"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
02/01/2016 at 07:00 • Filed to: None
5
14|
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
02/01/2016 at 07:00 • Filed to: None | 5
| 14 |
Let’s get this straight, I didn’t want to drive this car. I’m old enough to remember when the Yugo got more respect than any Hyundai. I know this first hand - one of my friends was the unfortunate owner of one. But it was the “better” option when I traded it for the perfectly awful Toyota Corolla I was driving. It was a matter of which car I wanted to drive slightly less, and the Sonata won.
( Full Disclosure: Hyundai had nothing to do with this review. If you want to blame someone, blame Honda and the guy who used his Accord to put my beloved WRX out of commission. His insurance paid for a car and the Corolla is what I got, at least until I returned it with a big nope and insisted on something at least a little bigger. My choices were this or a Honda. Thinking this was a big conspiracy to get me into a Honda, I opted for the Hyundai.
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so Hyundai took the Ford Fusion’s frown and turned it upside-down. With a little chrome lipstick around the grill, it looks like the automotive equivalent of Jaws (the Bond villain, not the shark). My loaner continues this theme with an aqua blue that is quite nice.
Hyundai touts the interior space as class-leading. I haven’t compared it to any of its competitors, but it is quite roomy. My daughter asked if we could take it on our next trip. She said she had more leg room in the Sonata than she does in the Explorer. Take that,SUV!
This is a base model, so it’s “light” on gadgets and gizmos. That doesn’t mean you have to crank your own windows and reach all the way to the dash to change the radio station. Nope. Base models these days include electric windows, electric mirrors, steering wheel mounted controls for the cruise and radio, even bluetooth for connecting your phone. When compared to a second-to-the-top-of-the-line Explorer, the only thing missing was heated leather seats, a backup camera, and touch screen navigation.
There are a few annoyances with the interior. I suppose someone was really enamored with Windows (the operating system, not the glass) and decided to program in their own startup tune. They also went cutesy with the blinker click and made it sound like someone mounted a couple of small wood blocks under the dash for the relay to bang against. If you bother to signal when changing lanes, you get to hear that a lot since it blinks at least 7 times when you tap the lever.
My first night drive highlighted another interior problem. There’s a small light in the overhead console which illuminates the interior so you can see where you dropped your sandwich at night. This little light isn’t affected by the dimmer and doesn’t have a switch to turn it off. While digging through the settings menu in an attempt to kill this light, I did find that I could disable the startup sound and reduce the number of blinks, so score one for Buck.
The trunk. is what I would call cavernous. Seriously. It looks like it could fit my family of four, though it might be a bit tight. That wouldn’t be much of a problem since both halves of the back seat can fold down to make more space. Contributing to the cave-like feel is the generous application of black carpet. If not for the HDR kicking in on my iPhone (yo!), the trunk would be little more than a black hole in the picture. Woe be to the person who puts anything black in there and hopes to retrieve it later.
This one came with a 185 hp four-banger backed up by an automatic transmission with a manumatic mode. The computer can be placed in normal, ECO, and sport modes. It defaults to normal mode when it is started, so if you want to use a different mode, you have to remember to switch it manually. Edmunds says that sport mode holds the gears longer and adds some resistance to the steering. The only difference I noticed is that it will chirp the tires before the traction control reigns you in.
I did test out the manumatic mode. As long as the revs don’t go too high or dip too low, the transmission will stay in the gear you select. Once you push it too far in one direction or the other, the computer nanny will step in and keep you from over-revving or bogging the engine too much. There aren’t any flappy paddles to play with and I didn’t notice any buttons on the back of the steering wheel, so I stuck with fiddling with the stick. This was novel since I’m used to a real manual and this is more like using the sequential gearbox on a motorcycle.
You won’t winning any races in this thing, but it is a decent drive. It’s not as fast as my WRX, but it is much quieter and more comfortable. Dang near luxurious compared to my Subaru. There is copious amounts of plastic and the steering wheel isn’t something I’d want to hold onto every day, but there aren’t any squeaks or rattles, even after 30,000 miles of rental abuse. The carpet and seats haven’t fared as well. There are stains on the camel-colored seats and the black carpet in back. How someone managed to stain black carpet, I’d like to know.
