Video: 2011 Hyundai Sonata

This is a car that editor Mike Hanley took you through in terms of interior and styling when it was introduced at the 2009 LA Auto Show. We finally had a chance to drive it, and well, it's a four cylinder family car and it doesn't really top the class for being all that fun to drive, but it's a lot of car for the money and it gets pretty good gas mileage. And so in this class, I think Hyundai's got a pretty strong contender. Hyundai makes a big deal out of the Sonata's base engine, a direct injection four cylinder that makes 198 horsepower. Coupled to our test car's six speed automatic, the Sonata it gets an EPA rated 22 miles per gallon city, 35 miles per gallon highway. Those are good numbers for a pretty big family sedan, but don't expect V6 like power. The Sonata gets up and goes all right, but pushed hard, it doesn't exactly leap for the passing lane. We've been evaluating the Sonata against seven major competitors all week long, all with four cylinder engines. And in this class, the Nissan Altima still feels the quickest. The Sonata's electric power steering makes it easy to get into and out of parking lots. Our test car is a GLS model. There's a sport tuned SE model that I've also driven. Its steering has a little bit less power assist, and I hope it handles better because the GLS is kind of sloppy. The steering is vague and there's a lot of body roll and the car generally feels nose heavy when you throw it hard into a corner. That said, the Sonata's a sharp looking car with a stylish interior. And our test model has things like alloy wheels, a navigation system, an iPod compatible stereo and Bluetooth. And it comes in under $23,000 for all that. So maybe handling's not really that big of a deal after all. (engine roaring) <v Announcer>For more car related news, go to cars.com, or our blog kickingtires.net.