Wednesday, May 4, 2005

2006 Hyundai Sonata

Product Preview

Grown-up Sonata makes rivals sweat

Hyundai sedan is bigger, more powerful and loaded with safety gear

By Anita Lienert / Special to The Detroit News

2006 Hyundai Sonata Sonata's trunk, which has ample cargo capacity and just trails Camry in terms of space, includes a power outlet. Inside the Sonata, the cabin is simply and sensibly laid out with a cleanly designed instrument panel. Hyundai put a premium on a quiet cabin, too, benchmarking Lexus and Audi. Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

SAN FRANCISCO --Maybe I was tainted by the jury.

Before I had the chance to get out to the West Coast to drive the redesigned 2006 Hyundai Sonata sedan, which competes against such best-sellers as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, I spent an afternoon at the Detroit auto show last January going over the Sonata with the 2005 Detroit News Automotive Panel.

Several panelists gushed over the Korean sedan, which is the first product to come out of the company's new plant in Montgomery, Ala.

The Sonata is on sale now starting at $18,495, including a $600 destination charge, for the base GL model.

"Would I choose it over a Camry?" asked William O. Lee, 47, a data processing program analyst for the city of Detroit wastewater treatment plant. "My gut says 'yes.' The styling is a little different."

Lora Leneschmidt, a 32-year-old stay-at-home mom from South Lyon, said the new Sonata has a "more elegant front end than a Camry."

Canton private detective Nancy Helganz, 37, said the Sonata's leather seats reminded her of the ones in the Lincoln Town Car. "And that's a compliment," she added.

And when Detroit retiree Delores Hunter, 56, heard what the Sonata would cost -- starting at under $20,000 -- she said, "I'd buy it because of the price."

After spending a day driving the Sonata in mid-April here, I concur wholeheartedly with the panel.

The redesigned Sonata -- bigger, more powerful and loaded with safety equipment -- appears to be a considerable threat to its Japanese and domestic rivals.

When Robert Cosmai, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, says at the media launch for the vehicle that the new Sonata is a "brand-altering debut," he's not kidding.

With the Sonata, the Koreans are no longer just keeping up with the competition and producing "me, too" kinds of cars. They are elbowing their way to the head of the pack.

A primary example of this is the mind-blowing standard safety equipment on the Sonata, especially when you size up the car against the competition.

Even the base Sonata comes equipped with six air bags, including side curtain air bags that protect all outboard passengers, as well as electronic stability control with traction control and antilock brakes.

In comparison, the vehicle stability control and side air bag and curtain package on the Camry LE adds another $1,300 to the bottom line.

And while Honda added standard front side air bags and side curtain air bags to its base DX and LX Accord models for 2005, traction control is only available on the top-end LX V-6 and EX V-6 models.

The midsize Hyundai sedan hits just the right styling note, too -- conservative yet elegant, with a subtle exterior color palette.

Thankfully, the Koreans did not deviate too much from the successful Camry design playbook. Midsize sedan buyers tend to be a cautious audience, one that's easily spooked by over-the-top design.

If they are cross-shopping Camry and Sonata, it won't be a tremendous reach to move over to the Korean side.

In addition, this Sonata is bigger than the previous model, giving the car a substantial look and the feeling that it's firmly planted on the road.

In the redesign, it's been transformed from one of the smallest midsize sedans on the market to one of the largest, inside and out.

The cabin is simply and sensibly laid out with a cleanly-designed instrument panel. Hyundai put a premium on a quiet cabin, too, benchmarking Lexus and Audi, and it shows. I carried on a lengthy conversation with a back-seat passenger without having to raise my voice at all.

On the down side, the terrycloth-like interior on the base model looks like an old robe I recently stuck in a Goodwill bag. There is no navigation system, no adjustable pedals and no dual climate controls.

And the rear-seat amenities are limited -- there are no vents and no individual reading lights. The rear seat felt too soft and squishy -- noticeably different from the sensation in the front seat. And the purse holder for the front-seat passenger is a waste. It couldn't hold my large shoulder bag.

But the Sonata's ample trunk just trails Camry in terms of space and includes a power outlet. Sonata should be a slam-dunk for many consumers when it comes to the price, especially among mid-range offerings.

A Sonata GLS with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine starts at $21,495, while a more luxurious Sonata LX with a 3.3-liter V-6 engine starts at $23,495 plus destination.

In comparison, a mid-range Camry SE V-6 with a 3.3-liter V-6 starts at $24,315, including a $540 destination charge. And a top-of-the-line Camry XLE V-6 starts at $26,095.

Hyundai has improved the engines offered on the Sonata. The 2005 model had a punier base 138-horsepower 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and a 170-horsepower 2.7-liter V-6.

The 2006 Sonata's 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine now churns out 162 horsepower while the new 3.3-liter V-6 makes 235 horsepower.

Fuel economy is decent on the new Hyundai. The four-cylinder engine with the manual transmission gets 24 miles per gallon in city driving and 34 mpg on the highway. The new V-6 with the new five-speed automatic transmission gets 20 mpg in the city and 30 on the highway.

Hyundai has wisely chosen to cover the Sonata with its 5-year/60,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and 10-year/100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty -- even though it probably could have backed off that high standard a bit since its quality has risen dramatically in just a few years and consumers are tending to trust the brand more.

Hyundai says it expects to be up to 700 U.S. dealers by the end of the year, which lessens consumer worries about where to get their cars serviced.

The Sonata has its shortcomings, but for most people shopping in this price category, they should not amount to deal-breakers.

Even though the understeer that marked the previous Sonata seems to have been corrected, the steering is too light on the new model and feels disconnected from the road.

The soft-and-floaty ride on the old Sonata has been improved, with more body control, although a competitor like the Accord may feel a bit more responsive.

I had a somewhat distressing moment behind the wheel of a preproduction Sonata GLS on the mildly twisty roads of the Marin headlands here.

While I had my foot on the accelerator, the stability control system was inadvertently set off, triggering the antilock brakes. The car felt like it was dragging itself along the pavement. The same thing apparently happened to a couple of other reporters on the drive.

Later, John Krafcik, Hyundai vice president of product development and strategic planning, acknowledged the problem and said that the electronic stability control system would be tweaked before the cars went into production the following week to prevent such an occurrence in the future.

Barring such glitches, the new Sonata should get a public reaction that mirrors that of our panel. It's a solid offering that should vault Hyundai out of the "fast follower" mode into a position of leadership.