By EWAN KENNEDY 
28 August 2006

Hyundai has launched its fourth-generation Elantra in a major international exercise on Queensland's Gold Coast. Journalists have come from many countries to drive the new car.

We were among the first to see it and can report the new-generation model is sleeker, quieter and safer than the previous one. It is also kinder to the environment due to reduced fuel consumption, despite having more performance than the third-generation car.

Styling is interesting in that it’s unashamedly Korean in its lines, though in a subtle manner that won’t upset the conservative buyer in other countries.

At the front there's an interesting resemblance to the new Hyundai Santa Fe that was introduced a few months ago. Though Santa Fe is a 4WD it has car-like lines, particularly at the front as it’s a strong entrant in the crossover market. Hyundai sees it as a car and has followed up the lines with similar frontal treatment for the Elantra.

Though not immediately obvious in photographs, the wave-like side profile of the Elantra's body is really fascinating. It sweeps up and down as it traverses the guards and makes the car most distinctive. If you think it looks good in our pictures try popping along to your local Hyundai dealer to see it in the metal.

The domed roof works well from an appearance point of view, and presumably aerodynamically as well, but we found headroom in the back seat to be marginal for tall people.

Legroom in the back has been significantly improved by the stretched wheelbase in the fourth-generation car.

Hip and shoulder room have also been increased and the larger cabin volume means this new Elantra could easily be used as a family car for those trading down from a six-cylinder vehicle.

The front seats are large and well shaped and support well. The driving position is good and Hyundai gives four-way adjustment in the topline models. Though those buying the lower-cost variant have to make do with height adjustment only.

As before, power is from a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine that’s matched with either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission. The engine now develops up to 105 kW and 186 Nm.

And electronic stability program (ESP) is standard on the upmarket Elantra Elite and Elite S and is offered as part of a Protectz Pack on both other models.

Hyundai has brought the potential safety of ESP down to a full range of lower-priced cars for the first time.

We tested the Hyundai ESP system on a skid pan at the Mount Cotton driver training centre and can report that it’s more subtle in its operation than some others yet comes in strongly after a few moments if it senses the car is badly off line. It then intervenes to help put it back on track.

However, we continue to warn drivers that items like ESP and ABS are not there to permit them to take their attention off the road, but to protect them if everything else goes badly wrong while they are on the road. Or perhaps just off the road, because the biggest benefit of ESP is likely to be when the car is sliding off the sealed surface for whatever reason.

On-road during our initial 350 km test drive we found the new Hyundai Elantra to be smooth and quiet and have excellent comfort. Even on roads that had seen better days it provides a good ride and the suspension is well damped to give high levels of stability.

The full Elantra range with prices (excluding on-road costs) is:
SX: $19,990 (manual), $21,990 (automatic)
SLX: $22,490 (manual), $24,490 (automatic)
Elite: $24,990 (manual), $26,990 (automatic)
Elite S: $28,990 (automatic)
SX Protectz Pack (ESP, TCS and front side and curtain airbags): $1790
SLX Protectz Pack (ESP and TCS): $990