Unveiled in South Korea last month, the 2015 Hyundai Sonata made its United States debut during the 2014 New York Auto Show.
The sedan, set to roll out of Hyundai’s Montgomery, Ala. plant this summer, offers an improved ride quality thanks to a stiffer chassis and lower co-efficient of drag. Up front, either a 2.4-liter naturally aspirated four-pot or turbocharged 2-liter put less power to the front wheels than the previous generation of engines, with the former creating 185 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque while the latter churning 245 horsepower and 260 lb-ft torque. Both engines are forever linked to a six-speed automatic.
Those opting for the turbo-four can add the Sport trim to their Sonata, bringing bigger brakes, 18-inch alloy wheels, quad exhaust, and more aggressive bodywork to the package.
Stepping inside the sedan, those who test-drove the Genesis sedan may feel a sense of deja-vu thanks to the driver-oriented center stack. Meanwhile, Hyundai will be offering a number of safety conveniences for the Sonata, including blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control and rear cross-traffic alert.
Honestly I like it. Nice evolution of the design.
I loved the 11′ Hyundai Sonata 2.0t. Though everyone knows it’s a crappy “driver’s experience” I liked the V6-like pull, loved the car’s technology package and loved the car’s looks.
This new model disgusts me. Too much like the Kia Optima crossed with the WRX concept.
To each his own.
*Love* the 2011. *Disgusted* by the 2015.
Visit the B&B for your daily shot of hyperbole.
I’m more partial to the 1896 Sonata with the built-in ragtime piano and literal “real horse” pull.
Why is the rated horsepower down?
Maybe to bring the rating closer to reality. I remember Motortrend found the Sonata to be significantly slower than the 4-cylinder Camry during a comparo a few years ago, despite the Sonata having quite a large rated horsepower advantage.
They might also be chasing higher EPA numbers.
Rated Horsepower is down because the rework improves low-end performance.
They shrunk the turbo compressor down to drop lag and improve torque at low rpms. The old motor had a nice sounding peak horsepower on paper but in the real world it got smoked by proper v6s with similar peak horsepower. At least now the turbo isn’t writing checks with its ratings that the car can’t cash
Hyundai traded HP for more lower/mid-range torque – which is more impt. for acceleration.
Well done. As PrincipalDan sez, a nice evolution of fluidic sculpture.
Gotta admit the current generation hasn’t aged well in my eyes (amazing when it first came out, but got kinda old, fast).
This one has more legs.
Love that orange piping on the seats.
The quad exhaust tips looks cheesy and the dashboard looks uglier than the current version.
Looks like they did there homework. Nice job. F- the Camry
See Toyota? that’s how its done. So easy for some, but not for you apparently. Been phoning it in for far to long.
Dashboard looks phoned in to me. Why make a giant plastic hexagon the center of your design?
And unless they’ve worked on the engines, the four cylinder is rougher than the Camry without providing better performance, and the turbo is slower than the V6 without being more efficient. The current Sonata is an average car wrapped in attention-grabbing sheet metal. We’ll see if the new one is any different.
Have you ever driven the Hyundai 2.4? It runs like a sewing machine – smooth as can be, and gets very good real-world fuel economy.
As someone whose fleet includes a 2012 Sonata Limited (2.4-liter), I agree. The suspension could use a little work, but the engine is as smooth as all get out.
Yes, in the Optima 30 minutes after driving a Camry SE. The Optima was far from bad, but the Camry was noticeably smoother. More responsive transmission, too.
my partner had one for a year and while i agree it’s technically smooth from a vibration/harshness point of view, it sounds incredibly coarse
I like it. It looks like the 2015 Legacy, Which I also Like.
At first I hated that Hyundai was adding same big grill as all the other cars on the market but this one doesn’t look half bad. I especially like the interior. The dashboard has a classic (Alfa Romeo) Italian look and the color trim on the seats are a nice touch.
If only it came in a wagon.
Does someone want to explain why a 30hp drop in the turbo is a move forward?
The advance is Hyundai learning to tell the truth about power ratings, instead of lying to impress the feckless. First they had to come clean on fuel economy, now it’s power ratings.
But while they were in full-fudge mode three years ago, sales took off didn’t they? Because people believed that a major corporation would always be telling the truth.
The newish 290hp 3.3l DI V6 appears to be the real deal though. It makes the Santa Fe scoot, and would turn the Sonata into a torque-steering monstah.
The “horsepower” that cars claim means only the highest horsepower at any rpm (and assuming full boost buildup). It isn’t lying if they reached that hp. If you have a problem with this, buy an electric car (which tend to have mostly flat (incredibly flat compared to gas engines) hp curves.
Back in the mid 90s, I was living on the road and driving rentals, typically chevy Corsicas. They came with two engines, 3.1l V6 with 157hp and 2.0? I4 with 150?hp. Most of the power in the v6 was available from 3000rpm (with plenty at 2000). The 4 banger was gutless under 5000rpm, and thanks to the 3 speed auto [the v6 had 4 gears, don’t ask me why]: blink and you missed the power. It was quite the lesson in torque (and hp) curves.
Hyundai traded HP for more lower/mid-range torque – which is more impt. for acceleration.
Hyundai/KIA is really starting to kick @$$. The new Genesis is pretty nice and seems to be getting great reviews all around, the new Sedona minivan is pretty nice, especially those sliding and reclining rear seats with footrests and this is pretty nice too. From the reviews I have seen so far, the ride issues seem to have been fixed with this new Genesis and if that is so, then the argument for not buying a Hyundai/KIA just got a lot harder. Anyone know when the new Genesis is supposed to hit the dealerships, I heard it was this month but so far have not seen any.
