FIRST DRIVE ~ 2011 HYUNDAI SONATA

Hyundai ups the mid-size bar with the 2011 Sonata

LA JOLLA, Ca.: This story should be about the 2011 mid-size Sonata sedan but what's happening at Hyundai Canada is perhaps just as important.
It wasn't so long ago that Hyundai thought it was a banner year if they told 25,000 units. In 2009, it sold 103,233 making Hyundai one of only six car companies to exceed 100,000 in sales in Canada. In January of this year alone, they sold 6,084 vehicles.
But the big number is Hyundai's 7.1 per cent of the market in 2009 up from 4.9 per cent in 2008. For those of you who follow the car industry, a jump like that is unheard of.
How are they doing this when others are faltering?
The 2011 Sonata says it all. The car is solid, even fun to drive which you couldn't have said about a Hyundai 10 years ago. And in a fresh break from Sonatas that have gone before, it looks great.
This comes at a time when consumers think of the brand as being reliable. In short, they trust Hyundai.
Hyundai vehicles now have a substantial residual (trade-in) value. The Sonata, for example, has a residual of 53 per cent that is higher than Camry or Fusion at 49 per cent each.
Hyundai is coming to market with a hybrid in the fall. Rather than being late in the rush to electrics, Hyundai is actually moving ahead of the rest with a lithium-polymer battery that can be shaped to fit instead of being a big box of batteries.
Hyundai is also relentless in bring in new models. In a 24-month span, from 2004-2006, they introduced seven new vehicles.
Beginning with the 2010 Tucson tested on these pages recently, Hyundai is on another seven-models-in-24-months campaign that includes the Sonata tested here. Next up is the Equus luxury sedan, the Elantra, the Accent, a "sporty coupe" and the next Santa Fe.
Currently with 198 dealers, Hyundai plans to add 20 more this year, mostly outside urban areas where interest and demand is growing.
No longer a "cheap and cheerful" A to B sedan, the 2011 Sonata is also part of a plan to get across the message that Hyundai now stands for quality which we saw begin with the Genesis sedan.
For example, you won't find a monotone interior in the Sonata but a mixture of textures and materials. While it is in the mid-size segment, the U.S. EPA considers the interior as being a large car. Hyundai claims it has the largest interior volume in its class.
It's the same with the truck volume. Hyundai had a display of plexiglas boxes filed with popcorn to give a visual of the differences between Sonata on six competitors. One of those boxes had 7.4 cu ft of popcorn which how much bigger the trunk of the Sonata is than the Ford Fusion.
But what really stands out is the styling. To me, this is the first Hyundai to look enticing. With a touch of C-Class at the front and mixture of Lexus/Bimmer at the back, there is a wonderful character line running from the headlight along with door window sill and capped with chrome that makes the kind of "look at me" statement that Hyundai has never made before.
Power is Hyundai's new gasoline direct injection (GDI) 2.4-litre, twin cam inline four-cylinder engine. GDI results in more power and less fuel consumption. At 198 hp and 164 lb/ft of torque, which is a lot for 2.4-litres, Hyundai claims it is the most fuel-efficient in the segment at 8.7/5.7L/100 km city/highway for the six-speed manual transmission and 9.4/5.7L/100 km with the six-speed automatic.
Interestingly, the automatic is sealed for life meaning you never have to top it up or change fluid like in the old days.
The base GL ($22,649) comes with the manual or with the optional automatic ($24,249). The GLS ($26,249), Limited ($28,999) and Limited with navigation system ($30,999) are all fitted with the automatic.
At the press launch in California I drove with my usual partner, the Toronto Star's Jim Kenzie, not because we are old friends; but because we agree on nothing which makes for entertaining drives indeed.
Kenzie really hammered the Sonata up, down and across the hills behind San Diego. I'm still a little leery of the new generation of low rolling resistance silica tires because I think more friction means more grip.
But didn't seem to bother Kenzie much and I had the comfort in knowing the 2011 Sonata comes standard with electronic stability control with traction control and anti-lock braking with Brake Assist and Brake Force distribution, and thankfully, six airbags.
During my time at the wheel I noticed the engine sounded gruff at startup but that went away quickly and then became almost silent at speed. I know the engine bay is well noise proofed so it must have been the tires and the slippery shape that paid off in the lack of sound intrusion into the cabin.
Instead of being a bland handler, the Sonata not only points well, but it has a feel more like a European sedan. You sense with the inputs coming through the steering wheel to the fingertips which I really can't quite remember in previous Sonatas.
At the press conference, Hyundai was asked why there was no V6 offered like most of the Sonata's competitors. The answer was, surprisingly, that a turbo version of the four-cylinder is coming later in the year complete with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters.
What Hyundai has in the 2011 Sonata is an affordable car with the kind of looks and reliability that consumers in the mid-size segment now consider seriously as the sales numbers are already proving.
But I also think it goes beyond that.
It's the first Hyundai people can aspire to own, not because of the fuel economy or the price, but because they are proud to have a Hyundai in their driveway.

BODY STYLE: mid-size sedan.
DRIVE METHOD: front-engine, front-wheel-drive.
ENGINE: 2.4-litre, DOHC four-cylinder (198 hp and 164 lb/ft of torque).
FUEL ECONOMY: six-speed manual, 8.7/5.7L/100 km city/highway; six-speed automatic, 9.4/5.7L/100 km city/highway.
PRICE: GL manual, $22,649; GL automatic, $24,249; GLS, $26,249; Limited, $28,999; Limited Navi, $30,999.