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Beijing '08 Preview: 2009 Hyundai Elantra to debut with new face
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Click image for a gallery of the facelifted Elantra
If the visual updates to the Hyundai Elantra you see here are carried over to all markets, which we imagine they will be, the sedan is going to make potential Civic and Lancer shoppers take a long, hard look. Not unattractive in its current form by any means, the Elantra's facelift being unveiled at Auto China next week incorporates a more upscale look in front than the current car. In a sidebar conversation, one of the other editors noted that it's somewhat reminiscent of the beak on early-'00s Acura CL/TL models. Those cars still look good, so this is not a bad thing for the Elantra. The rear fascia gets tweaked as well, with new taillamps being the most obvious change. Inside, the layout appears to carry over, and as you can see, the Chinese model has available woodgrain trim for The People's Luxury. Think of the changes as going from regular vanilla ice cream to that tastier version with the little flecks of real vanilla inside. They're basically the same thing, but you gravitate towards the fancier one. This is how we feel about the new Elantra.
Gallery: 2009 Hyundai Elantra
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[Source: CarScoop]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Andrew L 3:39PM (4/10/2008)
Toyota Avalon called it wants its front back
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wow... 5:09PM (4/10/2008)
wow... I didn't kno this was gonna happen this soon...
Where da hell do you see an Avalon?
It doesn't make a good argument to fill in
_________ called it wants its front back.
Andrew L 10:49AM (4/11/2008)
are you stupid?... look at the headlights they are almost identical
here I'll even post a link for you
http://www.edmunds.com/media/roadtests/firstdrive/2005/toyota.avalon/05.toyota.avalon.340.jpg
hmm 3:53PM (4/11/2008)
I'm sorry, I didn't see that they both had four wheels and a set of headlamps. My apologies...
Seoultrain 3:47PM (4/10/2008)
Looks good. Hyundai may not be very creative, (okay, not creative at all) but they've been making some universally pleasant designs.
There's some Kia Optima and Chevy Malibu up front, and Corolla in back. Very nice interior, minus the fake wood.
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geo.stewart 4:11PM (4/10/2008)
still cant stomach that wave line on the side. would rather see a nice straight line in keeping with the overall profile.
Larry 4:33PM (4/10/2008)
To Geo Stewart: The "wave" on the side? Buick Enclave?
Xcountryflyer 5:37PM (4/10/2008)
The wave character line is my least favorite design aspect since this version came out, otherwise it was blandly pleasant. I drove one as rental car to Tahoe and it was a pleasant drive and got decent MPG.
geo.stewart 5:51PM (4/10/2008)
to larry:
on the Enclave, it works beautifully.
on the Elantra, not so much.
Its my opinion. I dont think the body style warrants it, or that it does it any favors. I think it tends to shorten it or that the wave breaks up the flow (go figure) or dtracts from the rest of the lines.
From a general perspective, I think Hyundai and Kia need to set some design guidelines. Tuscon and Sante Fe and Elantra are -rounded- while Sonata and Tiburon are angular.
with kia, sorento and optima are angular while others a re somewhat rounded.
i think a consistent language would serve each greatly.
nycbloke 3:50PM (4/10/2008)
Much nicer then the "all new" '09 Corolla...
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Schumann 4:06PM (4/10/2008)
Not that it takes much to be much nicer than the '09 Corolla. But good point :)
banbo 9:03PM (4/10/2008)
Interior = yes, exterior = no
Franz 3:54PM (4/10/2008)
Not very original (these days, not many vehicles are) but a nice looking vehicle overall.
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Victor 3:58PM (4/10/2008)
If you've noticed, foreign car manufacturers selling in China generally put a more "elegant" design for vehicles sold in that market than others. Interestingly enough, this design is being pushed to all markets.
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John 4:01PM (4/10/2008)
Much better than the current one, which looks like it's about to turn red from puffing it's cheeks full of air.
Taillights are sayin' Corolla though.
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Ligor 5:17PM (4/10/2008)
I think a carefull inspection of the tailights are very VW and Acura TSX like, not so much Carolla
John 5:51PM (4/10/2008)
Ah..that's where I saw them! Those little hooked edges looked mighty familar. The Corolla's have more lumpy action goin' on.
94 taurus owner 7:09AM (4/11/2008)
Nice.
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Sam Salemi 4:10PM (4/10/2008)
Not bad head on...but what they should have changed is that wave along the profile of the car, for some reason it's a design feature that I think makes the car look cheap.
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SPG 4:09PM (4/10/2008)
I still liked the last generation better.
It seemed more distinct.
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