Interactive Review: 2020 Hyundai Sonata Limited 1.6T

I do not like the exterior styling at all, but it stands out and that will appeal to many.  The interior styling I think is a home run (except for that steering wheel, which wouldn't make me walk away).  Hyundai went above and beyond with this.

I agree, I really dislike the exterior.  I thought maybe in person it looks better, but I recently saw one on the road and it doesn't.  The interior looks very good.

Meh to the exterior, Love the interior, Shocked by a Note 8 smartphone to show off when they are on the Note 20 now, not 1 but 4 generations behind. If the Android system is current in the auto, then the Note 8 is flaky as this specific phone which my wife had stopped getting updates at the start of 2019. My wife is now on a Note 20 which is awesome. 

Bill if you have a newer Android phone, I would install the Hyundai software from the play store and try it, bet it works better.

Questions:

1. How is it off the line from a stop?
2. How is it for passing at freeway speed?
3. Rear seat head room and leg room for larger people?
4. Blind spots?

3 hours ago, Paolino said:

I do not like the exterior styling at all, but it stands out and that will appeal to many.  The interior styling I think is a home run (except for that steering wheel, which wouldn't make me walk away).  Hyundai went above and beyond with this.

Agree, interior looks great and a lot of features on this car.  I am not too crazy about the outside though, the 2011 Sonata nailed it and this looks a bit odd.

23 hours ago, David said:

Meh to the exterior, Love the interior, Shocked by a Note 8 smartphone to show off when they are on the Note 20 now, not 1 but 4 generations behind. If the Android system is current in the auto, then the Note 8 is flaky as this specific phone which my wife had stopped getting updates at the start of 2019. My wife is now on a Note 20 which is awesome. 

Bill if you have a newer Android phone, I would install the Hyundai software from the play store and try it, bet it works better.

Questions:

1. How is it off the line from a stop?
2. How is it for passing at freeway speed?
3. Rear seat head room and leg room for larger people?
4. Blind spots?

My guess is to why they're using an older Android phone comes down to cost. If they were to supply all of the Sonatas in the press fleet for the U.S., that would be quite expensive. I guess they had a stockpile from another thing or something. I did get it to work, but I found that I had to be a bit closer to the vehicle, like on the front porch to get a good connection.

Also, I am an iPhone user, not Android. This is one of those times where I wished I had one.

1 & 2: Excellent performance for both of these situations. Engine perks right up and moves the sedan at a quick rate. Also, doesn't hesitate to downshift when needing to make a pass.
3. Might be a bit tight in headroom due to the sloping roofline and panoramic sunroof on my tester. I fit in there fine but I'm 5'8"
4. There is some in the rear pillars.

exterior doesn't do much for me.  It has a faux look / trying too hard and it ends up looking like it will have been forgotten 5 years from now.

interior has a few nice things going on I suppose but the console / shifter / lower part of the dash starts to lose the nicer look and presentation that the upper part has.

We may have hit peak sedan a few years ago and this feels like it is trying to keep milking something that hasn't been there for a few years now.  I do actually think the 2011-2019 will mark as a classic (the early of those years at least) but Hyundai did make effort to keep it fresh all the time and even the 2019 had a decent desirable look.

I think someone is going to have to do something absolutely extraordinary and game changing to get sedan designs out of the 2010's decade look that they continue to be in, but i guess i can't offer up what that exactly is.  It sort of makes me wish the Escala concept's exterior had survived to be produced some way.

A meticulously clean glossy black Jaguar XJ L parked near me at the liquor store the other day.  It stood out and was gorgeous but left me with a though, are sedans too low, too wide, and this long low wide aero design guidlines have taken us to the end of the road on sedan distinctiveness.

Noticed one of these a couple days ago out on the road. Really unfortunate styling all around. Would not want to be seen in.

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

Noticed one of these a couple days ago out on the road. Really unfortunate styling all around. Would not want to be seen in.

While we don't always agree, you are not far off of the mark here. Hard pass from the Horse. 

23 hours ago, regfootball said:

A meticulously clean glossy black Jaguar XJ L parked near me at the liquor store the other day.  It stood out and was gorgeous but left me with a though, are sedans too low, too wide, and this long low wide aero design guidlines have taken us to the end of the road on sedan distinctiveness.

Couple reflections : sedans actually reached their lowest point many yrs ago. They've ballooned upward a few inches since then.
'Too wide' : no way; that's one of the major shortfalls of modern sedans; too narrow.

