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By Matt NaumanTheMercuryNews.com
July 29, 2005
But I'm here now as it's happening to Hyundai. The Hyundais of the late '80s and early '90s were cheap and, frankly, very bad. More recently, the South Korean automaker has sold cars and sport-utility vehicles that offered good value and steadily improving quality, as noted by both J.D. Power and Associates and Consumer Reports. The 2006 Hyundai Sonata, a redesigned sedan being built at the automaker's new $1.1 billion plant in Alabama, is good. As in darn good. As in, if you're looking at a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord or Nissan Altima, you'd better have the Sonata on your shopping list, too. I just drove a Sonata GLS with a V-6 engine and an automatic transmission for a week. No one could deny that it was a tremendous value. The window sticker said $22,995. That price includes such safety features as six air bags, anti-lock brakes, traction control and stability control. It also included amenities such as a CD/MP3 player, air conditioning, fog lights and a trip computer. The option list was small on my test car, but included a sunroof, a power driver's seat and 17-inch wheels and tires. A comparable Camry or Accord costs thousands more. On the road, the new Sonata feels and sounds like a high-quality car. The doors slam with an assured thud. The ride is quiet. I heard no squeaks and rattles. Base GL and GLS Sonata models come with a 162-horsepower, 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. An option on the GLS -- the one I drove -- and standard on the LX is the 235-horsepower, 3.3-liter V-6. (That's a huge improvement from the non-competitive 170 horsepower provided by last year's 2.7-liter V-6.) The four-cylinder cars come with either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission. The V-6 version comes equipped with a five-speed automatic transmission. Both engines and the five-speed automatic are brand new. On the road, the car provided a comfortable ride with smooth acceleration. I wouldn't describe the feeling as sporty, but it's a ride that most American car buyers will find more than acceptable. In car-speak, it drives more like a Camry than an Accord. What makes the new Sonata different than those cars is its size. The old 2005 Sonata was one of the smaller mid-size cars on the market. This new 2006 Sonata is actually a large car, as defined by the government. The numbers are meaningless to most people, I know, but, for comparison's sake, the new Sonata has 105.4 cubic feet of passenger volume. The 2005 Sonata had 100.0 cubic feet. The 2005 Camry sedan measures 101.8 cubic feet and the 2005 Accord sedan has 88.0 or 91.1 cubic feet, depending on the model. If you're sitting in the back seat of the Sonata, it means you'll have plentiful knee and leg room. The back seat has two cup holders and two grab handles, too, but no reading light. The trunk at 16.3 cubic feet is a bit smaller than what's found in a Camry but much larger than what's in the back of an Accord. Design-wise, the new Sonata is pleasant enough. But in making an effort to create a car that will be sold against the Camry, the Hyundai designers sculpted one that looks just as ordinary. Our tester was painted deep-water blue, and that languid shade tended to soften up what is already a pretty fuzzy design. The interior, too, is very good, with no obvious faults, but hardly anything that would be confused with an Audi or even a Lexus or Cadillac. Our GLS came with cloth seats, and they had a high-quality look. Gas mileage is much improved with this new family of engines. The 2.4-liter four-cylinder 2005 Sonata with manual transmission got 22 mpg in city driving and 30 mpg on the highway. The 2006 version gets 24 mpg in the city and 34 on the highway. The V-6 with automatic that I drove got 20 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway. Last year's 2.7-liter V-6 and four-speed automatic got 19 mpg in the city and 27 mpg on the highway. As Hyundai gets more competitive, you have to wonder how long it'll keep the long warranty -- 10-year/100,000-mile for the powertrain, five-year/60,000-mile overall and three years of 24-hour road-side assistance -- that's one of the best in the industry. But it remains in place with this 2006 Sonata. I don't put the new Sonata into the same league with Camry and Accord without thought. But the quality reports from Power and Consumer Reports and my seat time in the new sedan are enough to convince me that this is a very good car. Only the fact that it has so many new important components, and it comes out of an all-new plant where it is being built by folks who have never put together a vehicle before keeps me from giving it a totally ecstatic five-star rating. Think of my four stars as a strong endorsement. - - - NUTS & BOLTS What we drove: 2006 Hyundai Sonata GLS, a four-door sedan with a 3.3-liter V-6 and a five-speed automatic transmission Stars: **** Base price: $20,895 Price as tested (includes options and delivery charge): $22,995 Curb weight: 3,458 pounds Length: 188.9 inches Turning circle (curb-to-curb): 35.8 feet Standard features: Electronic stability control; traction control; four-wheel anti-lock brakes; front, side and side-curtain air bags; 16-inch alloy wheels; keyless entry with alarm; power windows, locks and mirrors; AM/FM/CD/MP3 stereo; air conditioning; cruise control; tilt steering; leather-wrapped steering wheel; trip computer; floor mats; fog lights. Options on test vehicle: Power sunroof; power driver's seat; auto-dimming mirrors, Homelink and compass; upgraded wheels and 17-inch tires EPA figures: 20 mpg (city); 30 mpg (highway) - - - Talk to Matt Nauman about new cars online for a live question-and- answer session from noon to 1 p.m. today at www.mercurynews.com . You also can contact him at mnauman@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5701.
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