Hyundai’s popular midsize Sonata sedan receives some significant updates for the 2009 model year. The changes are focused on where the car needed them most: the inside. I had a chance to drive the new model recently in the outskirts of Chicago and found that the changes are just what this model needed.

The 2009 Sonata gets an all-new dashboard design that can now go toe-to-toe with the best in the segment, like the Honda Accord, in terms of material quality and fit and finish. It’s a vast improvement over the previous design, which was my primary complaint with the 2008 model.

The restyled dash can now accommodate a newly optional navigation system that features a crisp display screen. It’s only available on the top-of-the-line Limited trim, though, and goes for $1,250.

Another change to the sedan’s interior is that the front bucket seats have been enlarged. I thought the previous seats offered good comfort, and found the leather seats in the 2009 Sonatas I tested — a four-cylinder Limited and a V-6 Limited — were also comfortable for the few hours I spent behind the wheel. These seats have very soft cushioning, which surprised me a bit when I first sat in the car. You sink into them, but once you’re settled they offer good support.

In terms of the driving experience, the Sonata’s suspension skews to the firm side of the spectrum for midsize sedans — closer to a Honda Accord than a Toyota Camry — and nicely resists body roll when cornering. This tuning decision lets you feel bumps in the road when the pavement turns rough, but it’s tolerable. While the Sonata’s steering is fairly responsive and precise, the wheel lacks any kind of road feel.

As mentioned, I drove both a four-cylinder and a V-6 Sonata, and while I like the low-end power and overall refinement of the V-6, the four-cylinder is by no means inadequate; it doesn’t have trouble accelerating the Sonata up to highway speeds, though it is noticeably noisier than the V-6. Additionally, the four-cylinder costs less and gets higher gas mileage: 22/32 mpg.

Hyundai got most things right with its new midsize sedan. The Sonata may not be the most exciting model out there, but it doesn’t have to be to do well in this class. The Sonata has been a good value for some time, and the improvements for 2009 make it even more of one.

Korean car, American style

It’s the Americanization of the Sonata.

In the first major program led largely by its U.S. tech center in Michigan, Hyundai gave its midsize sedan a moderate freshening for the 2009 model year, bolstering the engine and refining the interior to adapt to the tastes of U.S. drivers. The car also gets a more aggressive-looking front end, with a deeper grille and larger headlights.

The upgrades are expected to fortify the Sonata in the ultracompetitive midsize segment, which has seen major improvements in a number of entries, including the new Chevrolet Malibu and Nissan Altima, since the current Hyundai launched in 2005. An all-new Sonata is due in 2011.

Chiefly, Hyundai boosted the 3.3-liter V6 powerplant by 15 hp, to 249 hp, pushing it closer to its Toyota Camry and Honda Accord rivals, which pack 268 hp each. A variable intake system was added to improve acceleration.

The 2.4-liter inline-four-cylinder’s power grew 13 hp, to 175, and Hyundai is offering a five-speed automatic transmission with its Shiftronic feature on the Sonata’s smaller engine for the first time. A five-speed manual is also available.

Fuel economy improves slightly for each engine. The V6 gets 19 mpg city and 29 mpg highway; the four-cylinder is rated at 22 mpg city and 32 mpg highway.

Inside, Hyundai cleaned up the center console, moving controls farther up onto the instrument panel and filling the space with a large storage area, similar to that in the Veracruz sport/utility vehicle.

“We were never really happy with it,” Scott Margason, a Hyundai product planner, said of the 2006 model. “Things didn’t mesh together quite as well as they could have.”

A navigation system, priced at $1,250, also is being offered on the car for the first time. It has a high-resolution touch-screen display and voice-command system.

Mindful of the seemingly ever-increasing girth of U.S. drivers, Hyundai made the seat cushions wider and longer, while increasing the angle 2.2 degrees. The company has pointed to the car’s interior as a main selling point, and its 121.7-cubic-foot volume makes it roomier than its rivals–so roomy, in fact, that the EPA now classifies it as a large car.

Hyundai also paid attention to the Sonata’s driving dynamics, increasing the spring rates and adding larger antiroll bars to make for sharper steering and turning response. The sporty SE model gets a stiffer suspension, performance tires and unique 17-inch alloy wheels.

Changes to the exterior were fairly subtle. In addition to the front-end modifications, the car receives new bumper and body moldings.

Hyundai hopes the changes will boost Sonata sales, which dipped 18.6 percent to 24,431 in the first quarter of 2008. Prices range from $18,795 to $26,345. Unveiled at the Chicago auto show in February, the car began arriving at dealerships in March.

