Quick Drive: 2016 Sonata Limited, 2.4L 6A

[Paolino]

Quick Drive: 2016 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 2.4L 6A

 

While my parents were away, I took a little time to use their second car to offset some of the mileage on my lease.

The Sonata they leased was their first lease ever, and honestly they got it for a steal.  The car is nicer than their last Sonata, a 2006 with the 3.3L V6 and a 5-speed automatic.

Having spent a couple of hundred miles on both highway and city driving, over the course of 2 weeks, they’ve made dramatic improvements in a decade.  They styling I’m not at all crazy about.  Frankly, I think it’s ugly and a step back from the previous generation which I thought was very nice and contemporary.  The car is loaded with features such as blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, rear parking assist, dual zone auto climate control, auto-dimming rearview mirrors, a 7” LCD screen for the infotainment, heated leather seats, front auto up/down windows, keyless entry, push-button start, etc.

Ride and quality are calm and controlled.  Bumps are nicely cushioned out and the handling is controlled, but not sporty.  Hey, it’s a midsize family car… I’m not taking it on the autobahn.  The drive modes do change the car’s personality a bit, with Eco making it a bit sluggish and Sport tightening the steering a little and making the transmission a little more rev-happy.  The engine is smooth and not very buzzy… much more refined than the 4-cylinders I’m used to from growing up!  I’d put it on par with my friend’s 2013 I-4 Camry.

I didn’t calculate actual fuel economy numbers, but the car appeared extremely frugal.  I used half a tank of gas in the 200-250 miles I drove.  I’m fairly certain my car would have taken three-quarters of a much larger tank, granted I have a larger engine, AWD, and a heavier vehicle.

Some features I appreciated:

Perhaps it’s just me, but the digital speedometer readout updates instantly.  In my LaCrosse it only updated about once or twice per second.  This is a much faster readout, and I prefer it (yet I can’t figure out why as once or twice per second is fast enough—maybe it gives the illusion you’re accelerating faster than you actually are).

The radio is like in my Genesis in regards to out of the 18 presets, it is always recording the first 6 favorites… even if you’re not on that station, it’s recording.  So like a DVR, if I’d like to rewind a song or skip one, or pause the radio, I can.

There are plenty of little cubbies all over the place, and even ones that perfectly fit my wallet and smartphone, and another that perfectly fit the key fob.

Something that annoyed me:

The entire car is LED.  The DRL’s are LED.  All the dash lights are LED.  The taillamps are LED.  The front dome lights are LED.  The rear dome lights are incandescent.  Why?!  When you open the doors at night, the front seats illuminate brightly in cool white, and the rear seats illuminate in a dimmer tan.  What did that do, save a few cents?  Hell, the trunk light is LED!  Swap the two!