I wonder at what point BMW, Mercedes and Audi will stop charging you, or people will stop paying for things you can get in a $30K Hyundai/KIA but don’t get standard in a $60,000 car?
Probably about the time BMW, Mercedes, and Audi stop providing the inherent qualities that you can’t get at any price in a Hyundai/Kia.
You’ve gotta be joking. The high cost of ownership and low reliability of ‘German engineering’ are inherent qualities I’ll pass on.
Yeah, as someone who just ponied up for a pricey German-engineering “surprise”, I won’t be owning any more German (or European) cars out of warranty…
Ease up. Badge reputation, prestige, image and perceived quality are all part of the luxury car appeal for those who want it. I didn’t say that was a good thing. But it will keep a lot of Merc buyers from switching to a damned Kia, which is what the commenter I was responding to implied.
No one leasing a 3 series cares that a Forte can be had with the same options at a lower cost of ownership.
That’s true. One does wonder why European cars *have* to be so mechanically-delicate, though.
Bahahaha.. In my immediate family we have owned 4 Hyundai’s. Not one of them have had any issues outside of scheduled service. On the other had we known many people that just kick themselves for buying and even leasing a BMW. In fact a coworkers husband is make a couple grand a month fixing BMW’s of other coworkers in my hospital.
All that stuff looks nice on paper and test-drives well, but long-term, it’s buggy and flaky. That might be acceptable in a $30K mass-market midsize, but that’s it.
I don’t think you have driven a used Hyundai lately. Yes in 1992 Hyundai was crap. But things change and I would say they build quality and engineering is on par or exceeds any import. Especially toyoda products.
I’m convinced that the Hyundai warranty was a stroke of genius. While letting customers not worry about mechanical issues drove sales, forcing beancounters to worry about those same mechanical issues likely drove quality through the roof.
Can you imagine the difference between a GM and a hyundai beancounter talking to an engineer over price vs. reliability decisions?
The Germans will charge with what they can get away with (see Porsche) and Hyundai (as well as Kia) with their luxury offering will hurt the Japanese more than the Germans.
Anyway, irrespective of the badge, the new Genesis is much more of a luxury car than the CLA.
Sure, the badge-wh**es will be clueless, but that’s why they are badge-wh**es.
Stiffer suspension? Improved ride quality? Not necessarily. Sometimes, if the suspension tuning is not good and you stiffen it up, you just make it worse. Hope they’ve improved that.
As to looks, the interior, from those 2 pics looks pretty low rent. And that huge console just takes up SO MUCH space. Why?
Looks to me the general trend is a more angular design. With this kind of design, the new Golf and Audis show that smaller grills are better. The Hyundai corporate snout is not that good and this one is not that good either. At least it doesn’t have as much the angry clown vibe of before.
Like the color. Do hope orange is coming back. The show’s car have sported green, brown and now orange. White is dead? Earthy colors are coming back?
I love this burnt orange color as well. I few cars offer orange. I hope more do. I’d love to get any car in orange and the color works wonders on this car.
I believe the Santa Fe Sport is offered in orange as well.
The Santa Fe Sport’s orange is more burnt/more of a orange/copper tone – which I prefer.
That’s what Toyota did to the Camry, Corolla, Avalon and ES – stiffened the suspension to make them more “sporty”, but in the process ruined their formerly compliant rides.
As for the center stack design, the previous one was much more sleek-looking, but this one is probably more utilitarian (which is likely what Hyundai is going for, toning down the roofline as well to give passengers more rear headroom).
Exterior: matured style
Interior: centre stack is WACK
1 this is ugly. 2 I would never recommend a hyundai/kia to even my worst enemy
I guess you don’t know too much about cars.
I actually didn’t like it at first, but now I think it looks quite good, especially in that color. The matching contrast-stitching is gorgeous, and I like the addition of thigh extensions as well.
I finally figured out what the center stack reminds me of: Ford Crown Victoria. Wide-set central air vents flanking the stereo, all on a large vertical wall. The materials quality will be leaps and bounds above that archaic Ford, but the hexagonal stack looks really dated and contrasts with the passenger dashboard and that nice modern three-spoke steering wheel.
I do think this is probably the nicest looking Hyundai I’ve seen.
I would rather the turbo version.
Yep, the Koreans are making inroads.
I would like to see Hyundai come up with a pickup as well and a SUV. Hyundai haven’t had a SUV since the Terracan.
Well, they haven’t had an SUV in that sense. Technically, though, the Hyundai/Kia conglomerate used the Terracan platform up until the end of MY2009, when the first-gen, BOF Sorento was retired.
@Kyree S. Williams
An SUV has a hi-lo range transfer case driving all wheels. A separate ladder frame chassis isn’t necessary as in the Mitsubishi Pajero and Grand Cherokee which are SUVs.
The Terracan and Sorento had two different platforms sharing a drivetrain. I prefer the Sorento as I always thought that Kia has had the upper hand in vehicle style.
CUVs are generally AWD wagon style vehicles. Now in Australia we are getting those pretend CUVs with front wheel or 2wd.
My view is if you are going to buy a SUV and CUV with 2wd a van/bus is a better option.
I generally buy a vehicle based on traction, as this is an important feature for me.
I don’t quite know what you’re saying here, but I know that our 2003 Sorento had a ladder frame and a hi-lo range transfer case. And yes, crossovers do generally have full-time AWD as opposed to a ranged 4WD system.