It's difficult to imagine, but Hyundai worries that even if it has one of the highest customer faithfullness ratings in the industry, attracting new purchasers into the showroom has been a real challenge. The new Sonata slogan is: ?A Hyundai you've never seen before" and it is true that the Sonata which was redesigned has more power, more space and better fit and finish than it has ever had previously.
Its Advantages are:
- Acceleration
- The possibility to avoid accidents
- Comfort and convenience
- Gas mileage
There are two acceptable disadvantages:
- Suspension noise
- Handling
Reliability and Maintenance
The Sonata is easy to take care of, with very little in the way of programmed maintenance until 100,000 miles is reached, unlike oil changes at regular intervals.
It is backed by one of the longest powertrainn warranties in the automotive industry at 10 years or 100,000 miles.
Performance and Handling
The new Sonata is adequately equipped with a standard 4-cylinder which offers 162HP. The 3.3-liter V6 with 234HP is smooth but responsive and reaches average speed with little effort.
Acceleration is brisk in the four-cylinder and it is surprising in the V6. Hyundai officials say the V6 will turn 0-60 miles per hour times of about 7.5 seconds, with a maximum speed of 130 mph. Shifts are executed easily with the five-speed manual, and the front tires are chirped even more easily. Kicking down for passing with minimal hesitation, the Shiftronic automatic transmission moves between gears smoothly. When the engine bumps up against redline, and it declines to downshift at all, leaving that to the driver's preferences,in manual mode, the Shiftronic will upshift automatically.
It provides more room and power than previous years. However, there is a least favourite feature, cheap interior look with fewer features, and new external redesign. But let's see the positive aspects of Hyundai sonata.
Even if the interior seems cheap and bare compared to 2002-2005 models, seats are comfortable and the general aspect is all right for those who prefer simplicity. The on road performance and handling of this car is very good.
The Hyundai Sonata's new interior marks a major step up the quality ladder. You can notice some rough edges on a few plastic molds and a less-than-lustrous finish on some dash panels. But the overall look is highly competitive with most in the class and better than some.
Three round dials in the hooded instrument cluster communicate the necessities of operational data to the driver, with the largest the speedometer which is positioned inside a polished circle. To its left is the tachometer, and to its right conjoined water temperature and fuel gauges. In the lower dash to the left of the steering column are a bank of five switch plugs, one of them is the dash-light rheostat, and there also can be seen a flip-down storage bin. The ignition key slides into a slot placed properly, in the dash to the right of the steering column instead of on the steering column itself.