As for 'end of road aero design', dude; I've been preaching that here a good 10 years now.

A couple of final thoughts before the Sonata goes back today.

• I'm wondering if a number of people who don't like the design of the Sonata would prefer the new Kia K5 (previously known as the Optima) as they are similar in terms of most mechanicals. But the K5 is a bit more conventional. (Yes, I'm hoping to get one in the future, once I figure out who has Kia's press fleet here in the Detroit)
• Fuel economy landed around 32 mpg over 230 miles of mixed driving.
• Let's dive quickly into Smart Park. You need to about 10 feet or so within the vehicle and remote start it. From there, you press either the forward or reverse buttons on the keyfob to move the Sonata. It takes a few seconds before it moves, and then travels at a slow speed in and out of parking spot. It is a nice idea, but I find this to be more a party trick then actual useable feature. 

^ That was my impression watching the 'smaht pahk' commercial - it takes far longer than conventionally. Tech should make things easier, not more convoluted & take longer.

I am not into this self-driving/self-help features on cars such as self parking and Tesla's valet thing.  

Maybe when Im old enough to NOT be able to drive properly and need a walker will I probably appreciate this kind of technology.

About smaht pahk.  Ill be a smahtty pants about it.  About the only thing I was impressed by it, it was a great Superbowl commercial.  

When you're old / doddering / can't drive properly, you'll be in a EV that goes 0-60 in 2.5 secs & 0-100 in 8.  I'm sure insurance rates won't budge at all once everyone is driving a 'muscle car'. LOLOL

2 hours ago, William Maley said:

A couple of final thoughts before the Sonata goes back today.

• I'm wondering if a number of people who don't like the design of the Sonata would prefer the new Kia K5 (previously known as the Optima) as they are similar in terms of most mechanicals. But the K5 is a bit more conventional. (Yes, I'm hoping to get one in the future, once I figure out who has Kia's press fleet here in the Detroit)
• Fuel economy landed around 32 mpg over 230 miles of mixed driving.
• Let's dive quickly into Smart Park. You need to about 10 feet or so within the vehicle and remote start it. From there, you press either the forward or reverse buttons on the keyfob to move the Sonata. It takes a few seconds before it moves, and then travels at a slow speed in and out of parking spot. It is a nice idea, but I find this to be more a party trick then actual useable feature. 

Appreciate all the input and write ups on the auto Bill.

I will say that while normally I would not use the Smart Park, I do see a valid use case for the feature.

INNER CITY PARKING. The parking garages and lots have gotten so small that it makes sense to have a self parking feature to get the auto into and out of a tight parking spot. Other wise party trick is so true in the suburbs and rural areas.

Not to worry - people are streaming out of big cities to live elsewhere, and there's no entertainment industry left to pull those outside the city, in.

43 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Not to worry - people are streaming out of big cities to live elsewhere, and there's no entertainment industry left to pull those outside the city, in.

For now, but a year from now, I would not be surprised to see those that like a city life, stream back in. Right now it is all about saving one self.

NY has been losing residents since 2015. They stand to possibly lose 2 representatives because of it. It's not all COVID-related (the reprocussions of which aren't done being felt for who knows HOW long) And a LOT of the features of urban living (dining, entertainment) may be permanently altered & permanently GONE.

Emboldened by unprecedented power-execution and bathed in the cold sweat of CYA (cover your ass), politicians are going to err on the side of extreme caution in many instances, and of all the events canceled for 2020 I expect most to be canceled again in '21.

Manual parallel parking may be a breeze for years to come. Too bad, hyundai.

Just saw Nashville hotel bookings are off by 46%. That means parking there is easier by the same amount. ?

I suppose self-parking could be useful if you do a lot of parallel parking.  Parallel parking is stupid--I very rarely have to do it, prefer to park in lots or garages, or valet if available.  

3 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Just saw Nashville hotel bookings are off by 46%. That means parking there is easier by the same amount. ?

Seattle down town bookings are off 60%, so 60% more space for manual parking.  

3 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

I suppose self-parking could be useful if you do a lot of parallel parking.  Parallel parking is stupid--I very rarely have to do it, prefer to park in lots or garages. 

Yet that is the easiest parking for you, the owner of SUV/CUV where you can just put the front wheel up on the curb and gently let it back off once you pull in tight. Always close to the curb.

My daughter who is terrible at parallel parking , I showed her to how do that with her Durango, Boom issue solved and she was always close and tight. Yea a few tire scrapes, but heck easy P parking.  

