2011 Hyundai Elantra Limited Car News and Review

The journey has been arduous and fraught with disappointment, but it appears we’ve finally reached our destination. Welcome to The Golden Age of Compact Motoring. Gone are the days of mostly inexpensive and poorly executed C-segment entries. Ye Olde “It’s the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and everybody else” mindset is finally history, too. All of a sudden, new car buyers can select from a bumper crop of smart new motors, including the all-new Civic, the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze, the 2012 Ford Focus, the larger and more low-cost 2011 Volkswagen Jetta and the constantly entertaining Mazda3. And that’s not entirely – there’s also a new wildcard in the compact segment, the 2011 Hyundai Elantra.

While entries like the Cruze and Focus have garnered lots of attention, the Elantra has quietly established itself as a worthy option in this suddenly competitive segment. The redesigned Hyundai caught our attention with its expressive styling, an improved cabin and 40 miles per gallon highway rating. It sounds like a winning game plan to us, but does this revitalized Hyundai live up to its impressive stat sheet? We spent a week with an Elantra Limited to find out for ourselves.