2011 Hyundai Sonata GL Review

[ahmed_7erzon]

At first sight, my “victim” of the week was a sterling example of an innocuous sedan. An entry-level, mid-size number designed for mass distribution like so many others. In fact, its crude plastic hubcaps did a poor job of camouflaging the black steel wheels confirming its low-end status. There I was, dismayed at the thought of a week spent driving a colourless, flavourless vehicle, inside and out. Ho hum, indeed.


Oh, but I would soon be eating my words.

The sedan standing before me, with the flowing lines of the trendy faux 4-door coupe style reinvented by Mercedes-Benz and its CLS, was an automatic Hyundai Sonata GL. A car for the masses, certainly, but a car that sucker-punched me too.

My memories of Hyundai products go far back. I’m one of the first ones who test drove the Pony, obsolete the moment it was introduced. A lovely young Korean woman in traditional garb had presented it to us.

I also drove the Stellar, a model the South Korean automaker should never have sold in Canada. I even attended the inauguration of the Canadian plant where first generation Sonatas were assembled, in Bromont, Quebec.

Nobody’s perfect.

But all it took was a few minutes behind the wheel of what I’d thought of as the “crude” sedan of a sales rep to forget the mountain of bias against Hyundai products I had amassed over the years.

Stylish
I, too, was seduced by the elegance of the Sonata’s body. Hyundai describes the design language as “fluidic sculpture.” To me, it’s simply a mass of plunging lines that you keep staring at in hopes of discovering where they end. My neighbour isn’t totally convinced though. He finds the Sonata tiring to look at. True, he drives a geriatric Camry…

In other words, the 2011 Sonata doesn’t go unnoticed. And believe it or not, in today’s market that’s considered a good thing.


Hyundai’s designers didn’t stop at the sheet metal, either. They took the same approach with the cabin as well. The enfolding dash seamlessly integrates into the sedan. And the use of two tones of grey, softer on the bottom, deeper on top – in the case of our tester, at least – creates an impression of space and luminosity missing from all-black, funereal cabins today.

The central span of the dash narrowly groups together the crucial commands, such as the HVAC controls in the stylized shape of a passenger, yet another original touch.

Comfortable
The Sonata GL we tried out was the entry-level model. The GLS, Limited and Limited Navigation variants are all better endowed.

Which doesn’t mean the GL is unworthy of the Sonata title. Sure, it doesn’t sport fog lights and the steel wheels camouflaged by ridiculous plastic hubcaps certainly don’t scream quality. However, the list of standard equipment includes air conditioning, a tilt and telescopic steering wheel, cruise control, remote access as well as power windows and rear-view mirrors. You’ll also find six airbags, including two side curtains, active headrests and stability and traction control systems.

What about heated seats, you say? When you choose the 6-speed Shiftronic automatic transmission (with manual mode, thank you very much) instead of the manual, also 6-speed, gearbox, they’re delivered standard. You can’t say as much for the equivalent versions of the Camry, Accord and Fusion – who don’t even offer heated seats.


The stereo system has six speakers, a USB port and an auxiliary port for iPods and such. Bluetooth is also part of the package.


And rear passengers aren’t forgotten either, benefiting from their own air vents. Of course, only passengers of the Sonata Limited will enjoy the heated rear seats, a first in the mid-size sedan segment.

As for the trunk, it’s equally attractive. First, it has a nice wide opening and the sill isn’t too high. Second, it’s one of the most spacious in the class. Third, thanks to the 60/40 split, folding rear seats, controlled by tabs in the trunk, the size and shape of said trunk is adaptable. Pure joy – for a sedan, at any rate.

The Sonata also shines by the stillness of its cabin. Road and wind noise is barely perceptible thanks to the use, for instance, of thicker glass and larger door frames, but also to the narrowing of the gaps between the doors and chassis.

Fun to drive
A 2.4-litre, naturally aspirated, 4-cylinder mill is nestled under the hood. Dubbed Theta II, it has the same displacement as the 2010 Sonata’s engine. However, it generates 23 extra hp for a total of 198 ponies. It’s also more potent than the engines of the Sonata’s rivals, again by some 20 hp.

And it shows. The Hyundai-developed mill hustles the humble GL from 0 to 100 km/h in under 8 seconds. That’s a lot faster than is generally required. And despite its enthusiasm, the engine proves very thrifty: at the end of our tests, it had sipped an average of less than 9 litres per 100 kilometres.

Who’d want a guzzling V6 after that?

The beauty of this engine is that it’s in perfect harmony with the Sonata GL’s road manners. Comfortable on the highway, it proved nimble in downtown traffic and easy to manoeuvre in tight spaces (thanks to a turning diameter of just 10.9 metres).

And the suspension is neither too soft nor too stiff, making for enjoyable jaunts on twisting mountain roads. A quality which I was not at all expecting in an entry-level model shod in 16-inch Kumho Solus tires!


I would have appreciated a slightly stiffer feel to the steering, though. However, the four disc brakes were easy to modulate and very grippy.

A pleasant surprise
In a nutshell, the 2011 Sonata GL is refined, comfortable, powerful and fun to drive, and an exceptionally elegant body sets it apart. What’s more, it features competitive pricing and comes with one of the best warranties in the industry. Not surprising, then, that Hyundai’s sales figures are on the rise.

[guitswrigioni]

Who knows how many new models Hyundai has in the pipeline over the next 12-24 months? If the Genesis starts to exceed sales projections it will certainly encourage more lux variations on the Genesis platform.

[sherifabden]

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