The Sonata is a conservatively handsome car and one that is certainly far better looking than the overly chromed monstrosity that was the i45. Photos / Damien O'Carroll
People, apparently, don't warm to a collection of letters and numbers as easily as they do to an actual name, something that Hyundai has discovered following extensive customer research.
That's why the new mid-size car the company has just launched in New Zealand is again called the Sonata and not the i45.
The new Sonata is more than just a badge change
While this is news to BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai has definitely decided to make the move back to names. Even the next ix35 will revert back to the Tucson moniker when it is launched, although just to keep things confusing, the i30 and i40 will stay with the numbers.
But the shift in name couldn't have come at a better time for the Sonata, as the new car is so vastly changed from the i45 it replaces as to be a totally different car anyway.
The new Sonata comes to New Zealand in three guises: an entry level model and an Elite model, both of which get Hyundai's venerable 138kW/241Nm Theta II 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and a six-speed automatic transmission, and an Elite Limited model that gets the new 180kW/350Nm 2-litre four-cylinder turbo engine, also with the six-speed auto.
The entry level Sonata comes standard with 17-inch alloy wheels, rear parking sensors and a backing camera, Bluetooth phone and audio connectivity, electric folding/heated mirrors, cruise control, hill-start control, a leather steering wheel with audio and phone controls, a leather gear knob, daytime running lights and a multi-function trip computer and starts the pricing at $45,990.
The cup holders in the Sonata can fit a wide bodied water bottle.
The Elite adds 18-inch wheels, rain-sensing wipers, front parking sensors, a premium audio system, power-adjustable leather seats in the front, climate control, an electric park brake, front and rear seat warmers, a heated steering wheel, puddle lamps, a windscreen de-icer, keyless entry and start and a chromed grille and retails for $49,990.
The Elite Limited gets a suspension tune, a 7-inch navigation system, automatic headlight levelling, blunt-spot detection, a panoramic glass sunroof, xenon HID headlights, headlight washers, covering lamps, ventilated front seats, LED tail-lights, retractable rear-door curtains and a memory system on the driver's seat. The Limited is the only model to get the turbo engine and costs $55,990.
The Sonata features an evolution of Hyundai's familiar "fluidic sculpture" design language (imaginatively dubbed "Fluidic Sculpture 2.0" and oddly subtitled "Inner Force"), and shares a number of design cues with the soon-to-be-launched-here Genesis large sedan.
This makes the Sonata an attractive car - well, from some angles. From the side, front and rear three-quarter views it is handsome if slightly conservative.
However, viewed directly from front or behind it somehow manages to look oddly bland and, from a distance, extremely generic.
I'm not sure how Hyundai's designers managed to do that, but the overall result is still of a conservatively handsome car and one that is certainly far better looking than the overly chromed droopy monstrosity that was the i45.
The Hyundai Sonata is totally different from the i45 it replaces
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Speaking of the i45 - a car that excelled in shiny chrome and equipment but failed in going around corners - the Sonata also happens to be a simply huge improvement over it in terms of dynamics, road-holding, steering feel and body control.
In fact, every aspect to do with ride, handling and feel has been hugely improved with the Sonata, resulting in a vehicle that, while still in no way a sports car, is now capable of tackling a winding road without descending into a floppy mess of howling tyres, vast understeer and dramatic body roll.
That's right - despite being slightly larger in every dimension the Sonata can go around a corner in a controlled, competent and somewhat eager fashion.
The turbo feels more keen in this regard, no doubt attributable to the smaller engine over the front axle, but both cars are remarkably more controlled than the soft i45.
Not that the ride has noticeably suffered as a result.
The improvement in body control has made for a car that is more comfortable - particularly for the passengers - than the i54.
Although the 2.4 does an admirable - and for most people more than capable - job of hauling the Sonata around, the star for sheer urge is the turbo, although rather oddly it doesn't feel like a car with 180kW.
The power is linear in its presentation but the engine doesn't really get going until it is up in the revs and doesn't really come to life until 80 to 100km/h.
This makes passing an effortless exercise although it makes keeping to the speed limit an exercise in concentration (or cruise control).
The Sonata certainly does a convincing job in improving on the i45, but its market is shrinking. The mid-size car is disappearing almost as fast as the large car, while SUVs of all size take over their traditional place on our roads.
The Sonata doesn't do anything drastically revolutionary that will change that but it will appeal to anyone still wanting a traditional mid-size sedan.
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