Hyundai Sonata 2012: Road Test

It’s almost uncanny how almost every story about any of Hyundai’s new cars starts off with a reference to how much good their new fluidic design philosophy has done to the brand. So, for once, I’m going to be a little critical about the Sonata.

Let’s face it – the car hasn’t had a distinct character of its own ever since its inception into the Indian market all those years back. The first one looked pretty much like a straight lift from the super hot Jaguar S-Type and then the next redesign which later on got the ‘Embera’ moniker was as plain as a box of morning cereal. That said, having flattered the Jag wasn’t too bad a strategy at all and it pretty much helped establish Hyundai as an acceptable maker of high-end equipment. Now that’s saying quite a bit, considering that Maruti hasn’t been able to pull the same off with the Kizashi.

The Sonata has until now always been a bit of an exclusive automobile but not because of its price but more so because not many wanted one when they could opt for one of the Japanese offerings. The car was always a comfortable one though, but always seemed a tad outclassed by the competition. All that looks like it’s about to change though and after all that criticism above I can’t help but say that the new one is, well, pretty impressive – and that’s quite the understatement!

Aesthetics: Original, finally?

Yes and No. The new Hyundai Sonata has been designed at the Korean manufacturer’s design studio in Irvine, California and at first glance it simply melts your heart. Modern family design cues have seen quite a few brands falter in their approach and all their cars have started looking the same but Hyundai have somehow kept things fresh with each and every new model that they’ve come up with yet.

So the Sonata instantly bares resemblance to the fluidic Verna, but yet manages to look completely different at the same time and that is quite the achievement. If you aren’t a fan of the Korean company’s designs yet, you sure will be after having seen the Sonata in the flesh. The lines reek of an art form that Da Vinci would have been proud of and Michelangelo would have put up posters of on his bedroom walls.

But the Sonata’s true brilliance lies beyond the flowing lines and svelte curves because once you soak in all the details it really starts to touch you deep within your soul. I’m not a big fan of too much chrome on cars but that metallic strip that runs all the way from its rear quarter glass along the waist line to the head lights is pure brilliance.

And then there’s the kink in all of the slats on the front grille that not only break up the visual mass there but also seamlessly flow into two strong character lines along the length of the hood. And don’t you dare miss the metallic red ‘GDi’ badge on the boot lid while you’re at it. All of the car’s lines seem to genesis from some invisible point on the front bumper and flow outwards – squint your eyes a little and you’ll almost have visions of the Big Bang and the birth of the universe!

So maybe that’s saying too much, but you’ve got to admit, the new Sonata makes every other car out there look like a relic from medieval times. Original then, isn’t it? Well, remember the first-generation Mercedes-Benz CLS? I guess we’ll leave it at that then.

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Interiors: MySpace meets Marriott

The best part of a completely new model is that you can probably do whatever you want with it and that’s the approach Hyundai seems to have taken with the new Sonata. Not only is everything a lot more fresh than the outgoing model, but it is also exactly where it should be. All controls are within reach and the best part is that nothing has been overdone – especially when it comes to the colours in the cabin. There’s this really neat and clever combination of beige with black such that neither shade seems overdone. The two-tone theme extends to the steering wheel as well, which, by the way is rather nice and chunky to hold.

The driver does get a whole lot of gadgets to play around with including electrically adjustable seats and steering mounted controls for the audio system and quite weirdly, the trip meter toggle and reset buttons as well. All else is fine, but the way the trip meter buttons are positioned they get pressed whenever you work the steering wheel into tight turns and the fact that the meters set back to zero with just a tap of the reset button can be very irritating. Considering that this was the only real flaw we found in the Sonata’s front half, it says quite a lot on how much the Koreans have worked on getting things right this time.

The fairy tale continues to the rear bench which is not only super comfortable, but also spacious enough for you to stretch out those legs and relax. Occupants also get full access to the audio system through a set of controls hidden in the fold-away centre arm rest along with lots of storage as well. Ingress and egress to the rear bench is quite easy as well with the seat-back starting right at the door sill.

