Hyundai following in Toyota's tire prints

Hyundai following in Toyota's tire prints

I've been writing about cars long enough to see the enormous progress made by Toyota and Honda over the past 15 years. But I wasn't there when the reputations of those brands went from cheap, to cheap and good, to, finally, just good.

But I'm here now as it's happening to Hyundai.

The Hyundais of the late '80s and early '90s were cheap and, frankly, very bad. More recently, the South Korean automaker has sold cars and sport-utility vehicles that offered good value and steadily improving quality, as noted by both J.D. Power and Associates and Consumer Reports.

The 2006 Hyundai Sonata, a redesigned sedan being built at the automaker's new $1.1 billion plant in Alabama, is good.

As in darn good. As in, if you're looking at a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord or Nissan Altima, you'd better have the Sonata on your shopping list, too.

I just drove a Sonata GLS with a V-6 engine and an automatic transmission for a week.

No one could deny that it was a tremendous value. The window sticker said $22,995. That price includes such safety features as six air bags, anti-lock brakes, traction control and stability control.

It also included amenities such as a CD/MP3 player, air conditioning, fog lights and a trip computer.

The option list was small on my test car, but included a sunroof, a power driver's seat and 17-inch wheels and tires.

A comparable Camry or Accord costs thousands more.

On the road, the new Sonata feels and sounds like a high-quality car. The doors slam with an assured thud. The ride is quiet. I heard no squeaks and rattles.

Base GL and GLS Sonata models come with a 162-horsepower, 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. An option on the GLS -- the one I drove -- and standard on the LX is the 235-horsepower, 3.3-liter V-6. (That's a huge improvement from the non-competitive 170 horsepower provided by last year's 2.7-liter V-6.)

The four-cylinder cars come with either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission. The V-6 version comes equipped with a five-speed automatic transmission.

Both engines and the five-speed automatic are brand new.

On the road, the car provided a comfortable ride with smooth acceleration. I wouldn't describe the feeling as sporty, but it's a ride that most American car buyers will find more than acceptable.

In car-speak, it drives more like a Camry than an Accord.

What makes the new Sonata different than those cars is its size.

The old 2005 Sonata was one of the smaller mid-size cars on the market. This new 2006 Sonata is actually a large car, as defined by the government.

The numbers are meaningless to most people, I know, but, for comparison's sake, the new Sonata has 105.4 cubic feet of passenger volume. The 2005 Sonata had 100.0 cubic feet. The 2005 Camry sedan measures 101.8 cubic feet and the 2005 Accord sedan has 88.0 or 91.1 cubic feet, depending on the model.

If you're sitting in the back seat of the Sonata, it means you'll have plentiful knee and leg room. The back seat has two cup holders and two grab handles, too, but no reading light.

The trunk at 16.3 cubic feet is a bit smaller than what's found in a Camry but much larger than what's in the back of an Accord.

Design-wise, the new Sonata is pleasant enough. But in making an effort to create a car that will be sold against the Camry, the Hyundai designers sculpted one that looks just as ordinary.

Our tester was painted deep-water blue, and that languid shade tended to soften up what is already a pretty fuzzy design.

The interior, too, is very good, with no obvious faults, but hardly anything that would be confused with an Audi or even a Lexus or Cadillac. Our GLS came with cloth seats, and they had a high-quality look.

Gas mileage is much improved with this new family of engines. The 2.4-liter four-cylinder 2005 Sonata with manual transmission got 22 mpg in city driving and 30 mpg on the highway. The 2006 version gets 24 mpg in the city and 34 on the highway.

The V-6 with automatic that I drove got 20 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway. Last year's 2.7-liter V-6 and four-speed automatic got 19 mpg in the city and 27 mpg on the highway.

As Hyundai gets more competitive, you have to wonder how long it'll keep the long warranty -- 10-year/100,000-mile for the powertrain, five-year/60,000-mile overall and three years of 24-hour road-side assistance -- that's one of the best in the industry. But it remains in place with this 2006 Sonata.

I don't put the new Sonata into the same league with Camry and Accord without thought. But the quality reports from Power and Consumer Reports and my seat time in the new sedan are enough to convince me that this is a very good car.

Only the fact that it has so many new important components, and it comes out of an all-new plant where it is being built by folks who have never put together a vehicle before keeps me from giving it a totally ecstatic five-star rating.

Think of my four stars as a strong endorsement.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/merc...htm?source=rss&channel=mercurynews_automotive

I completely agree with that

they might catch up in the future, whos knows....they're improvin slowly...

Slowly? They are improving way faster than most Domestic brands are... i'd already buy a Hyundai over most domestic cars...

its still a hundai..

Soon, saying its a hyundai won't be a bad thing, it will be a good thing, just like when people say "I have a Toyota" or "I have a Honda"... did you drive the new Sonata, I tested one at the dealer over here, just the 4 cyl. one, and I came away very very impressed... if I was buying a family car, i honestly don't know if i'd get the camry or the sonata...

i would go toyota for a family car

hahaha hopeless debate you two

Oh well I'm bored at work, might as well debate!

/\probably true...(comparable car neway_


but hell no i wudnt get 1 over a toyota or honda lol

isnt china supposed to get into this business soon?? anyone heard anything about that??

Heh, I'd still get a RAV4 before a Tucson, a Highlander before a Santa Fe, a Celica or tC before a Tiburon, an Echo Hatchback before an Accent, but... in the case of the Sonata versus Camry... I really don't know, i'm loving the Sonata and the features for the price, and the warranty is good peace of mind, etc...

I think the Sonata looks pretty good. If it had a Honda badge, everyone would think it looked great.

remember, years ago when Honda went from making bikes, lawnmowers etc. to making cars everyone thought they were a joke.........look what happened.

if i had the "extra" money then i'd buy a hyundai,but besides that i'd go still go with something i know has a very strong reputation, Toyota and Honda have had very reliable vehicles since way back in the day and have gotten so good that they are coming out on top.

It looks like a cross between the rear end of an Accord and the front-end of an older model 240 in a way.