On Wheels by Brooks Peterson

Saturday, November 10, 2001

Hyundai debuts a real looker

David Adame/Caller-Times

The 2002 Hyundai Sonata’s entry-level version comes with power windows, locks and mirrors, CD player and cruise control.

If you are a student of the motoring press, as I am, you will have noticed that certain makes of cars elicit certain responses from car scribes.
   Ferraris, for instance, reduce virtually all of them to little quivering puddles of adulation; Mercedes-Benzes summon up visions of Thor, Wotan and other Nordic warrior-gods; Saabs, with their endearing but quirky ways, generally receive admiration mixed with a certain amount of head-scratching.
   And Hyundai? The company got off to a problematic start back in the mid-'80s when it brought the little Excel econocar to these happy shores: The Excel, uh, didn't. So the South Korean industrial giant has been slogging away ever since in an effort to dispel the image problems that resulted from that less-than-auspicious debut.

Hyundai Sonata GLS Five-passenger front-drive sedan Base price: $17,499 Price as tested: $18,705 Powertrain: Dual-overhead-cam 24-valve fuel-injected V-6, 181 hp; four-speed automatic-overdrive transmission Brakes: Front and rear discs, power-assisted EPA mileage: 20 city/27 highway Web site: www.hyundaiusa.com

   The progress has been steady and undeniable over the past decade and a half. A few years ago, on my suggestion, a colleague here, seeking a replacement for her aging Honda Civic, checked out the little Accent - the direct descendant of the Excel, but a quantum leap in terms of design, engineering, build quality, structural integrity, you name it. She has migrated out of state since then, but on the rare occasions when I hear from her, news of the Accent remains good.
   Now, having spent not quite a week with the 2002 Sonata GLS V-6, I can offer my own take on Hyundai: After all these years of chugging stubbornly along like a corporate analog of The Little Engine That Could, Hyundai has pulled into the station.
   To begin with, the Sonata these days has, well . . . presence. Even in its original configuration, it was presentable - but forgettable. The 2002 Sonata, on the other hand, actually has some visual pizzazz. Like that snarling grille or hate it, it grabs your attention. Abetted by the jazzy hi-tech bright-eyed headlights, it even projects a certain aggression.
   In profile, it's downright handsome, particularly with the big 16-inch spoked alloy wheels that are standard with our mid-line GLS tester. The car doesn't exactly knock you down with charisma, but it commands respect from the outset.
   Alluring contender
   Closer acquaintance only reinforces this impression. In the mid-size sedan segment, dominated these days by Toyota's all-conquering Camry, and including such pretenders to

David Adame/Caller-Times

The Sonata’s interior may be enough to snag prospective buyers. The seats are well-designed, the controls well-thought-out and the climate management superb.

the throne as the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Mazda 626, Ford Taurus, Chevy Impala . . . in the midst of this impressive herd, Hyundai these days has a credible, even alluring contender.
   Your entry-level version is the just-plain-Sonata (no initials), which gets you a 149-hp 2.4-liter four and a generous sprinkling of extras such as power windows, door locks and mirrors, CD player, cruise control and so on. (The V-6 is optional.)
   I suspect, however, that most will make the leap to the GLS - if only because it gets you a really satisfying 2.7-liter V-6, good for 181 horses. This is an easy engine to love: While it doesn't get you tire-smoking burnouts from a halt, its mid-range acceleration is excellent, and the snarl that accompanies the trip up to the 6,500-rpm redline is itself worth the price of admission.
   Surprising poise

David Adame/Caller-Times

The GLS version of the new Sonata offers a 2.7-liter V-6, 181 horsepower engine.

   You will transmit your wishes to the engine via a four-speed automatic transmission, period: no manual labor for this powerplant, kids. By way of compensation, however, Hyundai has given this box a Shiftronic function - one of those slap-stick arrangements whereby you can manually choose gear ratios. This won't appease the purists, but I actually found the arrangement to work better, and more entertainingly, than it does in some other (pricier) cars.
   The all-independent suspension, with revisions out back to lower the roll center, does a fine job of managing the ride-handling equation. The Sonata simply goes where you point it, and if you wish to stir a dollop of vigor into the mix, it will respond with surprising poise.
   All of this is to the good. However, I think that a lot of showroom-shoppers will first be won over by the Sonata's warmly hospitable interior. In the GLS, that means a really inviting and, one assumes, rugged nubby fabric on the well-designed seats, handsome, well-thought-out controls, excellent climate management (read: wind chill factor on demand) . . . the list goes on and on. There are a couple of omissions - no power seats, and no automatic day-night mirror - but, to me at least, that's a plus. Who really needs power seats, anyhow? And those hi-tech mirrors are an abomination, if you don't mind my saying so.
   Lots of legroom
   There's plenty of legroom up front, and while things are tighter in back, the accommodations are still equal to all but the most unreasonably configured passengers - say, NFL defensive linemen and WWF rasslers.
   This, finally brings us - literally and figuratively - to the bottom line. If all the other stuff I've trotted out for your reading pleasure hasn't persuaded you at least to give the Sonata a look, I offer you: all this good stuff, in our tester, for $18,705, freight and handling included. And if you were to dispense with the power moonroof, the mud guards and the carpeted floor mats, you could trim that to $17,499.

David Adame/Caller-Times

The new Sonata offers a large amount of space both for legs in the backseat and for cargo in the trunk.

   No, that isn't pocket change; but when you take a look at what some of the other guys are demanding, and getting, for their wares, this sensible yet entertaining sedan becomes downright seductive.
   And don't forget the surpassed-by-no-one 10-year 100,000-mile power train protection, 5-year bumper-to-bumper warranty, 5-year unlimited-miles roadside assistance and 5-year 100,000 perforation (i.e., rust) warranty.
   Three words, students: Such a deal.
  
  

---

---

  © 2000 Corpus Christi Caller Times, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.