But if you thought it was just the front-seat occupants that got all the gadgets to play with – the audio controls notwithstanding, then the heated and cooled seats all round the Sonata will come as quite the pleasant surprise. While all that is pretty awesome we would have loved to see our test car come equipped with the three piece sunroof that makes it to the options lists in foreign markets!

Lethal injection

Under that beautifully sculpted hood sits a somewhat massive 2.4-litre inline-four mill mated to either a manual stick-shift or an auto’box with paddle shifters on the steering wheel as per your preference. The 4-valve per cylinder DOHC engine makes 201 PS and sends 250 Nm to the Sonata’s front wheels. But the best part about the Sonata’s engine isn’t really its size. Despite the 2359cc capacity, the Sonata is still rated for a fuel efficiency of 10 kmpl and 12.5 kmpl for the manual transmission version in the city and highway respectively. That may drop a tad lower on the automatic variants, but personally, we found the automatic to be the better of the two cars.

The engine pulls the Sonata’s near-1500kg frame effortlessly through the six gear ratios when in Drive mode and if you’re in the mood for a little more control over the shifting, you can plug the shift lever in Sport mode and make full use of the paddles on the steering wheel. The shifts are quick enough and make the task of going through the gears pretty pleasurable as well. The manual variant though isn’t as great though and despite the slightly better efficiency, its hard clutch and poor throttle response at lower revs tends to put you in a spot – especially in 1st and 2nd gears.

Give that fabulous GDi engine some space to stretch its legs though and it will leave you with your jaw dropped all the way to the floor. When we got the Sonata AT to shoot to 100 km/h from standstill it did it in under 10 seconds and considering that some other cars with bigger engines are beating it only by a few tenths of a second, this is definitely one fast car! All that performance coming from an inline four is the direct result of Hyundai’s Gasoline Direct Injection technology and it makes real world overtaking a breeze with the car accelerating from 60 km/h to the ton in 4.58 seconds.

We didn’t quite get the space to reach the Sonata’s terminal velocity but rest assured, that stonker of an engine coupled with the car’s aerodynamic shape will take it past the 200 km/h mark with ease.

Big bad luxo-barge!

This may be an all-new car from Hyundai, but there is one particular bit of character that the Koreans have kept with it from generation to generation. It still focuses more on ride quality and comfort than outright handling and corner carving. Most owners will no doubt spend their time in the back seat and that is the best place to be in the new Sonata just as it has been in all the generations that preceded it.

The seats are supportive, plush and there’s lots of legroom. And if you’re thinking that sloping roof is going to intrude on head room, you’re extremely mistaken. Consider the audio controls and the heated and cooled seats that we mentioned earlier, and you know that the back benchers are well taken care of. That said, those who want to drive the Sonata on weekend getaways or even everyday to work aren’t going to feel shortchanged either. It may not be the best handler out there, but its does a decent, confidence-inspiring job – not that we’d recommend taking the Sonata out for a track day!

The new Sonata also comes packed with safety features that we’ve all begun to expect from a car in this segment including all the abbreviations like ABS, ESP and TCS as well as Brake Assist, Active head restraints, rear parking sensors with a warning display on the cluster and an extremely useful and crystal clear rear parking camera with the display on the ECM! It’s like a nerd going to the science fair and bringing back home a fully-loaded laboratory! And it’s even got six airbags and projector headlamps if all that wasn’t enough.

Comfortable, loaded with gadgets and space-age as far as its design is concerned – the new Hyundai Sonata GDi certainly lives up to everything that the Koreans promise from their new generation of cars. They’ve even managed to keep the price pretty down-to-earth as well with the manual transmission variant at Rs 18.53 lakh and the automatic at Rs 20.61 lakh, ex-showroom in Delhi. That puts it bang in the middle of the competition but if you actually consider the kind of equipment you’re getting for the price, it comes as an extremely good value for money proposition. And then there’s that brilliant GDi engine at the heart of it all. If the price tag and the styling wasn’t enough, the powerplant definitely seals the deal for us!