Road Test
Hyundai has always offered a lot of car for the money, but it hasn't always offered much in the way of sophistication, quality, and refinement. That's been changing over the past few years, with quality improving markedly (Hyundai was tied with Honda for second place in last year's J.D. Power Initial Quality Study). And Hyundai's new Tucson SUV ( C/D, March 2005) demonstrated clear progress in chassis refinement as well.
These improvements aside, this new 2006 Sonata has an ambitious assignment. It's supposed to take on the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, the perennial bestselling sedans and acknowledged standards of cultured technology and silky smoothness. A couple of years ago, we would have snorted at the suggestion of a Hyundai competing in this league.
Engineers at Hyundai appreciated the difficulty of their task, so they set their sights high, selecting the previous-generation Audi A6 as their aspirational goal for the new Sonata. Not surprisingly, they didn't match the $40,000 Audi. But in the $20,000-to-$25,000 segment, the car they created is very impressive.
Take its engine, which is not an area of notable Hyundai achievement in the past. The new G6DB Lambda-family 3.3-liter V-6 in our Sonata LX test car develops 235 horsepower and 226 pound-feet of torque. That's up 65 ponies and 45 pound-feet over the previous-generation Sonata's V-6. In the segment, the engine's output is second only to that of the Nissan Altima 250-hp, 3.5-liter V-6.
As a result, the Sonata, despite weighing 3540 pounds, is plenty quick, accelerating to 60 mph in seven seconds flat and covering the quarter-mile in 15.5 seconds at 92 mph. The current, 240-hp Honda Accord V-6 delivers identical performance, and the only quicker comparable sedan is the Altima V-6 with a manual gearbox.
What's perhaps even more surprising is that the Lambda V-6 delivers this performance smoothly and silently. Even when revved to its 6000-rpm redline, the V-6 remains composed and happy. The all-new five-speed automatic helps get the most from the V-6 by shifting seamlessly and intelligently, although it's sometimes slow to kick down. The transmission is also equipped with a manumatic mode that is not common in this class of car. Called Shiftronic, it lets you select the gears using a separate manual gate and, thankfully, won't override your gear choices with kickdowns and upshifts of its own.
Such a sporting detail might seem like overkill in what is intended as a mainstream family sedan, but the new Sonata's chassis willingly accommodates spirited driving if you are so inclined. This Sonata doesn't float, dive, or roll very much even when you are charging hard on a mountain road. Furthermore, the Sonata corners without the excessive understeer that plagues many front-drivers.
Credit the modern suspension, with control arms in front and a multilink layout in the rear, and gas shocks and anti-roll bars at both ends. Another helpful factor is the standard electronic stability-control system, which gave Hyundai chassis engineers the freedom to calibrate the car for more neutral balance, knowing that the electronics would save the ham-handed. If you know what you're doing and want to play, simply switch off the ESC and enjoy the ability to slide both ends of the car. Thanks to the 225/50 Michelin Pilot HX tires on our top-dog LX model, the car grips the road to the tune of 0.79 g, which is higher than most of its competitors.
Apart from its superior grip, handling balance, and body control, the Sonata responds to the driver with impressive precision. We drove the car from San Francisco to Los Angeles and found its steering to be accurate and well weighted enough that we could guide the car with only subconscious effort. On washboard corners, there's sometimes a little too much kickback through the wheel, but that's certainly preferable to Novocain steering feel. The Sonata's brakes also have a progressive feel that promotes smooth driving. The accelerator tip-in could be a little more progressive, but the Sonata's controls are generally satisfying.