SPECS
ON SALE: Now
BASE PRICE: $18,795
DRIVETRAIN: 2.4-liter, 175-hp, 168-lb-ft I4; fwd, five-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 3292 lb
0-60 MPH: N/A
FUEL ECONOMY (EPA): 26 mpg

By GREG MIGLIORE
AutoWeek

In recent months, Hyundai has made a big splash with the introductions of the Genesis sedan and coupe. While those two models will likely do wonders for Hyundai’s street cred, they will definitely be niche players when it comes to volume. Among passenger cars in the US market, the midsize segment has been the highest volume category for nearly two decades. Since the mid-nineties, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord have been the primary players with everyone else having been an also-ran. In recent years, however, Hyundai’s entrant in the segment, the Sonata, has put up an increasingly aggressive challenge to the big dogs. The current generation Hyundai Sonata debuted for the 2006 model year and the company unwrapped its mid-cycle refresh back in February at the Chicago Auto Show.

The 2009 Sonatas have been in production since before the Chicago debut and they should be in stock at Hyundai stores around the country now. We went out to the Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center (HATCI) outside of Ann Arbor, MI for a tour of the facility where the new Sonata was created and then set out for a couple of hours to see how it behaves in the real world. Find out if the new Sonata is for you after the jump.

HATCI opened up in Superior Township, MI in late 2005 and the first major assignment for the engineers and technicians at the facility was the ’09 Sonata refresh. About 150 engineers, designers and technicians occupy the 200,000 sq. ft building with more being added on a regular basis. The 2006 Sonata was designed and developed primarily at headquarters in Korea. The update was handled almost entirely at HATCI and focused primarily on taking what was fundamentally a pretty decent car and making it more desirable all around. They wanted to go from a car that people bought mainly because it was a good value to one that customers actually wanted to be in.

As a mid-cycle refresh, major styling changes were obviously well beyond the budget. Hyundai National Product Planning manager Scott Margason explained that in this segment, styling changes have relatively little impact on the buying decision. Other functional changes are far more important. To that end, Hyundai’s designers created a new nose with a more prominent grille and reworked headlights. The taillights and bumper covers also got some revisions. Aside from the grille, though, observers would have a hard time distinguishing a 2009 Sonata from a 2008 based on outward appearance.

Moving to the inside is a whole different story. Here, it’s immediately clear where HATCI spent its money. And they certainly seemed to spend it wisely. In an unusual move for mid-cycle facelift, the interior of the Sonata was gutted and completely redesigned, drawing many cues from last year’s Veracruz CUV. The previous, rather lumpy and disjointed design has been replaced by a modern and coherent look.

The center stack is all new with satin-finish metallic trim along the sides and clean simple controls for the radio and climate controls. The lower portion of the stack features two decent sized storage cubbies. Smooth-opening doors close off both compartments. Hyundai also developed a new in-dash navigation system that includes a touchscreen display and voice operation. The nav unit includes a gyroscope to sense vehicle motion and also reads wheel speed data, allowing it to continue dead reckoning the vehicle position even when driving in urban environments where tall buildings can interfere with the line of sight to GPS satellites. In keeping with Hyundai’s value orientation, the nav system costs $1,250 compared to the $2,000 charged by most manufacturers.

According to Margason, one of the complaints about the previous Sonata iteration concerned its seats, specifically the lower cushion feeling both too narrow and too short. After a lot of benchmarking and customer evaluation, Hyundai determined that it needed to change the angle of the bottom cushion. Lengthening the cushion by about 18mm and tilting it up by just over 2 degrees was enough to dramatically change the way it felt.

Both the four-cylinder and V6 engines were upgraded by the HATCI engineers. The 2.4L four-pot picked up 13hp and 4lb-ft, putting it at 175hp and 168lb-ft. The engine now has variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust cams, a new intake system for better airflow and what Hyundai calls an “enhanced performance sound”. It’s also rated as a partial zero emissions vehicle (PZEV) in California. The four can be had with either a five-speed stick or five-speed automatic, although only about four percent of buyers opt for the three-pedal setup. Hyundai is currently ramping up production of the fours at its plant in Alabama and by the end of the year all engines for the Sonata should be locally built.

The 3.3L V6 also got some intake upgrades and new calibrations that bump power up 249hp (from 234) and torque to 229lb-ft. The six is only available with the automatic.

