The fluidic Hyundai Sonata will go into the history book as a lesson where the curvy design is not timeless, yet could only last the first wow, second wow...then The End!!! The latest incarnation of the Sonata has now been redesign with less curve, where styling is now almost and nearly to the taste of its Japanese competitor.
However, a Hyundai is still a Hyundai,
and the continuance of the previous Nu 2.0-litre (152hp/195Nm) engine is
the first big mistake, further using the now Hyundai-Kia standard
6-speed transmission, even further proof our local distributor is trying
to maximize profit and to keep the cost low. The direct injection
engine used in the i40 is much better in technology and refinement, and
it is now year end to get discount that could almost match the price of
the new Sonata!
The interior os the Sonata has no surprise, inheriting the norm of Hyundai, with no surprise for the D-segment. Simple layout, functional, with a dual zone aircon control. The steering wheel is loaded with button, which could be messy, and instead of paddle shifter, the audio button extend to the back of the steering wheel, which is a convenience!
The Android-powered head unit is a first, especially it has Waze preloaded as navigation. However, one need to have a data plan on your phone, enable Wi-Fi tethering/sharing for the unit to be useful. This could be the best useful feature and improvement of the Sonata. Let's hope the player CPU is powerful enough to ease the usage. There are just too many similar China-made Android-based player in the market which is so slow, with a lousy screen that is a frustration to use.
3 models are available, with the elegance basic unit selling at RM139k, which comes with lesser airbags and smaller 17" wheels, and the elegance unit at RM145k for additional airbags, anti-dazzle rear view mirror, dash camera, the android head unit. The Executive model, which cost RM153k, comes with a lot more extra such as Active cornering light, 18" wheels, Xenon HID headlights, passenger power seat, panoramic roof.
A short drive of the Sonata shows that the rigidity improvement of it, though the engine is in no way to claim as powerful. NVH is good, and the Android sound system lack refinement, which is a trade off. As with its brother from Kia, the Sonata comes with 3 drive modes, which is Normal, Sport and Active Eco. Forget about the rest, the Sport mode is what you would want to have the car permanently set it. It drives much better with a remapped throttle, maximizing the power of the engine.
In summary, Hyundai has been losing to its own brother company, where Kia under the Naza stewardship, has perform much better. The Sonata could win by a leap against the Optima, as it is new and fresh and comes with 5 Years/300,000km manufacturer warranty. The powertrain warranty is even extended to 8 years, which is an industry first, though this is an insurance warranty which could carry a lot of terms and conditions which might not make sense after owning a Korean car for 5 years. The maintenance cost by Hyundai Sime Darby could be expensive to keep the warranty running. With low volume of sales, the Sonata will be fully imported from Korea.
