[car fanatics]

Hyundai
Photo credit: Hyundai
June 15, 2012
By: CF staff

Hyundai Motor America has announced pricing for the new Elantra Coupe, starting at $17,445 for the extraordinarily well-equipped Elantra Coupe GS and $19,745 for the sport-tuned Elantra Coupe SE. At $17,445 shoppers will discover best-in-class fuel economy, and more horsepower and interior space than Civic Coupe.

Elantra Coupe also has a remarkable content advantage over Civic Coupe. For example, Elantra comes standard with a six-speed transmission and four-wheel disc brakes, features not found on any Civic Coupe. The entry to the Elantra Coupe lineup is the well-equipped GS, which comes standard with air conditioning, heated front seats, AM/FM/SiriusXM Satellite Radio/CD/MP3 audio system, steering wheel audio controls, illuminated vanity mirrors, cruise control, Bluetooth®, external temperature gauge, fog lights, power locks, power heated mirrors, remote keyless entry with alarm, 60/40 split fold-down rear seatback and 16-inch alloy wheels. The Honda Civic DX lacks all of these standard features. The Elantra Coupe will begin arriving in Hyundai dealerships later this month.

The two-door sport coupe model of the Elantra sedan will attract even more buyers to the Elantra line-up, further expanding its appeal to savvy consumers. It offers many of the same attributes that made the sedan version a sales success, while broadening its market reach to youthful, sporty buyers willing to forgo a bit of four-door versatility for coupe design appeal. The 2013 Elantra Coupe marks the continuing evolution of Hyundai’s Fluidic Sculpture design theme with sporty design language, while assuming a compact coupe segment leadership position with an eco-efficient powertrain, generous convenience features, exceptional roominess and abundant safety features.

The Elantra Coupe is fitted with a McPherson strut front suspension, with coil springs and gas shock absorbers. The rear suspension is a lightweight V-beam design with an integrated 22 mm stabilizer bar for enhanced steering stability and monotube shock absorbers for ride comfort and control. A substantial 22.0-mm diameter front stabilizer bar helps reduce body roll and turn-in response when cornering. Steering knuckle design and damper tuning have all been recalibrated for sportier handling and steering responsiveness compared with Elantra sedan. In addition, Elantra Coupe offers a sportier SE model suspension calibration that is optimized for its lower-profile P215/45R17 tire.

[nell_z]

Hyundais' lines flow so much better in coupe form. This is actually pretty nice looking. Too bad it will never get the 40 MPG.

[jspookss]

It looks fat and bloated.