After we got the rundown on the new model from Margason, we paired off and set out on our journey of discovery. All the available test cars had automatics and Gary Witzenburg and I set off in a four-cylinder Limited model. It was immediately apparent that the front seats did feel better than most competing Asian brands. I’ve often complained about the short seat cushions on many vehicles — particularly Toyotas — but the Sonata definitely came through here. The new front seats aren’t quite as good as those in the Accord, which I personally find to be exceptional, but they are very good.

The new dashboard layout is much easier on the eyes than the previous iteration. It looks more modern and stylish, and the Limited model, as expected of a “luxury” trim level, had “wood” trim that flowed from the doors into the dash. There’s plenty of room inside the Sonata in all directions. Like the new Accord, the Sonata’s 121.7 cu.ft. interior causes the EPA to rank it as a large car.

Unlike the Honda, which is over 5 inches longer, the Sonata manages to stay relatively compact on the outside. The current Mazda6 is the only car in the class to come in under the Sonata’s 188.9 inch overall length. The Hyundai is among the widest, though, at 72.1 inches. That means there’s plenty of space in the back seat as well as the front.

On the road, no one is going to mistake the Sonata for a sports car. The suspension does a good job of absorbing the worst that Michigan roads can provide, and even crossing railroad tracks at an angle doesn’t upset the car. The ride’s not floaty, but it does feel a bit isolated. Some might find the rim of the steering wheel to be a bit on the skinny side, and feedback is essentially nonexistent.

The four-banger operates smoothly under all conditions, but even the extra power of the 2009 model won’t have you mistaking this for anything but a mainstream mid-size sedan. Flooring the go pedal demonstrates the so-called “enhanced performance sound”, but the accompanying thrust is merely adequate. That said, “adequate” is more than enough for most drivers, and the 2.4L Sonata does just fine merging onto a highway. As with other aspects of the car, transmission shifts were uneventful. That is, they were generally smooth enough to be unnoticeable unless you were listening to the engine or watching the tach.

After our stopover at the Chelsea Teddy Bear factory, we swapped the four-cylinder Limited for a V6 SE model. The SE gets stiffer spring rates, improved damping and more roll stiffness than its counterparts. On the inside, the faux lumber is replaced with satin-finish metallic trim that should probably be standard across the board. On the road, the V6 SE was composed through the curves and generally felt a little more tied down than the other versions. As expected, the V6 felt a lot stronger than the four and was as refined as anything from the Japanese brands.

Overall, there’s nothing about the Sonata to get the enthusiast’s blood boiling, but this segment isn’t about that. The changes to the ’09 make this car a vastly more pleasing place to spend time. It’s more attractive, the seats are more comfortable and the car will get you where you’re going with minimal commotion. The Sonata has significantly more room than the Camry and the styling inside and out is less controversial than the latest Accord. We’ll be waiting for our chance to spend a little more time with the new Sonata.

Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

No Crises Involved: More than a midlife (update) for Hyundai’s Camry combatant

In 2006, Motor Trend’s long-term test fleet made good use of a then-new Hyundai Sonata. It lived a solid year with us, working hard every day, with no problems to speak of, and earned far more praise than complaint. But it was a Wish List car. “Wish the interior were a little better designed and finished.” “Wish there were a little less noise and road rumble.” And the proverbial “Wish it had a little more power.”

We can’t claim to have had anything to do with it, but as the Sonata is now halfway through its five-year product cycle, it’s been given a substantial freshening that appears to have addressed our issues. The segment has since moved forward, too, but the Sonata is now an even more competitive player than when launched. Power is up, emissions are down, mileage has improved, and the cabin is a place in which you’ll be happier to spend time.

Choose between three models: GLS (“base” is an unfair term for such a well-equipped car), upmarket lux Limited, and sporty SE. And although the Sonata looks smaller, visually, than the new Accord, they’re the same size where it counts: inside. Hyundai and Honda are the only two in their competitive set classified by the EPA as large-sized cars, as measured by interior volume. The Sonata, in fact, nips the Accord in that critical measurement, 121.7 cubic feet to 120.0 (this measurement includes the cabin and the trunk, added together). Camry, Altima, and Malibu are considered midsize by the same standard, although not by a lot.

The exterior tuneup is minimal; headlights, grille, fascias, wheels, colors, bing-bang-boom. It’s inside that voluminous cabin where you’ll see a whole new world. The instrument panel, door trim, seats, lighting, center stack, audio systems, HVAC controls, and interior colors are all redone. The look and feel of these components are so much better and more harmonious. Switchgear is more logically located that you can, for the first time, get a nav system. At $1250, it’s priced right, but unfortunately only available on the topline Limited.

