While we do love our trucks in America and crossover SUVs are not too far behind, Hyundai, which sells more cars than SUVs marches forward with new style and even a new luxury sub-brand in the form of Genesis. This has translated to the entire lineup receiving some new style and structure to be ready to offer some of the most attractive vehicles on the market today. The new Elantra is a great example of how this car company is able to continually grow sales while offering mostly cars in a world filled with trucks and SUVs.

The outgoing Elantra model was a sales beast for Hyundai as it delivered 240,00 of the car in 2015 with nearly 20 percent of those being for fleets. Even though this is a huge seller for Hyundai the Elantra of old suffered from some serious weaknesses. These includes a structure that made you feel as if the car would not stand up to the challenge of the road and a suspension that forced you to feel every bump and bruise of the road ahead. Even though this is an affordable compact car it seems we just wanted more than a harsh ride from this already attractive car.

Amazingly the improvements made to the body structure and the way it responds and performs have been made because the body is now glued together. This glue is not your typical adhesive you buy at the hardware store but rather an aerospace adhesive that is meant to replace some of the spot welds and fasteners that give the bond needed to offer a seam of consistent adhesion and added stiffness to the car. All told the new Elantra uses about 394 feet of adhesive, which is a major increase from the ten feet of the bonding agent that was used previously.

Another change that has taken place is the reconfiguring of the rear suspension to give a longer show absorber to give you more impact damping. This also helps with the noise, reducing the exterior sound that makes its way into the cabin to a nearly nonexistent level to offer an improved sound deadening program. Add to this feature the new sound deadening materials that are in the wheel wells along with improved subframe isolation and smaller firewall holes to help keep the sounds out of the cabin. This all marries up with the thicker windshield and side class to cut down on cabin noise and make your ride more enjoyable.

Overall this is a lightweight car for you to enjoy. The curb weight of the SE model comes in at only 2,750 pounds while the Limited with every feature added to it will only reach 3,000 pounds for your driving pleasure. With the weight at this level the car won’t need a massive engine to get it going. Instead there are expected to be two engines that make their way to the space of the Elantra, one of which is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder that will give you 147 horsepower and mate to a six speed automatic to be the standard engine. The upgraded engine will be a 1.4-liter turbocharged model that will be attached to a seven-speed dual clutch automatic and will carry in as the Eco option. The six-speed manual transmission is offered on the base SE as well and a third engine is expected to join the group in the fall whine the Sport model is unveiled.

Even the top model of this car while fully loaded will only cost you $27,710 for the Limited trim level. At this price you get to enjoy the Tech package which gives you an eight-inch navigation touchscreen, the Infinity premium audio system, a sunroof and heated rear seats. This car also comes with the Ultimate package that gives you swiveling HID headlights, emergency automatic braking, pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance.

Now, with all the changes to the structure and the suspension, when you drive the new Elantra you don’t feel all the waves of the road and certainly don’t have your music interrupted by awful road noises from outside the car. The addition of larger wheels for the Limited model at the price mentioned help to give the car an even quieter ride than the base model would. You would never think this car one that costs under $30,000, but it certainly is.

With this improved stiffness and suspension you will notice the activity of the powertrain even more than before. The Elantra offers you three driving modes, Eco, Sport and Normal to let you choose the shifting timing, throttle response and steering effort needed for the car. Even though the Sport mode is not overly sporty, it’s perfectly suited for this car to be a great way to drive and have a lot of fun from behind the wheel.

What we now have with the Elantra is a slightly smaller version of the Sonata, which is an awesome car to have on the market. These improvements, while not cosmetic, give the Elantra what is has needed to take that next step forward. This new Elantra will be a pleasure to drive and is not a car that makes you feel like you settled in any way; quite the opposite feeling will overcome you actually.