Hyundai Leads the Pack With the 2010 Elantra

The 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring is a full featured car, offering plenty of space. Unfortunately, that space came at a premium price: weight. Tipping the scales at nearly 3100 pounds might cause some automakers to consider introducing a beefy 4 cylinder or even a lightweight 6 cylinder engine to the mix. Unfortunately, these options in turn increase overall weight, which is why Hyundai tapped their tried and true 2.0L DOHC inline-4 cylinder for the job.

Some call it the little engine that could, but Hyundai officially refers to it as the Beta II. Hyundai's Beta II engine can deliver 132 hp in PZEV tune or 138 in its general arrangement, both at 6000 rpm. Horsepower comes on strong at approximately 3200 rpm and pulls strong almost all the way to the red line. Torque figures produced by Beta II-powered Hyundai Elantra Touring editions are even more impressive, with the full 136 foot pounds available to the front wheels at 4600 rpm, but nearly 80 percent of that torque available well before the 3000 rpm line is crossed on the tachometer.

It might be easy to conclude that the engine is all about brawns, but the opposite is actually true. Instead of being all about raw power, the engine is actually an incredibly refined engine, featuring smooth variable valve timing, and computer-adjust manifolds. Additionally, the 2.0L engine that sits under the hood of the new Elantra Touring is also very frugal with its use of fuel and produces very low emissions. Hyundai did not see fit to make any updates to the engine found in the 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring, but that as mostly because they hit the nail on the head the first time and did not need to make significant refinements. After all, the old express tells the wise not to fix what is not broken.