There’s more power underhood. The four-cylinder version goes from 162 horsepower to 175 (green states get a PZEV rated I-4 still good for 168). That’ll play just fine with Camry (158), Accord (177), and Malibu (164). Variable valve timing now on both intake and exhaust sides of the combustion process likely accounts for the bump. Yet EPA improves from 21/30 to 22/32 (with automatic trans). Four-bangers make up about 70 percent of Sonata sales volumes, and given ever increasing fuel price levels, that equation may tip further. A five-speed manual transmission is still offered, while the automatic goes from four to five ratios.

The Sonata’s V-6 gets more power, too, but at 3.3 liters, is still displacement-challenged against the category. Most players pack 3.5-3.6 liters of engine, good for 250-270 horses. At 249, the Hyundai can come to the party, but not lead it. But this engine loves to rev, and EPA also improves, if only by a hair, from 19/28 to 19/29.

The underpinnings are retuned for better ride and improved handling, the latter especially in the SE model. Hyundai has also put effort into quelling noise levels, an issue, as noted, with the previous car. As before, there are six standard airbags, four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, and — this is a big one — standard electronic stability and traction control. Camry and Altima charge you extra for these safety systems.

What a difference a little midlife-cycle product update can bring. The new interior makes the Sonata so much more inviting. Improvements in ride are noticeable, and along with those a substantial lowering of noise levels, particularly the white noise and engine sounds that used to creep in from the center stack/IP area.

We sampled I-4 and V-6 models, and the performance improvements are for real. The four feels particularly zippy, something you couldn’t say about the old one. More power and more closely spaced gear ratios do the job well here, although the rpm drop-off between first and second gears seems a bit high. The V-6 has a velvety feel and, though not as sweet-sounding as the Honda’s, has plenty of pull and good response. While we’ve yet to run acceleration, braking, and handling tests, we have no reason to believe they won’t eclipse the prior Sonata’s performance.

Value is huge in this high-volume sedan segment, and Hyundai continues to deliver a strong message here. Depending on model and equipment, and with which competitor it’s being compared, the Sonata offers a bit more for a bit less. Resale value percentages aren’t yet in Camry/Accord territory, but the buy-in is easier, and don’t forget that all-important 10-year/100,000-mile warranty. All Sonatas are assembled in the U.S.

A lower price used to be the main reason to buy a Hyundai, but now it’s just one of several. This round of updates and improvements is substantial and well placed and make the Sonata class-competitive against the usual suspects. If you’re shopping Malibu, Camry, Accord, and the others, put this one on your Wish List, too. And this time, we mean that in a positive way. Stay tuned for a full road test.

By Matt Stone
MotorTrend

Hyundai Sonata Limited almost a steal

THE RIDE: Four-door, five-passenger 2008 Hyundai Sonata Limited midsize sedan.

DOWN THE ROAD: OK, so it’s not packed with power but this family sedan can safely take passengers to their destination. For a commute to work or just the grocery store down the street, the Sonata is the perfect choice — and at the right price.

TECH & PERFORMANCE: Power is derived from a 2.4-liter DOHC inline four-cylinder engine. It develops a satisfactory 162 horsepower at 5800 rpm and 164 pounds-feet of torque at 4250 rpm. It’s coupled to a 4-speed automatic transmission that also can shift gears manually. The front is equipped with a double wishbone, coil springs, gas-filled hydraulic shock absorbers and a stabilizer bar. The rear has a multilink system with coil springs, shock absorbers and stabilizer. Guiding the sedan on the road is a solid power-assisted, rack-and-pinion steering system. Fear not slowing down in an emergency situation for the 11-inch front and 11.8-inch rear power-assisted brake discs are up to the job. I averaged about 23 mpg in city/highway driving, which is good since gasoline prices are edging toward $4 a gallon.

LOOK & FEEL: Set on a unibody construction, four-barrel jeweled projector headlights sandwich a chrome-slathered center-bar grille with aluminum body-side moldings, chrome door handles and body-colored exterior mirrors. Wood-grain accents on the center console, shifter knob and dashboard are visible as you slip into the plush and heated front leather seats, a standard feature in the Limited version of the Sonata. The doorsill scuff plates, four-spoke leather tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel, 6 in-dash Infinity CD changer and power driver’s seat are features you would expect to find mostly in a luxury car. To top it all, Hyundai has installed a trip computer in the instrument panel, automatic temperature control and an auto-dim mirror/compass. Trunk area? A respectable 16.3 cubic feet of space.

