Cars - Hyundai Avante

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	Cars - Hyundai Avante

The Hyundai Avante is a compact car from Hyundai of South Korea, launched in 1995 to replace the Hyundai Elantra, though in export markets the Avante is sold as the Elantra.

Originally, the Avante was offered as a sedan and station wagon. A mid-term facelift came in 1998.

An all-new model was launched in 2001. The wagon was dropped in favor of a five-door hatchback. Both were facelifted in 2004. Starting in 2001, all US-models came with standard front and front side airbags, air conditioning, power locks, power windows and power steering. This simplified dealer inventories and repairs and also sought to improve Hyundai's image of 'value' cars. A GT trim with a stiffer suspension, leather seats, fog lights, alloy wheels, lip spoiler and blue-lit instrument cluster has been offered as a hatchback since 2002, leaving the only options an automatic transmission, power moonroof and anti-lock brakes with traction control. The GT trim sedan was introduced in 2003 and discontinued in 2005.

It is available with 1.6 and 2.0 L gasoline engines and a 2.0 L turbodiesel. US-models are only available with the 2.0L gasoline engine.

The Avante is compact on the outside, yet is listed by the EPA as a midsize car because of a spacious interior. The four-cylinder engine is known to be powerful and economical, and in the US, Hyundai offers a powertrain warranty that protects the buyer for ten years. Although the basic powertrain design has changed little since the first generation Avante, successive improvements have improved fuel economy from an US-EPA rating of 24/33 to 25/33 and the current 27/34 for manual transmissions, with automatic producing 2-3mpg fewer. Horsepower also improved from 135hp to 138hp and torque from 132 to 136 mainly thanks to the addition of continuously variable valve timing (CVVT) in 2004. The second-generation Elantra horsepower was misrepresented as 140hp.

Naming

The Lantra name was often used for this model outside South Korea until 2001, when they were renamed as the Elantra. Between 1996 and 1998, the Avante was called the Bimantara Cakra (1.5 L) and the Bimantara Nenggala (1.8 L) in Indonesia.

The Avante's renaming to the Elantra was necessary as Audi owns the Avant name in Europe. The Lantra name also surfaced because of a naming issue, according to the Australian press: Mitsubishi Motors of Australia complained that Elantra was too close to its Elante trim level. The Elantra name also fell foul of Lotus in the UK and Europe, being too close to its Elan.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Hyundai Avante ]

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