4 minutes ago, David said:

 

Yet that is the easiest parking for you, the owner of SUV/CUV where you can just put the front wheel up on the curb and gently let it back off once you pull in tight. Always close to the curb.

My daughter who is terrible at parallel parking , I showed her to how do that with her Durango, Boom issue solved and she was always close and tight. Yea a few tire scrapes, but heck easy P parking.  

Yes, the ground clearance of an SUV makes it easier---just go up on the curb.  The times I've parallel parked I usually end up way out from the curb.  I remember some years ago what a pain it was parallel parking in downtown Portland in a rental Grand Prix--hard to see out of, and big overhangs, and too low to go up on the high curbs..

You guys should try PPing a vehicle with a 153" wheelbase.

I've PP'd a number of times, if I'm working in a city, but I only do it with TWO open spots and I go in nose-first / often go over the curb. On tight streets I've parked with both curb-side tires on the curb... cause she's girthy.

8 minutes ago, balthazar said:

You guys should try PPing a vehicle with a 153" wheelbase.

I've PP'd a number of times, if I'm working in a city, but I only do it with TWO open spots and I go in nose-first / often go over the curb. On tight streets I've parked with both curb-side tires on the curb... cause she's girthy.

The closest I get to that wheel base is PPing my Escalade ESV and then the wheelbase is only 134.1". I can totally imagine just how much more challenging an extra 10" of wheelbase would be to park.

I have parallel parked my sister's Chevy Trax...167.2" overall length.  Very easy to PP.    

I remember as a teenager learning to PP on the farm...my Dad set up poles in milk jugs filled w/ sand and I took the longest car he had then ('85 Lincoln Town Car) and practiced with it...serious blind spots w/ the tiny rear window and thick C-pillars, but super-light power steering.   I did my driving test in his '84 Ford Escort diesel, much easier to PP. 

16 minutes ago, David said:

...my Escalade ESV and then the wheelbase is only 134.1". I can totally imagine just how much more challenging an extra 10" of wheelbase would be to park.

I came out of a 133" WB F-150 going into this- there's def a difference, but the 2500HD does have more steering angle range, and I think it's faster, also.

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

I have parallel parked my sister's Chevy Trax...167.2" overall length.  Very easy to PP.    

I remember as a teenager learning to PP on the farm...my Dad set up poles in milk jugs filled w/ sand and I took the longest car he had then ('85 Lincoln Town Car) and practiced with it...serious blind spots w/ the tiny rear window and thick C-pillars, but super-light power steering.   I did my driving test in his '84 Ford Escort diesel, much easier to PP. 

WOW, just a 100" wheelbase on the trax, that means there is some serious overhang front and rear on that auto.

5 minutes ago, David said:

WOW, just a 100" wheelbase on the trax, that means there is some serious overhang front and rear on that auto.

Mostly the front...not much rear overhang.   By comparison, my '87 Mustang GT has a 100.5" wheelbase with overall length of 179.6"...(a 2020 Mustang has a 7 inch longer wheelbase and is about 9 inches longer overall).

trax ceertainly has a 'chin'.

Trax was dead but SUV boom and trailblazer intro means trailblazer can shoot for the higher price points and the Trax sales may actually increase by being able to sell at low prices.  I wouldn't be suprised to see Trax remain in the lineup unchanged until 2025 or so....Trax and Encore came out in 2013 (Trax wasn't available right away in the US).  Encore will probably continue also in the Buick showrooms, 10+ year shelf life that is getting to be FCA style vehicle staying power.

K5 nice looking indeed I wish they would have kept the Optima name.  I wished in the past they had kept the Spectra name also though.

Every review of the Venue I've seen has been positive, except for the unpadded door armrests... which the base trim Kona also has, but no one rags on it about that fact, and it is + or - $3k higher in price than the Venue.

All the reviewers seem surprised at how much they like the Venue after driving it.

Jaw dropping?...nah. Hard pass, the exterior is fugly and the interior is nothing special...ugh those Hyundai/Genesis steering wheels are the worst. And if you can't park you shouldn't be driving for sh!t sake.

I learned how to drive in a '91 Suburban and paralleled that b!tch like a pro for my driving test, can parallel and get that perfect distance from the curb no matter what I'm driving to this day. 

My driving test, taken in this:

characteristic dimensions: outside length: 224.8 in, width: 79.6 in, wheelbase: 124 in

Passed with flying colors, but of course I'd been driving bigger things than that on the farm since age nine (F-600, F-700, John Deeres), so the Pontiac was a breeze to handle at that point.

