New Elantra shaping up to be nice.

Looks Lexus-ish in the style department

^^^^^.....with a twist of Mazda.

i hate that swoopy window sill,

I don't know. It looks like the Azera. What's with the green floor or water LOL?

that's the next gen kia optima,

it's completley different from the NF sonata and share's few part's with it
all new 2.7L Mu Engine?

and somewhat sporty suspension..sporty enough to fill the sonata's handling gap?

to me, the new optima is a dissapointment,
it look's too ordinary..never mind the faux infinity q45 face

Right, that's the new Optima.

The Elantra HD pictured above is turning out nice, I agree. There are a whole bunch of pictures floating around the net. The interior is similar to the Sonata, kind of. It has a nice 3 spoke steering wheel with Cruise/Radio controls on it (let's hope it makes it to North America). Also, should have 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS with EBD standard (like the Accent).

Good stuff. I'm still hoping for a 2.4l Theta version available in the future. It could happen, we'll see. The 2.0l Theta should be interesting in it's own right, if that's what they decide to use.

I might have to wait for that, I'm looking at either a Mazda 3 or new GTI to replace my aging XD...but if it uses the 2.4L "world engine" theta like in the new caliber...172 HP would be nice.


Side note...I'll have to drive by the Hyundai Parts DC/District Office and see if they have one parked there...they had the new Tiburon parked at their old location about 6 months before it came out. Currently at their new location they have every Hyundai ever made lined up in front..Excels, Scoupes all the way to Azeras.

[Edited by BigZach on Apr 8, 2006 11:07 AM]

If there is a model in the lineup with the 2.4l Theta it'll most likely have the same specs as the NF, not the Caliber. Dodge uses some things that differeniate their World Engine from Hyundai's version of it.