Hyundai Sonata 2001 test drive - 2004 sedan

Fifth coming

Hyundai Sonata is, it seems, the only one of all the cars of the production of South Korea, which was able to achieve outstanding results even when no one really knew about the Korean automobile industry. You can even say that this is the most promoted Korean car in our market, and this same promotion was carried out with a minimum advertising budget. In principle, there was no promotion in the usual sense, just at one time this car was almost the only option for a more or less acceptable price. The reputation of a reliable, unpretentious and inexpensive car helped the model to become one of the most popular in due time, and this despite the fact that there were already cheaper low -commissions in the Hyundai gamut.

The first two generations of the sonata in our area somehow did not really take root. Now such cars are quite rare, and they were rarely sold in our market. But the Hyundai Sonata III is a completely different matter - a car with a fairly sharp design, attractive price and already quite appropriate class interior and equipment package quickly found customers. And so far, many Hyundai car owners recall the three warmly. The appearance of the fourth generation of the Sonata model for them became both good and not very news. Good, because, as befits the successor, this generation was better than the previous ones, without exception. However, marketing experts did not dare to exhibit another expressive model, so the four were not so aggressive in external design as the previous one. For this, by the way, that many buyers reproached the four. Everyone, they say, is good for the car: it is inexpensive, and it is perfectly equipped, and running qualities at the height, only the design would like to be more distinguished and outstanding.

And in the new generation of the world's worldwide recognized model, all customers seem to have received what they wanted - a modern high -quality car with a bright, memorable design. Meet - Hyundai Sonata fifth generation ...

Here, really, the designers tried to fame: in any perspective, the new Sonata looks really very fresh and unusual. True, about the design of anterior lighting and the false radiator lattice, I would still argue: it turned out unusual, but I would not say that it is gorgeous. Although there are no comrades to taste and color, but in this case I would like to have something more, maybe calm, but at the same time more stylish. Just do not tell me that Koreans do not know how to do this. They know how, and how! In order to make sure of this, it will be enough to just go around the car: in the back of the back/ in three quarters, the car is simply incomparable. I am always very meticulously inspecting cars for interesting design finds, and in this case I claim that Sonata’s feed is simply incomparable. It does not copy the silhouettes of well -known expensive models insolently, as some of its fellow countrymen do, but at the same time, when looking at the back of Sonata, associations with stylish British limousines inevitably arise. Personally, it seemed to me that Hyundai Sonata rear lights have some similarity with the lanterns of large compartment of the Aston Martin brand.

Two cars were provided to us for the test: both automatically with gearboxes, but only one was aggregated with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, and the second with a 2.7-liter V6. Naturally, after a brief acquaintance with the presented product for a more detailed study, we chose a top version, because, as experience shows, our customers mainly choose the most serious versions, especially if the car is inexpensive. In the case of Hyundai Sonata, one can even doubt what will happen that way. A version with a six -cylinder engine, with about the same equipment package, costs only less than one and a half thousand dollars more expensive. And this is taking into account the customs clearance!

However, if I had the opportunity to choose, then I would have made another scattering: a golden-mesmeric shade of a 2.0-liter car looks richer than the overflowing silver of the six-cylinder version. However, if you choose a car based on the appearance, then in addition to the color these versions, even a pattern of cast discs, do not differ: both initially look quite sophisticated, and perhaps the w6 nameplate on the trunk lid can flatter the owner of a more expensive car. Although the basic version should look very prestigious: the car has such pleasant little things as tinted glass, moldings painted in the color of the body and even aluminum discs.

Sonata’s interior does not present surprises: the car is spacious, quite spacious, but at the same time there is no need to expect any miracles from it. Places, in principle, are enough both in front and from behind, although the car does not differ in some limousine spur for the legs. But this does not mean at all that it is not suitable for representative goals. Initially packed with almost all options, Hyundai Sonata is most suitable for these purposes. And although the middle class models in this regard are considered universal, they can equally successfully use them for both representative and personal purposes. However, by its nature, Sonata is more felt like a luxury sedan. Maybe this is all because of such a kind of car design, or maybe because there are no hints of drivership abilities in the habits of the new Sonata. The suspension is quite elastic and comfortable, so that you can control the car in any modes, but there is no light in it: just a big good car.