8 hours ago, ocnblu said:

My driving test, taken in this:

characteristic dimensions: outside length: 224.8 in, width: 79.6 in, wheelbase: 124 in

Passed with flying colors, but of course I'd been driving bigger things than that on the farm since age nine (F-600, F-700, John Deeres), so the Pontiac was a breeze to handle at that point.

Grew up on a farm too, driving John Deere tractors, riding lawn mowers and farm trucks in the field when bucking hay and all, also would sneak onto the road near the house once in a while   I love to drive, it makes a big difference getting behind the wheel and learning everything about driving at a young age too. 

On 9/12/2020 at 5:44 PM, ocnblu said:

Every review of the Venue I've seen has been positive, except for the unpadded door armrests... which the base trim Kona also has, but no one rags on it about that fact, and it is + or - $3k higher in price than the Venue.

All the reviewers seem surprised at how much they like the Venue after driving it.

Making Korea great again.?

Oh the irony here.

I haven't been able to get into this most recent Sonata ... mentally.  It's mostly the styling, from the derivative front end to the rear tail lamps that also remind of me of something else.  A lot of odd angles.  It's like Hyundai was trying too hard.  "No, thanks" to this car for me.

The interior is more appealing than the exterior.  The fit and finish is good.  The console is too high for my taste.  The slot in the center stack is larger than before, and than in many similar cars.  Having a more useful cubby hole there is a good thing.

I happened to be looking at Hyundais on a lot this weekend and the base model stickers out at $ 24 K.  The $ 34 K ones on the lot (like this one) had the panoramic roof.  An increase of $ 10 K is a tough pill to swallow for the same platform, even with all the upgrades. 

8 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

Making Korea great again.?

 

Oh the irony here.

Meh, stop with the baloney.  It's a perfect car for my mom, for example, and there is no domestic alternative.

35 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Meh, stop with the baloney.  It's a perfect car for my mom, for example, and there is no domestic alternative.

Whatever you say Captain America. 

And you’ve been making enough baloney for the both of us. I’m merely stating a fact.

23 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

Whatever you say Captain America. 

 

And you’ve been making enough baloney for the both of us. I’m merely stating a fact.

Link please.  To a domestic 2020/2021 competitor to the Venue.

Sweet baloney and American cheese with yellow mustard on white bread... makes a tasty sandwich.

14 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Link please.  To a domestic 2020/2021 competitor to the Venue.

Sweet baloney and American cheese with yellow mustard on white bread... makes a tasty sandwich.

Here you go. No link but I think you get the point Mr. “buy American”. Good grief man. Make it a challenge next time you want to try and defend your domestic policy there. 
 

14 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Link please.  To a domestic 2020/2021 competitor to the Venue.

Sweet baloney and American cheese with yellow mustard on white bread... makes a tasty sandwich.

There's another.

https://www.ford.com/suvs-crossovers/ecosport/?gnav=header-all-vehicles

And another..

https://www.jeep.com/renegade.html

Trailblazer - South Korea
EcoSport - India, on a European platform
Renegade - Italy, on a European platform

In fact, there isn't a single subcompact crossover built in the U.S. by any manufacturer.  The closest you can get is the CX-30 (edit: and HR-V) which are built in Mexico.

The smallest crossovers built in the U.S. are the CR-V/RDX and Escape/Corsair.

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Trailblazer - South Korea
EcoSport - India, on a European platform
Renegade - Italy, on a European platform

In fact, there isn't a single subcompact crossover built in the U.S. by any manufacturer.  The closest you can get is the CX-30 (edit: and HR-V) which are built in Mexico.

The smallest crossovers built in the U.S. are the CR-V/RDX and Escape/Corsair.

He didn’t state domestic made though. He stated a domestic competitor that sells a model that competes with the Venue. The Trailblazer, sold by domestic company GM/Chevrolet, is the most direct competitor from a domestic manufacturer. At least the money stays in America, another past gripe by certain people with selective memories. The Venue is a foreign car from start to finish so how does that fit his past “buy American” narrative. That is the core point here.

2 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

He didn’t state domestic made though. He stated a domestic competitor that sells a model that competes with the Venue. The Trailblazer, sold by domestic company GM/Chevrolet, is the most direct competitor from a domestic manufacturer. At least the money stays in America, another past gripe by certain people with selective memories. The Venue is a foreign car from start to finish so how does that fit his past “buy American” narrative. That is the core point here.

