I'd have to call it the burgeoning South Korean car company's cabin cruiser, with a bit more Donzi and less Chris Craft than some of its competition in the styling arena.
With a look that makes this Camry, Malibu and Accord competitor stand out in the crowd, the 2011 Sonata was introduced earlier this year at the Los Angeles Auto Show, with a revelation – while the others pack a four and a V-6, this baby only offers one naturally-aspirated four, with a turbo and hybrid version a-coming.
Madness, or miracle thinking? Let’s sing a Sonata and find out.
*Sonata style- This sedan is the latest example of what Hyundai calls its Fluidic Sculpture design language, the second vehicle in the company’s new product initiative to bring out seven new models in two years, after the new Tucson. According to Hyundai, Fluidic Sculpture is a “consistent, cohesive design language that will ripple through the entire Hyundai showroom.” OK, what that means, I guess, is that we’ll see a family face in all the models with a bit more dare and sculpt to its shape. If that’s the case, the face was borrowed a bit from the first-generation Mercedes-Benz CLS, aka the four-door coupe. Near-slit headlights angle sharply along the hood’s cutlines, framing smoked chrome bars of the V-shaped grill, its inner accent lines forming edgy power lines on the hood. The hood shut line gets a chrome spear to showcase it as a design element that flows into the windshield pillar bases, while a separate design line melds with the frame after flowing up off the grill’s flanks. A bit of BMW and CLS mix in the sharp side lines, one paralleling the beltline, another spearing up off the front fender flares to become part of the taillight’s BMW-esque upper shape, and a third line accents the sill. It’s a long look to the wheelbase, nice 5-spoke wheels wearing xzxzx rubber that nicely fills the wells. Beware – the 16-inch wheel size on the base model makes the car look very under-tired. The flowing roofline looks coupe-like, the rear pillar flowing into the rear decklid, where there’s an overall BMW look with a petite exhaust tip under the rear fascia. FYI – get the SE and you get duals, and 2 more hp.
The best benefit of the sleek shape, unlike any of its competition, is a very slick .28 co-efficient of drag. But since at least one neighbor and lots of drivers have a new Sonata, no one really looked at our Limited’s shape, even in a well-done Pearl White.
*Hyunda habitat – There’s so much room in here thanks to more than two inches extra wheelbase over its ancestor that after you open the door keylessly, that the EPA classifies this as a Large car, with more space than the Camry, Altima, Fusion and Malibu (all midsize cars). And once settled into the 8-way power driver’s seat, with OK side support and overall good comfort, it’s a very nice design that greets you.
A tilt/telescope 4-spoke steering wheel offers audio, Bluetooth cellphone, voice command and cruise control buttoms, plus a fat leather clad rim with nice soft-touch paint on the inside. The inset smoked chrome-rimmed main (160-mph speedometer/8,000-rpm tach) gauges get white needles and numbers with an ice blue color ring, the hubs neatly hosting the LCD engine temperature/door status gauge on the left, and the gas/gear indicator on the right. Nice design! A clear trip computer display is in between.
The grill’s V-shape is echoed in the center stack, where buff alloy plastic frames a 6.5-inch touch screen for navigation, plus a superb 9-speaker, 400-watt Infinity AM-FM-XM- six disc CD/MP3 changer with HD Radio and real-time XM NavTraffic, Weather, Sports and Stocks. The iPod/USB inputs are at the base of the dash center, while the audio system has 8 GB of memory storage. Two great design touches are here. One is the audio/navigation interface under the screen, with a nice big power button ringed by the volume, and all other function buttons handy. The other is the human-shaped climate control main switch, which is just a nice blue-lit outlined mode button on a gloss black panel. In fact, there’s nice touches of gloss black all over the cabin as well as silver and chrome, although some of the black plastic surfaces look and feel a but less nice – the padded dash in front of the passenger had some rub marks on our 7,000-mile-old sedan. That said, every switch had a precision feel, and everything worked quietly and smoothly in our 95-degree travels. The glove box is big, door map pockets slim but with water bottle holders, and the center armrest storage ample, with a slot to stick the keyless remote to start the car in case its battery goes flat. There’s even more storage behind a door under the dual-zone climate controls.
In back, that “large car” designation shows up, with great head and leg room, rear air vents and a center arm rest, although tall folks may have to duck under that swoopy roofline when getting in. The rear seats are a bit flat, too. But the trunk is big and flat, with some hinge intrusion, and the rear seat backs fold via well-placed trunk latches to expand its 16.4-cu. ft. of space.
* Sonata speed – OK, so you wonder if this Montgomery, Alabama-made Sonata has the right stuff with only has a 198-hp four under its hood. Well, its Theta II 2.4-liter four has a direct injection fuel delivery, (2.-liter turbocharged GDI four- and a 2.4-liter hybrid come next) and a six-speed automatic transmission with manual shifting, plus its body shell is fairly light for a mid-size. Hit the gas and it starts slow, then has some guts in mid-range and hits 60-mph in a decent xx-seconds. The engine note is OK, and the shifts were crisp, although we had an abrupt downshift once or twice in a turn. An Accord EX’s 190-hp four, a Camry XLE’s 167-hp four and Subaru Legacy 2.5i’s 170-hp flat four were almost a second slower. Sonata fuel mileage was acceptable in around-town driving, just a tad under 21-mpg on regular – a bit under the expected EPA averages.
The ride on our Limited was quite good thanks to the McPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension, with lighter alloy components in back and 19 percent stiffer platform bending rigidity than the 2010 model. The result was a very compliant yet controlled ride on almost every surface, going where it was pointed with minimal understeer. It’s no sports sedan – the SE’s bigger rubber and suspension tuning may be the more fun model, but the Limited is a quiet comfortable cruiser. The power steering had a decent feel, the brakes offered good feedback and minimal fade after hard use, with good control. There’s Electronic Stability Control to handle the oops moments too.
*Hyundai cost – A base Hyundai Sonata starts around $19,000, but our Limited had a base of $25,295, with lots of standards except: $2,100 navigation package with Infinity sound system and backup camera, $200 Pearl White paint and $100 carpet mats, for a total $28,415. The Accord is more, the Legacy less.
*Bottom line – I really like the 2011 Sonata, and still find it hard to believe this car company has become such a contender in 20 years, with product and price that must make some competitors look in their mirrors a lot. The shape is great, the ride and power is competitive, and the fit and finish good to great. Just improve the interior plastics to the caliber of some of the other mid-sizes out there, and the world can be had for a Sonata song.
2011 Hyundai Sonata Limited
Vehicle type -- mid-size 4-door sedan
Base price -- $ (as tested - $)
Engine type – DOHC, 16-valve direct-injected CVVT in-line four-cylinder engine
Displacement – 2.4-liter
Horsepower (net) – 198 @ 6,300 rpm
Torque (lb-ft) – 184 @ 4,250 rpm
Transmission -- 6-speed automatic
Wheelbase -- 110 inches
Overall length – 189.8 inches
Overall width – 72.2 inches
Height – 57.9 inches
Front headroom -- 40 inches
Front legroom – 45.5 inches
Rear headroom – 37.8 inches
Rear legroom – 34.6 inches
Cargo capacity – 16.4 cubic feet
Curb weight – 3,316 pounds
Fuel capacity – 18.5 gallons
Mileage rating – 22 mpg city/35 mpg highway
By Dan Scanlan - MyCarData
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