2011 Hyundai Sonata GLS: No Shade

@altimadude-

IMO, Hyundai still has a ways to go to arrive at the "complete package" level of Accord or Camry.

I rented one last week while out on business, and put about 500 miles on it. I will say that I was impressed when I returned the car. It handles high speed cruising like a champ, has an engine that is plenty powerful (if nothing special to listen to), has bluetooth, USB, and a damn good stereo for a base model, and has a fairly buttoned down chassis for easy, 5/10ths driving.

My biggest gripes were the steering calibration (felt unnaturally heavy at high speeds, and unnaturally light at low speeds), the wing mirror position (way too high up), and the engine's coarseness.

All of my issues could be handled in a mid-cycle refresh. Honda and Toyota should be very afraid.

Given the driving style, the fuel economy sounds decent. That said, it also leads _me_ to believe that if you're doing lots of long distance driving, trying to save money on gas by going with a smaller engine these days really doesn't yield much benefit. I've driven that route in a number of mid-size V6 vehicles that returned similar economy despite making a lot more power. And I'll bet Hyundai's own 2.0T would've been within a mpg or two. I've been doing a 2-3 times a month commute that is 300 miles each way for a business venture of mine. I would find the trips much more tedious with 200 hp vs. 300+ hp and saving 1-2 mpg wouldn't make up for it.

Now, if city driving is where you spend your time, a small engine almost certainly pays dividends. And given how well the Sonata seems to have done in the general fuel economy tracking Edmunds does, it seems like it would be a solid commuter car.

Even with an aftermarket sunroof, I could buy a Sonata for about 2 grand less than an Accord EX manual. (The Accord has one option that is important to me-- a power driver's seat, including power seatback reclilne.) When you compare these casrs side by side, there are some significant differences. At some point, I need to make a decision. Right now there are too many great cars out there. Mindboggling.

church123 - I get significantly better highway mileage in my 2.0T - but I tend to drive flat stretches of largely open freeway with the cruise control set at moderate speeds. Not hypermiling by any stretch, but no hooliganism either. Driven comparably, I suspect the two would be close - on the highway, at least.

But another way to look at the Sonata mileage here is that it has - over the length of the long term test - pretty much matched that of the much smaller, much less powerful and supposedly much more fuel efficient long term Chevy Cruze. Which points to the fact that putting a weak engine in a heavy car and thinking that will somehow result in good mileage is kinda foolish - that weak motor has to HARD all the time just to move all that mass.

As for the Sonata not "being there" yet with the Accord - I just spent the best part of last weekend behind the wheel of my Father's current gen Accord - and I respectfully disagree. So does he.

"Which points to the fact that putting a weak engine in a heavy car and thinking that will somehow result in good mileage is kinda foolish - that weak motor has to HARD all the time just to move all that mass."

This isn't as foolish as it seems at face value.

The mileage number that counts for manufacturers is the dawdling 48 mph treadmill test from 35 years ago that determines CAFE compliance. A small motor locked up in OD at the earliest oppurtunity is great for that. That it's constantly on the rich part of the fuel map in the real world of hills and higher speeds is the buyer's problem, one that he usually won't know about until he's already bought it.

Well - I said it was foolish approach for actually providing good mileage. Sure, it will be just fine for a dawdling 48mph treadmill test.

jaeger don't you have an elantra?

How fast were you going? Here's what my Maxima gets with a 290 HP V6 and a CVT:

55 MPH - 32 MPG
65 MPH - 29 MPG
75 MPH - 26 MPG
85 MPH - 23 MPG

If you were tooling along at 60, you're not setting any records. I will say, though, that the base Sonata 2.0L feels stronger than anything else in the class. There isn't much reason to bother with the turbo unless you're after excessive passing power or the car is often heavily loaded.

Sounds like they were averaging about 75-80 mph, alexdi. Maybe even faster, because if you're passing traffic and mashing the pedal on I5, you're going pretty quickly.

My G37 gets a consistent 27 mpg on that route at a 78-79 mph cruise control setting (amazed at that car, just passing 16,000 miles in a year of ownership and it continues to get more efficient - got almost 27 mpg going uphill to Vegas last week with a 78 mph average speed an a slight tailwind. And nearly 30 mpg from Vegas to Phoenix another time.)

@jaeger-

My "not quite there yet" comments were based on the "rental" level Sonata. I would suspect that the 2.0t has better electric power steering calibration than the base model. Not a knock to the Sonata at all. It is a highly impressive, very competent offering.

dracy - nope - no Elantra - though I did give it very close consideration as it is really all the car I "need". I ended up with the Sonata 2.0T. Passat 2.0T would have been my second choice.

The Sonata is definitely setup to love 50-60 mph trips. My 2011 Optima (2.4L) absolutely loves to be between 50 and 60 mph. On a recent flat, 55 mph run. I turned in around 40 mpg. In normal driving, I'm right around the EPA combined numbers, maybe a mpg below right now. It's not broken in yet so I'm hoping that'll improve a bit more.

@fvfvsix:

The only car I've driven that had electric power steering that was calibrated near perfect for me was the 2012 Focus. I would say, for most manufacturers, electric power isn't near perfect.

has this car gotten 35mpg ever on any trip? Someone should've tried to match that number on a real world road trip at least once. After a year we still dont know if you can realistically get 35mpg in this car. The fact that it hasn't hit its EPA number confirms what I thought- on many current cars you need to be at 65mph or lower to hit the hwy figure. In the real world the Sonata's mileage is going to be a toss up vs the 4 cylinder competition. Of course you do get 200hp in the Sonata (supposedly) which is a bonus.

@1487:

I totally agree. Many cars these days are designed to ace the EPA's test rather than deliver the best mileage the way most people actually drive. Many of the owners from the Hyundai forums are reporting more than 35mpg at 70mph. However, they also say mileage trails of quickly at higher than 70. In the real world, it's turning in better economy numbers than most in it's class.

About the 200hp, Hyundai obviously geared everything for fuel economy, but for being as fuel efficient as it is, it still puts up better performance numbers than those that can come close to matching it in economy.

@fvfvsix - understood - and yes, the steering is calibrated differently on the 2.0T versus the base model.

The fuel economy certainly isn't bad, but I would have expected a bit better given the power and EPA ratings. That said, I agree with church123 - many more powerful V6 midsize sedans could probably achieve the same or even better numbers than this on highway trips.

@arumage:

I havent seen much in terms of real world testing from the magazines that suggests its any more efficient than the competition. The fusion and Accord got mileage boosts last year and are pretty much on par with the Sonata now. Every test I've seen produces mileage slightly under the EPA figures. The Sonata is slightly faster than its sub 180h rivals, but the gap is small. The Altima and Camry are both in the high 7 sec range in 0-60 just like the Hyundai.