Trailblazer (bare bones $19,995, only available in white and basically vaporware on availability to the public) Ecosport ($21,240 with a 1.0L 3) and Renegade ($23,870 if you get white, the only no extra cost color) are also real-world priced WAY higher than a Venue SE iVT, with MSRP of $19,725 with freight... before incentives.  I triple dog dare you to find a Trailblazer L anywhere but in a fleet or as a rental. Plus Hyundai throws in free maintenance.

So no, they are not apples to apples comparable.  Try again.  Or not.

7 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Trailblazer ($19,995, only available in white and basically vaporware on availability to the public) Ecosport ($21,240 with a 1.0L 3) and Renegade ($23,870 if you get white, the only no extra cost color) are also real-world priced WAY higher than a Venue SE iVT, with MSRP of $19,725 with freight... before incentives.  I triple dog dare you to find a Trailblazer L anywhere but in a fleet or as a rental. Plus Hyundai throws in free maintenance.

So no, they are not apples to apples comparable.  Try again.  Or not.

Hey SMK, I mean Blu, nice bar moving. You said nothing of price and your assessment of the TB can easily be applied to the Venue, ie good luck finding those base models. Again though, the TB is competition for the Venue and is sold by a domestic company here. Those were the two rules YOU set up. Not base price. Not what can be found in the “real world”. You were wrong, end of story. 

The TB also has more power and more cargo room but I guess pointing that out is just salt in a open wound at this point. 

We've had plenty of Venue SE where I work, in various colors.  I stand by my assertion that Trailblazer L, available only in white, is persona non grata when it comes to availability.

If you had the power to infer, you'd know that price is of paramount concern.  None of the "competitors" you list in base trim are ever put on dealer lots... they are price leaders for ad purposes only, where Hyundai makes the base car as accessible as the uplevel trims.

3 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

most direct

BUT NOT DIRECT

7 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

We've had plenty of Venue SE where I work, in various colors.  I stand by my assertion that Trailblazer L, available only in white, is persona non grata when it comes to availability.

If you had the power to infer, you'd know that price is of paramount concern.  None of the "competitors" you list in base trim are ever put on dealer lots... they are price leaders for ad purposes only, where Hyundai makes the base car as accessible as the uplevel trims.

Not that this part matters (only what I posted at the bottom here), but so damn what? The Hyundai dealership nearest me has ONE base model Venue and it is cheap looking on every front. You talk about apples to oranges? The TB, while priced higher, looks better in every trim level (as opposed to the base model Venue I saw with its wheel covers, no wonder its “cheaper”). Like I said though, none of what you just pointed out matters because of the following below.

For the last time, I quote,

2 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

BUT NOT DIRECT

Yes it is, whether you want to admit it or not. Your sorry attempt at bar moving does not change this fact. Go ahead though. Go ahead and get one of the cheap ones here. 

I think I’d pay a little more for one that doesn’t look so “cheap”.

*yawn*

I said MSRP BEFORE INCENTIVES.

Vaporware Trailblazer L has wheelcovers.

On 9/14/2020 at 7:28 PM, ocnblu said:

there is no domestic alternative.

Although you dont have to defend your decision. Its YOUR mom's money that counts. 

The thing is...like everything else you say in these forums, its bupkis.  

There is domestic alternatives.  You dont have to buy them. Your money.  

But then there is the other shytty thing you do, you give your fellow Americans grief for exercising those very same phoquing freedoms YOU want to enjoy.

Although @Drew Dowdell  wants us to not post things personal, its hard when YOU exercise YOUR freedoms because YOU make it personal.

@ykX  told me to act my age when I post...Drew erased this posts, because it truly got ridiculous.

And here were are 24 hours later, and the same shyt happens again with another poster. 

Common denominator:  @ocnblu

I wrote in the now erased post that Drew cleaned up that some of us should consider what we want in these forums.

Well...seeing that most of us are in our late 40s, and a good chunk of us are in our 50s...right Blu? 

Well...Ill take my words and @ykX  message to heart.   I dont need to act my age, as he says, but I do need to spend my time with more mature folk.  Its sad really when my teenaged workers are more mature than you @ocnblu.   

Ive come to the conclusion that you prefer to troll rather than have real discussions.  Ive done this rodeo once before over at Motor Trend forums once upon  a time ago.  There was this guy called Wings.  He posted here. You strangely remind me of him...

Well...I wont let the door kick me in the a$$ on the way out.  For reals this time.