Thinking Inside the Box

Hyundai have introduced the all-new Elantra. Joining the familiar diesel engine powering this three-box is a reworked automatic box which, they say, is smarter now. Is it really? We put it to the test.

- Jim Gorde

BURNING OIL IS A STRAIGHTFORWARD process. However, it takes quite a bit of burning the midnight oil to figure out the most efficient way to go about that process. The turbo-diesel engine may have put the thicker stuff to use, but it wasn’t until the advent of common-rail direct injection (CRDi) that diesel actually became popular in India.

The first affordable car to use the common-rail system was the Hyundai Accent CRDi. Its 1.5-litre three-pot made 81 PS and 187 Nm and delivered exceptional fuel efficiency. Fast-forward to the present and the 1.6-litre ‘U’ CRDi four-cylinder engine makes 128 PS and 260 Nm. Enough of the history lesson, at least in the engine department.

The new Hyundai Elantra has a diesel version, obviously, and, yes, it’s the familiar 1.6-litre U2 four- cylinder unit complete with variable geometry turbocharger. It still makes 128 PS at 4,000 RPM and 260 Nm from 1,900 to 2,750 RPM, but the big change comes in the automatic transmission. The six-speed unit has had its shift logic completely recalibrated, and rightfully so. The engine was, and still is, magnificent, but the Elantra’s predecessor had a box that wasn’t quite up to the mark. Have Hyundai made it better? Hold your horses.