My wife took it out for some shopping Saturday. She’s fairly short, so she had to make some adjustments to get comfortable. She had some trouble getting the seat height right because of the lack of power seats (yeah, the Explorer has spoiled her in some ways). As a result, she had some difficulty with visibility. I’m not sure it’s just her - I think the rear glass is rather small and I’m less than satisfied with the view in the mirrors. In fact, I think the mirrors are more of a fashion accessory than a functional piece of kit. Without a backup camera, it gets a bit dicey trying to see where you are going.
As much as I don’t want to admit it, for a base price under $23,000, this is a lot of car.
That's gonna leave a mark!
> TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2016 at 07:09 |
|
It’s a good solid car for a DD. Doesn’t make any major mistakes. In case we forget, most of the people out there are not car enthusiasts and look at cars as an appliance. I wouldn’t be ashamed to be seen in it.
pjhusa
> TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2016 at 07:23 |
|
Completely irrelevant, but HDR is great. It's instinct for me to turn it on for every photo now.
sm70- why not Duesenberg?
> TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2016 at 07:48 |
|
We had that same car for a rental in Boston, and I concur with your review. Nothing was actively wrong with this car. It’s too boring for me, but e good appliance for someone.
http://sm70-whynotduesenberg.kinja.com/search?q=renta…
DoYouEvenShift
> TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2016 at 08:29 |
|
Way nicer than the Corolla thats for sure. Hyundai/Kia has been doing great things lately.
Shoop
> TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2016 at 08:50 |
|
How someone managed to stain black carpet, I’d like to know
No you wouldn’t.
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> sm70- why not Duesenberg?
02/01/2016 at 09:00 |
|
If it weren’t for the front plate, I’d think it was the same car. Mine originated in Florida where no front plates are required.
Nibbles
> TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2016 at 09:29 |
|
Thanks for the review! I’m gonna send the inlaws to look at some Sonatas for sure.
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Nibbles
02/01/2016 at 09:32 |
|
Glad to help out!
Justin Hughes
> TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2016 at 10:04 |
|
A couple of years ago I had a Sonata rental for a day. Comfortable, classy car. But I got more steering feedback through my Logitech gaming wheel, which is scary because the Sonata is an actual car. I wouldn’t want to be that uninvolved in the driving experience every day. But I’m weird, and the average driver is perfectly fine with that.
wiffleballtony
> TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2016 at 10:07 |
|
To me just about every car in this segment is basically the same.
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Justin Hughes
02/01/2016 at 10:21 |
|
I agree. While the steering seems a bit heavy and numb, the part I really don’t like is the gas pedal. It really takes a heavy foot to get the car going. It’s like Hyundai doesn’t want you to drive anywhere. There’s also a notch at the bottom of the range. It feels like the pedal is catching on something.
Maybe this is to help the fuel economy. By making it hard to press the accelerator, they are encouraging a light foot.
|
Justin Hughes
> TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2016 at 10:26 |
|
I’ve driven cars like that before, usually older cars with a physical kickdown switch to force the transmission to drop a gear when you floor it. It’s no accident that this required some extra effort to push.
With electronic throttles you don’t usually get a linear application like you would with a cable controlled throttle. This is intentional to improve fuel economy. Even my BRZ, a sports car, felt more peppy after a tune because the tune made the throttle linear as it should be. It’s not as extreme as I imagine the Sonata is, but it was still there, and shouldn’t be in a sports car.
tythegeek
> TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2016 at 10:46 |
|
Yeah a few years ago I had an ‘06 Sonata and it was a great car. Not really an enthusiasts car but it was the V6 with 230 hp and got 30 mpg on the freeway. I was pretty sad when we had a third child and had to trade it in for a minivan. Very sad.
The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock
> TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2016 at 11:18 |
|
Hyundai & Kia do base model well.