SPORTY PERFORMER GETS A STYLE UPDATE
ESTEREL, QUEBEC Almost seven years ago, my wife was given a $360 fine for speeding at 54 km/h over the limit in a 2011 Hyundai Sonata. It could have been much worse: She wasn’t watching her speed; the car was good at concealing it, and she was essentially a “street racer” in the eyes of the attorney general.
Thank heavens she didn’t sample the 2018 Sonata I briefly drove a few weeks ago; that ticket in Ontario today could cost $10,000 and mean watching the car get towed to Never Never Land.
In 2011, the sixth-generation Hyundai Sonata was making noticeable inroads against the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, its stylistic swoops and attractive interior providing a refreshing breeze from the stale air of other mid-size sedans. To this day, 2011 marks the best year for Sonata sales in Canada, besting annual sales of the venerable Toyota Camry that year.
The 2015 Sonata, introduced at the 2014 New York Auto Show, marked the introduction of the seventh-generation car, but styling was far more staid compared to years past, and the conservative look never set hearts on fire the way the previous model did. Sales began to slip last year, even though the new Sonata was a better car.
This month, that car reappears like the belle of the ball; the 2018 Sonata’s facelift is almost as radical as the sixthgeneration was to its predecessor. A carefully designed “cascading grille,” vertical LED daytime running lights and narrower headlights that connect to a profile line all the way over the shoulders and back, work with a sculpted hood to create a windswept look handsome enough for Hollywood.
The rear, too, gets some plastic surgery, with cooler-looking tail lights and a licence-plate housing properly lowered into the rear valance.
Without driving the outgoing and new model back to back, it is hard to say how much better the 2018 Sonata is than the one it replaces. This, after all, is mostly a facelift, with the exception of a new eight-speed automatic transmission (with paddle shifters) on 2.0T Sport models. Available in five trim levels — GL, 2.4 Sport, GLS, GLS Tech and 2.0T Sport — the Sonata carries on with a 2.4-L four cylinder and an available six-speed manual transmission in models other than the turbo.
All models, however, get blindspot detection with rear crosstraffic alert and lane-change assist. Upper models now get “driver-attention alert,” autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection and lanekeep assist.
The new interior is easier on the eyes and easier to use, still with a decent array of buttons, though the infotainment screen is either a smallish seven-inch on lower trim models or eight inches on higher models. It’s not as pretty as the new upright screen on the 2018 Elantra GT, but all models get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard. Hyundai’s new telematics system, BlueLink, can now be optioned on the Sonata.
On a very short drive in the Quebec countryside, the 2.0-L turbo engine, with 265 poundfeet of torque, felt as lively and playful as ever. Coupled to the eight-speed automatic, the 2.0T motivates the Sonata with a high degree of sophistication and smoothness, kicking into the right gear going up hills and going quiet on longer stretches of flat road. It feels as powerful as any V6, yet shouldn’t be nearly as thirsty. Fuel consumption figures were not released.
The refresh has not yet been applied to the Sonata Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid for the 2018 model year, as the gas-powered models are getting all the attention first.
While not in competition with Audi or BMW, the 2018 Sonata somehow replicates some of the same satisfying feelings that come from driving a German sedan. A firm suspension, comfortable seats, limited lean in the corners, good feedback through the new, flat-bottom steering wheel in the turbo Sport and a feeling of solidity together create a sedan that’s anything but boring from behind the wheel.
Now that it’s got a far more seductive exterior to go with those terrific driving dynamics, expect to see a few more Sonatas stopped for speeding.