick over takes and cruising along on the highway. The boost from the turbo falls off at around 2000rpm so I suggest you drive the car with slightly higher revs so the turbo remains primed and continues to deliver the much needed boost. One part of this car that can get on your nerves is the heavy clutch. The clutch on the Elantra is quite heavy, which makes it quite tiresome for the driver, especially on long in city journeys.

I think the Elantra likes to sit at around 80-100km/hr when cruising on the highway. When driven fast, the car tends to bounce around quite a bit, this can be quite unsettling to the passengers and driver. The steering wheel, like all Hyundai’s is easy to turn quick but doesn’t have the response that one a looking for while driving a car at speeds. The cabin is extremely quiet and the soft suspension makes the Elantra a perfect cruising car. I am not a huge fan of having a million controls on the steering wheel. During my short stint with the car, the trip reset button, located on the lower right hand side of the steering wheel reset my trip meter at least 4 times! Apart from a few things here and there the Elantra is a good car to drive around in a city like Mumbai, and this ridiculous heat, the ventilated seats are a HUGE boon!

What Hyundai has done with the Elantra face-lift is that is has taken a product that was already good and worked on a few core aspects and strengthened them. The Elantra is a good all-round car and I can assure you the cost of maintenance is far cheaper than any of it’s European rivals. Priced at about INR 17.5 lakhs on road , the Hyundai Elantra makes for a great buy!