The Hyundai Elantra in India is the quintessential executive sedan that’s more suited to a CEO than an enthusiast. However, in Korea, the Elantra, which is sold under the name 'Avante', is now available in a more powerful 204hp guise called the Avante Sport. This version is based on the next-gen Elantra which is slated to launch in India later this year.
All that power in the new Avante Sport is courtesy a turbocharged four-pot, T-GDi 1.6-litre motor which makes a peak torque of 265Nm. While a six-speed manual gearbox is standard, there’s an option of a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox as well. Hyundai claims the car can accelerate from 0-100kph in a 8 seconds, which is quite impressive. To make use of the newfound performance, there’s a new multi-link suspension at the rear as well.
That’s all for the mechanical changes, but there are some cosmetic updates to go with the sporty theme such as, a new muscular front bumper with big air intakes and a red ‘turbo’ badge strapped on the grille. The headlights get red accents and there’s a new horizontal LED daytime running light. On the sides, there are new side skirts, and the car sits on 18-inch alloy wheels. If the standard styling bits don’t suit your tastes then for an additional cost, Hyundai will let you have the ‘Extreme Package’ which lets you add different alloy wheels, performance parts and a spoiler too. Moving back, there are new tail-lamps with new LED inserts, reworked bumpers with faux diffusers and chrome finish twin exhaust tips.
Inside, the car gets sporty seats, red accents, a flat-bottom steering wheel, and faux carbon-fibre inserts.
The Elantra Sport for the US market will be revealed at the SEMA show this November; we expect the car to have minimal or no changes from the model sold in Korea. Perhaps, an Elantra Sport in India is a distant dream, as even Skoda which offered performance executive sedans has backed out from introducing the Octavia RS in India. However, the next-gen Elantra, with its standard petrol and diesel engines will hit Indian showrooms in a few months.