The steering also would not hurt to do more, and the steering wheel, in my opinion, should be more chubby. However, all these are small nit -picking. For a calm driver who is not spoiled by extreme BMW or something more abruptly, Hyundai Sonata is what you need. The car is gently, in the salon there is silence, the visibility is magnificent (there would be more mirrors), the music is serious - in general, everything is as it should. The V6 engine, which is already familiar to us from the tests of the Santa Fe model, is also very good here. Even with a four -speed automatic machine, the machine turned out to be quite dynamic, and if you put a mechanic here ... However, no, a combination of six cylinders and a mechanical checkpoint we will leave models like a new Coupe/ Tiburon, and for such a gorgeous representative of the middle class claiming luxury Car classes higher, automatic box just right. And it is especially successfully combined with this engine. Despite the fact that the transfer numbers are slightly stretched, in general, there are no complaints about the acceleration dynamics of the six -cylinder Sonata. But there are complaints about the sound design of the acceleration process. Unlike the same Santa Fe, in Sonata the engine works very loudly, and the higher the speed, the higher the tonality of the ringing. But this is only on acceleration, when the arrow of the tachometer rises closer to the right half of the scale, and in the normal modes of the working motor it is practically not heard.

By the way, the machine gun on our car was not simple, but very sophisticated - with the possibility of manual switching. The gearbox works in the same way as all such designs: in ordinary modes it is completely automatic, and if you want to choose the gears yourself, then for this it is enough to tilt the lever a bit to yourself. The programs up and down change by swaying the lever back and forth, but even if you forgot to switch, nothing terrible will happen: as soon as the tachometer arrow reaches the red zone, the box itself will go to a higher level. The same thing, but exactly the opposite, will happen when the car stops: as soon as it stops, the number 1. But even if you are not a fan of the sports style of driving, this does not mean that such a function does not mean you do not light You will need it. In manual mode, the connection between the engine and the drive wheels becomes more tangible, and you can also brake the engine. And such boxes are very convenient when overtaking: I turned on the second and gas in the floor, and the automation will do everything itself - and it will provide the maximum acceleration, and it will turn on the next transmission. By the way, a second program may be enough for overtaking. When we accelerated along the ring, the second car accelerated to 120 km/h along the speedometer! This is convenient at least in that during intense overtaking, when every fraction of a second is the road, the car will not switch, wasting time. We did not develop the maximum speed on this machine, but judging by how quietly and serene Hyundai Sonata it goes at an average speed of 130-140 km/h, it will go easily its own hundreds. However, knowing from the experience of how cars with four -speed automatic machines behave, it can be assumed that to reach the maximum speed, it will be necessary for some time - long gears do not at all contribute to increasing acceleration dynamics, especially at such high speeds.

In conclusion, I would like to say the following: with the advent of the fifth -generation Hyundai Sonata on our market, some competitors of the Korean manufacturer, also offering packaged middle -class models, will have to be pierced. If earlier Koreans were bought mainly only because they were relatively inexpensive with maximum packaging, now most potential buyers come for Hyundai. In just ten years, cars of this brand have turned from budgets into prestigious models, and the appearance of such a powerful new item will only contribute to strengthening the position of the manufacturer.

The struggle in the middle class today is serious. It is enough just to look at the new Nissan Primera to understand how difficult it is to be in this competition for those who have not yet released a new model. Progress is seven -mile steps, and if in cheaper cars of cars, bags of standardly installed equipment usually consist of several common positions like electric glass windows or central castle, then a middle -class model, which, despite impressive sizes and an amazingly chic design, still refers to and is still belonging to Sonata, just amaze with a list of bells and whistles.

Air conditioning, or even climate control, various safety systems, anti -theft and security systems, cast discs - all this is now not even options, but ordinary standard equipment. After reading at the end of the article a list of equipment that is installed on the fifth -generation Hyundai Sonata as a standard one, you can make sure that even in the database this car is more than seriously packaged. It is only a pity that the gamut of the motors offered by us is still limited by two gasoline, but it is likely that soon a 2.0-liter turbodiesel with the Sommon Rail system, which is already installed on the Santa Fe model, can join them. At least, in its running qualities, a machine with such a turbodiesel was able to make very serious competition to European and even Japanese models. Firstly, because few of the automakers risks supplying modern diesel cars to our market, and secondly, of those models that are already available, it is very difficult to choose something really worthwhile. Most of them are equipped with diesels of the former generation, with corresponding running qualities. As for the cars we tested, it personally seems to me that the top version with a 2.7-liter engine will have a greater success here. The car with this engine turned out to be more harmonious, because the energy laid down in design has a real reflection in running qualities. And also because today the Hyundai Sonata 2.7 V6 is one of the most affordable models of its class with such a motor and a large package of additional equipment. If earlier many of the potential buyers could abandon the Korean car in favor of another model only because, in their opinion, its design is not original enough, now they will not have any reason to worry about this: the car turned out to be very original and catchy. Now you have to choose according to the criterion - I don't like it ...

Text: Pavel Kozlovsky
 

A source: Autogazet / N 21 (367) dated 12.06.02