SAFETY FIRST: Standard is the norm as in dual front and side airbags, side curtain airbag for both rows, Electronic Stability Control, traction control, four-wheel antilock brakes with Electronic Brake Distribution, front active-head restraints, energy-absorbing steering column, three-point seatbelts for all positions, front and rear crumple zones and tire pressure monitoring system.

OUT THE DOOR: $22,345, plus tax, tag, delivery and destination charges. The sun roof is available for $900.

BY THE NUMBERS: Tires, P215/55VR17; wheelbase, 107.4 inches; length, 188.9 inches; weight, 3,266 pounds; fuel capacity, 17.7 gallons; highway, 30 mpg; city, 21 mpg.

WHY DIG IT: The fuel-efficient Sonata is an outstanding value for the money. The sedan boasts a decent performance coupled with numerous safety features and generous cargo capacity. Making the package tough to beat are the five-year, 60,000-mile new vehicle and 10-year, 100,000-mile power train warranties.

By NITISH S. RELE, Automotive columnist, The Tampa Tribune

Sonata’s sunrise

When I got behind the wheel of the 2008 Hyundai Sonata, I was pleasantly surprised. Granted, it was a decked out Limited model with leather seats and XM Radio. But still. During the test week, it was hard for me to reconcile the fact that the beautiful, peppy, well-appointed car I was driving was actually a Hyundai.

I could have sworn I was driving a Honda Accord. Except that the Accord has a base price of $20,360, and the Sonata starts at $17,670. The Limited model bases at $22,470 with the four-cylinder engine, but heated leather seats and an automatic transmission come standard at this price point. To get an Accord with those items, you’ll have to shell out more than $26K.

While the exterior of the Sonata is a dead ringer for the previous generation Accord, squinty taillights and all, the interior is something special. The level of detail was surprising, and I particularly liked the reverse stitching on the comfortable black leather seats.

The placement of the gauges and dials is ideal, and I could easily adjust my side mirrors and the HVAC without having to stretch in either direction. The one suggestion I have is that the controls on the door should light up at night. There were a couple times that I wanted to lock or unlock the doors, and I couldn’t find the switch in the dark. I also wasn’t a fan of the glowing green gauges. It seemed a bit bright and a bit of a throwback to Hyundai of yore. I wanted something a bit more elegant to match the overall elegance of the vehicle.

I’m currently in the process of moving, so the one thing I noticed and really, really appreciated was the 16.3 cubic-feet of cargo volume. I could fit four to five boxes (the size of a paper box) in the trunk and still have space for hanging clothes. Perfect, because that’s about all I can haul up and down three flights of stairs in one trip.

Another nice thing about the Sonata is the way it handles in snow. And heaven knows I’ve certainly been able to test that this winter. My alley is never plowed, and from the inches and inches of snow to the current bevy of ice, the Sonata kept its footing and didn’t get stuck. Considering this is a front-wheel drive vehicle, I think there’s room to be impressed.

On the road, the 2.4-liter, 162-horsepower four-cylinder engine under the hood isn’t going to win any races, but it’s perfectly peppy and has a nice bit of acceleration. The one area where I could tell this was a Hyundai is with the road and engine noise. A touch of some sound quieting material would go a long way here because I only got hit with the excess noise on hard acceleration and when stumbling over the Chicago potholes.

Fuel estimates for the Sonata with the four-speed automatic ring in at 21 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway. This is good, but if you’re going to stick with the Sonata/Accord comparison, it should be noted that the Accord gets 21 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway with a five-speed manual transmission.

There were times that the engine in the Sonata was a little loud or I could feel a little feedback from the road, but overall, this midsize offering from Hyundai was very solid. And it’s only going to get better for 2009.

First, the interior gets a massive upgrade – just enough elegance to let you know Hyundai has arrived. Then, the horsepower in the four-cylinder engine increases by 13, yet the fuel economy increases as well. The new estimates state that the 2009 Sonata will get 22 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on the highway. The best part is, you don’t have to wait forever to get it. At the Chicago Auto Show, Hyundai announced that the new Sonata will be on sale later this month.

I really liked the 2008 model, and I’m guessing you can probably get a really good deal on a new car right now since they’re trying to make room for the new model. But, some of the things that I didn’t love about the 2008 model look like they’ll be fixed for 2009. So, if you can hold out for a couple more weeks, it might be worthwhile to compare the deal you can get with the upgrades that are coming. Either way, you’ll have a winner.

February 20, 2008
BY JILL CIMINILLO Chicago Sun Times – Autos Editor