As we all know unless you isolate yourself in the cave, the new Sonata YF was already reached our shores nearly 2 week ago. Last Sunday 26.6.10, Sime Darby Auto Hyundai Sdn. Bhd has made a special presentation to the public of Klang Valley to witness and test drive the car before the official launch which is 2.7.10. I was there to cover this event and also I also have the privilege to test drove this car which I will cover in this blog post.
But first, let’s talk about this car. The first thing that will capture your heart would be the design of the car. I can truly say that the Korean has made a huge leap in terms of design and also quality for their present production car. We have seen what Kia has come up with the Forte which is way better than its predecessor and the same goes with the Hyundai Sonata. This would be the first wave of their newly found design language the “Fluidic Sculpture” that has arrived to our shores.
Let’s understand what Hyundai means by their new design language. According to Hyundai, “Fluidic Sculpture” embodies a flowing and dynamic form execution which embraces the harmony co-existence and the wisdom of progressive and passionate futuristic design. A very powerful statement from Hyundai to warn its competitors that this will be their recipe of future Hyundai cars that can even make the Japanese peeing in its pants. By looking on the side design of the car, it will remind us about the more establish car maker design namely the Mercedes-Benz CLS and also the Volkswagen Passat CC which share the same sloping roof line to rear of the car. But Hyundai has made the design even sexier with the input of the “Fluidic Sculpture” that features a flowing line on the skin panel from the fender till the rear tail light.
The dashboard design offers a very modern design with a hint from the newer Volvo dashboard design which employs a humanoid shape to toggle the air con mode from head, body, leg or combo by pressing the humanoid figure. The top of the dashboard features a display shared by the car stereo and also the climate control. Speaking of nice design layout, all the buttons on the dashboard has been laid out stylishly with easy to read labels and also there are two subdials within the meters of the meter combi.
A very powerful design statement but yet looks so soft and smooth. But that’s not all, to add more character and a more upmarket feel, Hyundai also include a strip of chrome from the rear quarter glass panel under the glasshouse till the front head lamp. It is a very bold and brave statement from Hyundai that set it apart from other car makers in its class. This beautiful design not only limited to the exterior of the car, but it follows into the interior of the car. The curvy dashboard is deliciously style to a “double cockpit” and does add to the sleekness of the interior. The only minus point but not too bad is the move by Hyundai Sime Darby which offers an all black interior scheme compared to the black and dark beige two toned coloured dashboard in the picture of the Sonata brochure which is to me a way better looking compared to the one offered here in Malaysia.
Quality of the dashboard, i.e. fit and finish is very good and the top of the dashboard and top of the door trim are covered in soft plastic with all the joints of the trim parts was tightly connected. On the lower side of the front centre console, you will find cigarette lighter, USB/Ipod connectivity and also a 12V power outlet nicely lay out in a row. Lay your feet near the brake pedal, and you will notice the foot parking brake on the left side of your foot. This is a very novel feature for this car as this will allow a bigger storage area on the centre console and also make the centre area uncluttered with a handbrake on the side of the driver. The ambiance of the cabin is further improved by having a large panoramic moon roof which is not only looking good and expensive but it does enhance the feeling of airiness inside the cabin. Press the Start Stop button, and you will be greeted by a blue hue of equipment illumination which does further enhance the sportiness and also the luxurious feel being inside the car.
That’s not all, for a tall person like me, (I am a 180cm) tall, the amount of legroom is more than enough with the help of a 2,795mm wheelbase which is only 5mm shorter than the Honda Accord and for the headroom, even though the roof has a sloping roofline, it’s still offers a good headroom with enough space to prevent my head from touching the headlining. To further pamper the “towkay” at the rear, a rear air con vent is there to cool you down thus being at the back is second to none in its class. Both front and rear seats are well shaped and provide good support for the long journey of ‘balik kampung”.
