In line with the company’s strategy to keep the excitement on product lines, Hyundai Motor India, the second largest car maker in India, is all set to launch its new Sonata in the premium sedan category. The company is soon expected to announce the availability and the price, which will be between Rs 17 lakh to Rs 21 lakh. The car was first displayed at the Delhi Auto Expo in January this year.
The new Sonata, created on Hyundai’s Fluidic design concept, is the sixth generation model and is already a proven car in terms of performance and popularity. The car became one of the best selling models in the United States after it was launched in the US market one-and-half years ago, the company officials claimed.
A day-long test drive on new Sonata, in manual as well as in automatic transmissions, showed that the new car is a huge improvement over the old Sonata, the fifth generation, in terms of look, driveability and performance.
Let us first talk about the new look. With the new fluidic design, the new Sonata is certainly a head-turner. Drawing inspiration from the kinetic force of nature, Verna was Hyundai’s first car in India with the full fluidic design. The car has been a runaway success right from the beginning.
“Now, keeping in mind the beauty of the orchid flower the all new Sonata is crafted on the principles of ‘Fluidic Sculpture’ where contrasting surfaces create a vision of continuous motion,” the company said. And the cues for the front grille design are taken from the harmony of flowing water resembling a waterfall.
The car also looks great from the rear because of those beautifully detailed tail-lights. Sonata’s cat-eye shaped headlights provide high visibility in the night projecting light farther down the road to improve driving safety.
Versatile engine
The new Sonata is fitted with a 2.4 liter GDI petrol engine. It proves its technological improvement by delivering the best power for any in-line engine in the segment, the company claimed. The engine delivers maximum power of 201ps@6300rpm and maximum torque of 25.5Kgm@4250rpm of peak torque. The efficient petrol engine is mated to 6-speed manual and automatic transmissions. While the engine is responsive enough to accelerate from a slower speed without shifting down the gears, but, as always, it is safer to shift to lower gears when one needs rush of power to overtake a speeding vehicle on the highway.
Once inside the car, Hyundai has taken good care for the comfort of the passengers and the right posture for the driver. The driver’s seat, for example, has 10 way power settings for the best possible position.
The car is also programmed to remember the preferred position of the user by storing the settings in the memory. The passenger seat also has four power-assisted adjustments. The front and rear seats are ventilated so that cold air from the AC can cool down a person quickly. This is a very useful feature for in hot and humid Indian climate conditions. The system also works a seat warmer for the cold weather.
While the smart key allows key-less entry and key-less start, the paddle shifters located behind the steering wheel in automatic cars offer quick gear shits without taking hands off the steering thereby adding to the thrill of driving. While driving on a manual mode in an automatic, I found the paddle shift very useful for overtaking speeding vehicles on the highway.
Combined with good soundproofing of the cabin, the 2-din audio system with MP3 player, 6-CD changer, 6-speaker system with amplifier and woofer, etc, creates an excellent atmosphere for the long distance drive. One can also control the music system with the steering-mounted audio control.
Safe car
The boot space is big to hold enough luggage for a four-member family to go on an extended driving vacation and there is plenty of space at the rear as well. Since the wheelbase of the new Sonata is larger than the one being phased out, the saloon is as spacious as most cars in the same category.
The eco-friendly new Sonata comes with a host of occupant-protection equipment and accessories. It is equipped with 6 airbags, anti-lock braking system (ABS) with electronic brake force distribution (EBD), Electronic Stability Program (ESP) and rearview camera. ABS, ESP and EBD together greatly enhances the safety of the car in avoiding a collision while driving at a high speed.
They work together not only to prevent skidding in case of panic braking at high speed, they also help the driver to steer the car away from an impending collision by varying the brake force on each wheel, depending on the angle of the steering and the wheel. I did try this system at a high speed but on an empty road. The result was a reassuring experience.