The secret to success of the new generation Hyundai Elantra

The new generation Hyundai Elantra is achieving global sales success thanks to new technologies, including the AHSS chassis structure.

Safety features of AHSS reinforced steel frame

The current new generation Hyundai Elantra not only impresses with its design, but also with its frame made up of 53% AHSS (Advance High Strength Steel) used to make the chassis, pillars and body shell. Compared with conventional steel materials, AHSS steel has many advantages.

In terms of structural properties, AHSS steel removes carbon from conventional steel and adds many other chemical elements to make the steel stronger, more durable, less susceptible to rust, and lighter. This helps reduce the weight of the manufactured frame by 30% but increases the bearing capacity by up to 50%.

AHSS chassis structure with stress areas.

In the early days of the automobile industry, manufacturers produced cars with very rigid bodies – those that barely deformed in a collision. The result was that the entire force of the collision was directed at the driver.

At that time, the death rate of passengers in accidents was very high. To overcome this, car engineers mentioned the concept of “crumple zone” and applied it to cars today.

The crumple zones – typically located at the front and rear of the vehicle – absorb the force of a crash by deforming the material, while also “delaying the impact” of the main cabin. What’s unique is that while most of the surrounding components are designed to deform easily, the entire main cabin is significantly reinforced to protect the passengers inside.

The strength of AHSS steel lies here when cars like Elantra have the ability to firmly protect the driver from collisions that occur better than cars using conventional steel materials due to the outstanding strength and toughness of AHSS steel.

Driving is more fun & greener with AHSS

The solidity of the Elantra frame also helps the driving feeling to progress significantly compared to the previous generation. This can be easily felt when driving the Elantra on steep mountain roads with continuous curves or running at high speed and performing sudden lane changes.

The car responds quickly and accurately to the steering wheel, while giving the entire cabin a solid feeling without any looseness or twisting. Currently, the Elantra is one of the cars that are rated as having the best driving feeling in the segment.

Hyundai Elantra chassis and body.

In addition, with the requirements of operation and fuel economy, manufacturers are forced to make lighter cars. With AHSS high strength steel, the total weight of the car can be reduced up to 25-39% compared to using other common types of steel.

According to statistics, if using this car to transport a family of 4 people with a total weight of 170kg to 270kg, the car can save 20-30% of fuel consumption compared to cars in the same segment with heavier weight. This not only helps you reduce operating costs, but also helps reduce the amount of polluting emissions, contributing to greening the living environment.

Economic problems with AHSS

Currently, with the million dollar supercars, with the requirements for a super light frame while still ensuring sturdiness, manufacturers often apply carbon or composite materials. However, the scarcity and difficulty of manufacturing these materials make their prices especially high and cannot be applied to popular car models like Elantra.

A direct competitor to AHSS is aluminum, which is currently being used mainly on Ford models such as the F-150. However, due to the characteristics of aluminum, which is light but "more flexible than necessary", when wanting to increase the hardness of the material, people are forced to add other chemical components, making it heavier, more difficult to manufacture, and thus leading to higher costs compared to AHSS steel.

AHSS high strength steel brings advantages to Hyundai.

Obviously, AHSS reinforced steel has the advantages of being a more durable, more environmentally friendly material and also cheaper in manufacturing costs. For Hyundai, the application of AHSS in manufacturing models like Elantra has helped the company bring to the market a generation of products that are more interesting in terms of performance, safer in terms of protection and cheaper in manufacturing costs, creating a significant competitive advantage over competitors in the same segment.../.

According to VOV