Driving impressions: 2007 Hyundai Elantra and Tiburon

I'm back from a day of driving Hyundai's latest, the all-new Elantra and the facelifted-and-freshened Tiburon.

First, the Elantra. What an improvement over the old car! I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record with this Korean stuff, but Hyundai truly deserves to be judged by the same standards as the Japanese. From now on, I'm amending the Big 3 Compacts -- Civic, Corolla and Sentra -- to the Big Four: Civic, Corolla, Sentra and Elantra. The new Elantra is good enough that it deserves to be judged by the same standards, at least from the driver's seat. Where the Elantra lags, particularly in comparison to the Civic and Sentra, is styling -- the anonymous rental-car sheetmetal is the only real let-down in an otherwise brilliant car.

Next, the Tiburon: I drove the SE, the 6-speed hot-rod version. It lacks the out-and-out power and rear-wheel-drive of serious sportsters like the 350Z, but the driving dynamics are really impressive and the new styling looks great. For a front-wheel-drive car it's one heck of a performer, particularly in the curves.

Reviews coming soon. -- Aaron Gold

Photo © Aaron Gold