Hyundai Elantra Fan Blog

The Elantra model was first introduced in 1991 by the Hyundai Motor Company as a predecessor to the Hyundai-Excel and successor to the Hyundai 130 model released exclusively in Europe.

The vehicle falls under the category of compact cars and is designed based on the FF layout.

The Hyundai Elantra in South Korea is also called as Hyundai Avante and even as Lantra in some of the European and Australian.

Putting an end to all the discrepancies, Hyundai finally named the vehicle as Elantra in 2001. It was on the list of top ten fuel efficient cars as listed by the Environmental Protection Agency from United States. It also secured second rank consecutively in 2006 and 2007, for being the most fuel efficient sedan model.

The Elantra released in 2008 was rated as the “Top pick” by the Consumers Reports. It ranked highest among all the compact vehicles overtaking Honda Civic and Toyota Prius models.

First Generation Hyundai Elantra (1991-1995)

The first generation model was called as Hyundai Lantra and was produced at the Ulsan in Korea. The vehicle was built on the body style of four door sedan with the 1.8 liter and 1.6 liter available engines that produce 124 hp and 113 hp respectively. It offered four speed automatic and five-speed manual transmissions. The model has the fuel capacity of 13.7 US gallons. The 1.6 liter can accelerate the vehicle from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a time span of just 9.5 seconds and covers the quarter mile distance in 17.1 seconds at the speed of 129 kilo meters per hour. The maximum speed gained by the vehicle was 187 kilo meters per hour. The fuel economy of the vehicle was 22 miles per gallon in the city streets. The other engine produces 99 kilo watts of power at the rate of 6000 rotations per minute.

Second Generation (1996-2000)

The second generation model was released in 1996 and was also called as Hyundai Avante in South Korea, Hyundai Lantra, and Bimantara Cakra in other European and Australian markets. This was produced at the Ulsan plant, in Korea. It was offered in two different body styles – the four door sedan and four door station wagon models.

It also offered in two engines – the 2.0 liter I4 that produced 140 hp and the other 1.8 liter that produced 137 hp throughput. The transmission allowed in the vehicle were four-speed automatic and five speed manual. The fuel capacity of the model was 14.5 US gallons.

Third Generation (2001-2006)

The third generation Elantra was called as the Hyundai Avante XD and Bimantara Cakra. The model was made available in two different body styles – the four-door sedan and four-door hatchback models. The compact car was offered in four engines, 1.6 liter I4, 2.0 liter Diesel I4, 1.8 liter I4 and in 2.0 liter I4 engine, with various transmissions like the four-speed automatic and five speed manual transmissions. The third generation models relate closely to Hyundai Tucson, Kia Spectra, Kia Sportage and Hyundai matrix models.

Fourth Generation (2007-present)

The fourth generation Elantra model is also called as Hyundai Avante and Hyundai Yuedong and is produced at Ulsan in Korea and at St. Petersburg in Russia.