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5 of the Weirdest Features on the 2021 Hyundai Elantra Limited

The Hyundai Elantra was completely redesigned for the 2021 model year and even won the prestigious 2021 North American Car of the Year award. After driving the Elantra in its top-tier Limited form, I can definitely see why it took home such an esteemed honor. In addition to its striking exterior aesthetics, the all-new Elantra …

The Hyundai Elantra was completely redesigned for the 2021 model year and even won the prestigious 2021 North American Car of the Year award. After driving the Elantra in its top-tier Limited form, I can definitely see why it took home such an esteemed honor.

In addition to its striking exterior aesthetics, the all-new Elantra is filled with all the tech-savvy features and comfort that you would want in a car and at a very reasonable price to boot. However, despite all of its luxurious charm, the Elantra does have some weirdness injected into it. Here five of the weirdest features I found on the 2021 Hyundai Elantra.

The two-spoke steering wheel

While most automakers have incorporated three-spoke steering wheels into their cars, Hyundai decided to use a two-spoke one in the Elantra instead. It gets the job done and is actually pretty comfortable when you need to rest your hands in the “9 and 3” position, however, it looks like something out of an alien spaceship, Which is to say that it’s a little weird, but still really cool.

2021 Hyundai Elantra two-spoke steering wheel
2021 Hyundai Elantra two-spoke steering wheel | Joe Santos

The cupholder switcher

Automakers find all kinds of interesting ways to make their cars fit your every day just a little more comfortably and Hyundai did just that with the Elantra, even down to the cupholders. Every new Elantra comes with two cupholders in the center console that can fit almost any water bottle, Big Gulp, or Venti beverage that you fit into them. The weird part about them is that you can pull up the little rubber tray that holds the drinks and “switch” them.

I couldn’t figure out what it really meant, however, the handy YouTube video below shows that you can change the levels, or height, at which the drinks sit. It’s probably good shorter drinks and shorter drivers, but conceptually, it’s a little weird.

The random circle panel

The Hyundai Elantra Limited comes with a dual-10.25-inch panel display; one panel is for the infotainment system, the other is for the driver information. However, it also comes with a random panel to the left of the others, which has a random drawing, or sticker, of a circle with a “minus” sign through it.

As it turns out, the N Line trim on the 2021 Elantra has a giant “sport” button on that specific panel. What I think that means is instead of changing the bezel for the panel, the designers of the Elantra decided to replace it with a blank one and a random design.

The random panel on the 2021 Hyundai Elantra
The random panel on the 2021 Hyundai Elantra | Joe Santos

The tweed door panel inserts

The top-trim Elantra limited comes with a full leather interior complete with soft-touch surfaces on the dashboard and door panels. But what’s interesting is that on the door panels, there is also a weird tweed material to add some contrast to the color and texture of the panel. It doesn’t necessarily look bad, but why couldn’t they just make it all leather?

2021 Hyundai Elantra tweed inserts on the door panel
2021 Hyundai Elantra tweed inserts on the door panel | Joe Santos

The weird passenger grab handle

Lastly, along with the futuristic dashboard and steering wheel design, there is a random grab handle on the center console. It’s a necessary precaution, should your passenger need to grab ahold of something while you accelerate all 147 hp to get up to the 65-mph speed limit, but the handle’s placing is rather weird.

2021 Hyundai Elantra interior
2021 Hyundai Elantra interior | Joe Santos
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