The only real thing "wrong" with the old Elantra, really, was that it was about as interesting to look at as a bar of soap. That didn't stop Hyundai from completely reworking its bread-and-butter compact, and the result is an impressive pole vault from forgettable to formidable.
The new 2011 Hyundai Elantra gets a liberal helping of Hyundai's new "scoopy and swoopy" styling, as one Hyundai employee put it, making the Elantra unmistakable while still drawing a familial connection to its recently updated Hyundai stablemates. It may seem odd that the new Elantra's headlights nearly touch the A-pillars, but like many individual styling elements, the whole car comes together nicely into a sort of shrink-wrapped Tucson, only better.

Actually, shrink is the wrong word. The Elantra has grown by 2 inches in length and added an inch to its wheelbase. What's impressive is that Hyundai was able to do all this and still drop the curb weight by 187 pounds compared to the last Elantra we tested, making the car feel quite nimble on the road. As you might expect, the ride is smooth and comfortable, though the handling is best described as less than sporty. Still, the steering is quick and accurate, if not communicative. As seems to be a trend in new Hyundais, the power steering feels remarkably similar to a video-game steering wheel we used to have in the office-elastic and artificial. But when chucking the Elantra around the corners, its handling is very neutral once the rear end settles in, and the car grips better than you expect. Objectively, it's nearly dead even with the turbocharged Chevrolet Cruze - one of its main bogies -- on the skidpad and our figure eight.

With the new "Nu" 1.8-liter engine under hood producing 148 horsepower and 131 pound-feet of torque (10 more horsepower than before, but 5 fewer pound-feet) and that feathery curb weight, Hyundai is claiming a best-in-class power-to-weight ratio. Matched with a new in-house-developed six-speed automatic, the Elantra hits 60 mph in 9.1 seconds, 1.1 seconds quicker than before, and 0.5 seconds slower than the turbocharged Chevrolet Cruze. It's not fast, but the six-speed automatic's gear ratios keep the engine in its powerband and make the car feel quicker on the road than the numbers indicate.