The Hyundai Elantra sedan was designed by Americans in Hyundai's California Studio, and is a good-looking compact.

The Elantra received a lot of careful design work, and could almost pass for being seamless. At the front and rear fascias the seams are so tight that the body appears to be one piece, until you look very closely. That quality fitting also reveals itself in the smooth opening and closing of the doors.

The Elantra sedan's good looks move this Korean compact car toward the world of the stylish. Its sculpture is clean, with a high beltline running along at the body-colored door handles. It has a subtle face, with trapezoidal headlamps having rounded edges, leading down and into the grille with horizontal chrome bars. At the bottom of the fascia is a long, slim air intake. It lacks definitive fender flares because it doesn't need them; the Elantra doesn't shout to be seen. The wheel covers look good from a distance.

The Touring model, even taking into account its five-door configuration, looks much different. At the front, the headlights have a more stylized shape that wraps up and over and around the corners. Below the edge of the hood is a thin opening with the Hyundai emblem in the center, and then below that is a large trapezoidal opening that is flanked by prominent foglamps. At the rear are large, vertical taillamp units that should be easy to see by just about anyone, thus enhancing safety. There are also fairly thick pillars at the rear corners that might inhibit outward vision of some drivers.

Interior

The Hyundai Elantra is a large, roomy car, with cabin volume for the sedan measuring 112.1 cubic feet, among the best in the compact class.

Elantra sedans ride on a 104.3-inch wheelbase, while the Touring five-door has a 106.3-inch wheelbase. Not surprisingly, the interior volume of the Touring is larger, at 125.5 cubic feet total, and a generous 65.3 cubic feet with the rear seats folded down.

The front seats are quite comfortable, with good bolstering, and the standard cloth is smooth though unexciting. There's an especially large dead pedal to support the driver's left foot. The Touring model's seats have a premium cloth.

The blue backlighting of the gauges has a youthful spirit, and arcs of the speedometer and tach are thin blue lines, with red needles pointing the way. The radio control knobs are blessedly simple, like radio knobs should be.

In the rear, there is 35 inches of leg room, along with good hip room. There is also a large trunk. For carrying cargo, the rear seatbacks fold down to allow a pass-through into the trunk.

Storage compartments are abundant. There's a neat box inside the top of the dash, and a sunglasses container in the headliner. The fixed door pockets have built-in bottle holders. Below the three climate control knobs there's a small companion to the glovebox and, below that and forward of the shift lever, there's also an open storage area. There are two cupholders behind that, and a double console under the driver's elbow.

Generally, the interior is notably quiet, for a compact car. While driving on a really, really windy day, there was noticeable wind noise against the windows, but that's to be expected.