Now let’s move on by talking how good the car in motion. Lucky for me, Hyundai Sime Darby has prepared 5 cars for us to test drive (4 units of 2.0 litres and 1 unit of 2.4 litres) during the test drive session. I opted for the 2.4 litres engine to get the feel of how good and punchy this new engine. Hyundai Sime Darby only allows a brief test drive as the amount of queue to test drive the car is long, thus I will share my limited driving experience driving this car. On the move, this Hyundai Sonata cabin experience an ambiance is top notch. Wind noise and tyre noise is almost none, even when I push the car till 120km/h. In terms of steering feedback, during the initial acceleration, the feedback was good, but what I particularly don’t like when the steering behaves during speed of above 80km/h, it feels too light for my liking and straight away I remember how I feel while driving the Peugeot 407, the steering feeling is the same i.e. too light when the speed started to build up.
In terms of suspension, Hyundai has tune the suspension on the firmer side with front McPherson struts and rear multi link configuration. This combination does provide good body control when I push the car hard as the back end of the car manage to catch up the action of the front wheel with only the last swing of the steering wheel makes the rear end starts to lose its control, nonetheless I did that on the extreme to know what is the limit of this car can handle and I safely say, Hyundai did a good job providing an excellent grip to this car.
Now let’s talk about the engine. The test drive unit that I drove was a 2.4 litres Theta 2 engine that essentially coming from the same World Engine joint venture, of Chrysler, Hyundai and Mitsubishi according to Hyundai Sime Darby. This engine provides a 176bhp and 227Nm of torque to push the kerb weight of 1411kg. To sum up the experience, I do feel the initial response of the engine is a bit lagging, but when you start to push the pedal, the engine comes alive to catching the throttle position that you have set and the speed builds up quite fast for a car with this kerb weight. If you drive it as normal some might say the engine lacks the punch and charisma, but don’t be fooled by its characters, it does provide enough punch when you ask for it. Besides the 2.4 litres engine, Hyundai Sime Darby also provide another engine option for customers in Malaysia with a 2.0 litres engine with both engines features a dual CVVT (Continuous Variable Valve Timing) on the intake and also on the exhaust.
Both engines are connected to the new self developed by Hyundai six speed auto box. The A6MF1 transmission is said to be the most compact and lightest of its kind as according to Hyundai, the transmission is 12kg lighter and 62 fewer parts as compared to the old five speed auto box. The shifting of this transmission is so smooth that you can hardly feel any shift shock when the gear is changing. At first I thought of driving a CVT transmission but when I was told that it is a normal auto box by the Hyundai personnel, I was amazed by its smooth shifting character. To add up its amazing feat of this new auto box, according to Hyundai Sime Darby, this new transmission is maintenance free for the life of the vehicle or a 300,000km warranty. But if you do drive it harsh as according to Hyundai Sime Daryby term, harsh is when you make a daily trip to Genting Highland, the Hyundai service person will check the condition of the transmission oil and if it does need some changing, Hyundai recommends it to be change at every 100,000km.
To me the minus point for the setup offered by Hyundai Sime Darby is the deletion of paddle shift option for the Malaysian consumer. Even though Hyundai Sime Darby did offer a TipTronic shifting on the gear lever, but nothing beats a real paddle shift shifting which adds up to the sportiness to the car. Maybe an item for a facelift for Hyundai Sime Darby to offer?
So after a short driving experience, I can sum up that Hyundai cars now are way better then it use to be. In terms of quality and also the technical bits, I can safely say that Hyundai is now on par with its Japanese rival’s even Hyundai Sime Darby shares the same thinking by offering a direct side by side comparison with a Honda Accord and Toyota Camry during the test drive session. That shows how confident they were with their products. Now the million dollar question, are Malaysian consumers ready to jump the ship and forego the brand stigma. With the resale value is one of the key elements of deciding to buy a car; it would be an uphill battle for Hyundai Sime Darby to convince the consumer of actually purchasing this car.
But to me, if I do have the cash to spare, I would sign my cheque book to buy this car, as to me, Hyundai has delivered the most compelling and exciting engineering feat into the automotive industry here in Malaysia. Honda and Toyota, be wary of this new competition from the Korean as the Korean is now coming.
p/s The listed price for the new Sonata as shown below:
1) Hyundai Sonata 2.0 Standard: RM 135,888.00 OTR
2) Hyundai Sonata 2.0 High Spec: RM 143,888.00 OTR
3) Hyundai Sonata 2.4 High Spec: RM 163,888.00 OTR.
To sum up my driving experience with this new Hyundai Sonata, I’m awarding a 4 out 5 stars to this new D segment car. Salute Hyundai for your amazing product.
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