So a week ago the hertz lady offered me either a Mustang or a Sonata... in that brief moment that followed, I could imagine my review of the Sonata: "The car was white....that's about it" I cannot imagine a more bland, uninspirational car in production today. At the Autoshow, I can't imagine coming within 100 yards of one of these buckets. At least the Mustang is an icon, so I took it.
This week, after feeling soiled by the 'stang, I had no problem taking the Hyundai keys she offered me.
From the outside, the Hyundai Sonata is indeed one of the most boring cars i've ever seen. It basically looks like a dated Honda Accord. They exterior styling just doesn't look quite current.
So i opened the trunk to stow my bags and things got slightly more promising. Two oval tail pipes and a V6 badge gave me a little more hope for the week. Opening the door and stepping into the Sonata was the big surprise. The fit and finish here is excellent. I would say that the dash and dials look better than my BMW (mind you my car is over 4 years old) The interior is the complete opposite from the Mustang. The quality and feel of the dash and all of the surfaces feel far beyond my expectations, and that of anything I've rented so far. Even the shift path has a fine subtle chrome pinstripe.
So lots of photos but how does it feel? Again, completely different from the Mustang. The engine is virtually silent. Even when you stomp on the accelerator, the engine is still hardly noticeable, you just feel a solid whoosh of power as you're surged down the freeway. Handling is surefooted, not exactly 'sporty', but confident and comfortable.
Honestly, this is the perfect car for someone who really doesn't care about cars. What I mean is I really can't find any 'quirks' that only a true enthusiast would embrace like the tone of the exhaust. This car really gets you from point A to B smoothly, comfortably, reasonably quickly, without any complaints or issues. And it does all this with the best fuel economy next to the Prius that i've encountered so far. Over 26 mpg.
Basically I can see the Ford & Hyundai engineers each given the task of building a $25,000 car. The Ford guys spend $20k on the body, (it is a cool looking car) and the remaining 5k to get the rest of the car done. The Hyundai guys took $24k to engineer the interior, engine, suspension and chassis, then make a quick sheet metal mould around the outside to design the body. Decide for yourself which is more important to you.
Oh, and by the way, it's white, with a metallic pearl hue. Very nice.
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