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2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring
Hyundai unveiled a hatchback/wagon version of its Elantra for the 2009 model year, called the Elantra Touring. In Europe, the Elantra Touring is sold under the Hyundai i30 CW nameplate.
Somewhat reminiscent of the Mazda3 hatchback, the Elantra Touring is a lower-cost alternative to many of its competitors in the compact car segment.
The interior is well appointed for the price and of the quality reflects Hyundai's newfound commitment to rivaling Japanese automakers. The Elantra Touring also features connectivity for iPods and other electronic devices.
Power for the wagon is sourced from Hyundai's 2.0-liter four-cylinder, making 141 horsepower. That power is sent through either a five-speed manual transmission of a four-speed automatic.
2008 was the first year of sales for the Elantra Touring in North America. Hyundai expects the Elantra Touring to compete with the Dodge Caliber, Mazda3 five-door and Toyota Matrix.
Hyundai Motor America says that the Elantra Touring will have the most cargo capacity in its class. It'll be powered by the same 2.0 liter four-cylinder that powers the rest of the Elantra range. Hyundai says that standard features will include stability control, a USB port, XM Satellite Radio and active head restraints in addition to six airbags and ABS. A five-speed manual is expected as standard equipment, much like the rest of the Elantra line.
My Garage, With Jay Leno
Ken Gross
Jay Leno, popular host of The Tonight Show, may be one of America's funniest comedians, but he is also a serious car enthusiast. His three garages near Burbank are packed with sports and special-interest cars, antiques and classics, old motorcycles, oil company signs and "automobilia." He hasn't counted everything up recently, but he owns more than 50 cars and about as many vintage and modern bikes.
When you walk in, you don't know whether to dive for the bright yellow 1913 Mercer Raceabout, complete with monocle windshield, or ogle his five stunning Duesenberg Js, parked together in a row. Further on, there's a rare 1915 shovel-nosed Franklin with a California-built body by Earl (as in Harley Earl and his father, before the younger Earl headed to Detroit to start GM's Art and Color department).
Is there a theme in his collection? "If there is a theme," Leno says, "it's probably a car that's ahead of its time. Everything here does a hundred with a few exceptions. There are no Model Ts. I like a reasonable level of performance."
Among other vehicles, the Leno garage houses a 1939 Lagonda V-12, a brace of Bentleys, including a handsome Speed Six, a dignified 8-liter sedan and a 1926 roadster with a twin-turbocharged eight-liter Bentley engine. Built especially for Leno by a team of British craftsmen, it'll light up its skinny rear tires in any gear. Ask Leno what the horsepower is and he just grins: "Probably over 500," he says.
No car or bike in Leno's collection is a museum piece; he drives everything and nearly everything runs at all times. Blessed with an assigned parking space at NBC Studios, Leno takes a different vehicle to work every day.
Two full-time mechanics help keep things in shape, although Leno (who once worked at Foreign Motors of Boston, near his hometown of North Andover, Mass., before his comedy career took off), likes to do things himself. He's capable of starting and running even the ancient machinery, like his two Stanley Steamers, which require a delicate combination of priming, heating and lighting--like starting up an old-fashioned furnace.
While Leno isn't averse to modern cars, he doesn't own many. There's a Turbo R Bentley and a pair of mildly modified Dodge Vipers, plus a stealth car--a souped-up Renault LeCar with a Ford Taurus SHO motor and a nitrous setup.
Leno likes horsepower, lots of it. While he'd never admit to being a hot rodder, there are vehicles here that could only be called hot rods. Take his Cobra replica. It started life with a pushrod 427 side-oiler. Now it has a gleaming 429 SOHC Ford V-8 under its hood.
"Yep, that's the cammer-motor," he says, lifting the hood, with a knowing leer. "It pulls like a train. I got this engine out of a powerboat. It's a much better engine than the 427. And it runs a lot cooler. You ever heard one-a these things go to eight grand? Oh geez... 'Whee, whee, wheeeeeeeeee!'" Leno expertly imitates the noise. "It's a frightening sound," he says.
Although Leno's a stickler for originality on his Pebble Beach Concours-winning Duesenbergs and his two real Bugattis, he also owns two replica Bugattis: a Type 37A that's all Bugatti parts but they didn't all come from the factory at the same time, and a stunning Type 57SC Atlantic that you couldn't tell from Ralph Lauren's Pebble Beach prize winner, except for the paint color. And who really cares? The real thing (they only made three) is arguably too valuable to drive.
If you want to see Leno get really enthusiastic, just ask him for a ride in his 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II with its 1,000-horsepower Merlin V-12. His eyes light up like Mr. Toad's in The Wind in the Willows: "I mean it's so stupid!" With Leno, stupid is sometimes a compliment. "It's got 1,806 pounds of torque. There's nothing like it. That's real power."
Does it have some sort of tank transmission to handle all that torque? We're surprised to learn it's a Moss four-speed, just like on a 1950s Jag XK120. "It's pretty strong," says Leno, "But you're not dumping the clutch. Once you're rolling, you put your foot down and Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!; it just keeps pulling like a train."
Leno would rather hang out in the garage than do almost anything else--except write and tell jokes. So his spare time is spent tinkering with his cars, or riding his bikes. He turns up at local car shows, rides one of his bikes up to the Rock Store on Sundays and often invites friends over to look at new acquisitions.
Leno's passionate about his cars, but ask him which one is his favorite and he gives you that sideways look familiar to so many fans of The Tonight Show. "Which one of your children is your favorite?" he retorts.
However, Leno is partial to Duesenbergs. "This car is not a myth," he insists, pointing to a J. "Any 70-year-old car that can keep up with modern traffic in L.A. and drive like a normal car is pretty amazing. At a time when the speed limit was 45 mph, a Duesenberg could go 120 mph."
How does he decide what to buy next? "I just see something. If it catches my eye, it's like a pretty girl...But I'm quite happy with everything I have. I don't lust for new things. But, if I do see one and think, 'Oh, that's nice...' Well, that's cool, too."
And his wife, Mavis, is tolerant of this passion? "Yes. It's cheaper than hookers and cocaine," he jokes. "Most guys in Hollywood have 20 girlfriends and one car and I have 20 cars and one girlfriend. She always knows where I am. I'm here in the garage.
"'What's that fragrance?'" Leno says in a fake falsetto voice? "'It's gasoline, honey. It's not cheap perfume.'"
"Having these cars is great fun," Leno says. "And there's a sense of history to all this stuff. We don't really own these cars, we just keep them for the next owners."