Sonata’s new look ‘stunning’
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — First of all, this car is gorgeous. But, the obvious question is: Why bother? Cars are out, crossovers are in. Ford is dropping out of the car game, GM and FCA appear ready to do the same. Why is Hyundai spending so much time, effort and dollars on bringing to market a brandnew car?
The question may be obvious. The answer is simple and straight forward. Because enough consumers are still buying cars to make it a viable market — 1.5 million in the U.S. and 90,000 in Canada.
“There is still a healthy market for these vehicles,” said Lawrence Hamilton, director of marketing for Hyundai Canada. He told us during the launch of the eighth-generation Sonata that the intermediate segment is still the sixth largest in the country.
A few miles away, at Hyundai’s giant stateof-the-art factory, the eighth-generation Sonata is rolling off the production line interspersed with the Elantra and Santa Fe. It will also produce the recently-unveiled Santa Cruz pickup next year, after an additional Us$400-million investment.
Hamilton said the new Sonata is a continuation of the brand’s move upscale.
“We’re making steady progress in this direction,” he said.
In addition to design and content, the move will entail concentrating on retail rather than fleet sales. The DN8, as it is known internally, has been developed to attract those still interested in appearance. The “sensuous sportiness” theme resulted in a “four-door coupe” look that is stunning.
There are shorter overhangs at both ends. The passenger cabin is more rearward. There are unique touches like an exceptionally low hood that extends all the way to the grill with no horizontal break. There is a focus on the lighting structure with daytime running lights that sweep up the sides of the hood going from LED white to chrome. There is a distinctive narrow strip of LEDS running the full width of the rear.
The interior is equally attractive with emphasis on the width of the vehicle. The slim vents are a key feature that took a lot of work on air flow to ensure silent, but ample movement despite their diminutive size.
The 2020 Sonata is the widest
vehicle in the segment. It has the longest wheelbase and bestin-class front seat head and leg room. The rear seat is also spacious. The new platform allowed fresh work on addressing NVH. As a result, this is a supremely quiet vehicle on the road, almost devoid of either road or wind noise on the smooth surfaces encountered in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
The Sonata is powered by a pair of new four-cylinder engines. The base model gets a 2.5-litre version putting out 191 horsepower and 181 lb.-ft. of torque. The upscale engine is a smaller turbocharged 1.6-litre four producing 180 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft. of torque. It utilizes a unique continuously variable valve timing technology, promising a four per cent improvement in performance and five per cent better fuel efficiency. Torque is the differentiator with the turbo engine having more and producing it much earlier, peaking at 1,500 rpm versus 4,000 for the normally-aspirated engine. A hybrid powertrain will come along in the spring.
I’d describe the 1.6 as adequate. We didn’t get to try the 2.5. The segment’s best-selling Camry and Accord both offer more powerful V6 engines. Hyundai says it will address that deficit with a more powerful Sonata wearing the “N” badge of its new performance division in about a year.
Both engines are paired with an eight-speed automatic transferring power to the front wheels. There is no all-wheeldrive option. Hyundai believes its sophisticated “snow” mode will electronically ensure sufficient grip through throttle mapping and torque vectoring.
Safety has been addressed with Hyundai’s Smartsense system. Standard across all trim levels it includes: forward collision avoidance assist, smart cruise control with stop and go, lane follow assist, parking collision avoidance assist, blind spot collision avoidance assist, rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assist, highway drive assist, blind spot monitoring, driver attention warning and automatic high beams.
A 20-cm wide Headsup display keeps the driver aware of a variety of factors. The 25-cm infotainment screen is canted toward the driver, there is a cooling fan for the smart phone charger, push buttons for transmission control and the 12-speaker premium Bose sound system is pre-loaded with six “sounds of nature” so you can chill out should a bout of road rage start to surface. The driver faces a 31-cm wide digital cluster with engine and road speed shown in large round instruments at each end. The blind spot warning system uses these dials to show a real-time display of what is in the blind spot on that side.
Another piece of slick new technology is the ability to move the Sonata into or out of tight parking spaces with the key fob. Come back to find some yoyo has parked too close to allow you to get in without damaging the paint? Use the remote start function, then an arrow to pull the car forward or back. Got a really crowded garage? Pull up, get out and use the fob to pull the car into that tight space. In both cases sensors will prevent the car from striking a wall, other vehicle or object.
The new Sonata will be available in four trim levels: 2.5 Preferred, 1.6 Sport, 1.6 Luxury and 1.6 Ultimate. There is a myriad of colour choices inside as well as out.
Handsome, supremely quit and refined, the new 2020 Sonata raises the bar in many areas. Cars may be falling out of favour. But before you join that rush, give this one a close look.