Topic: 2011 Hyundai Sonata GL; Day 1

[RH]

I have driven the Fusion and Sonata back to back. Both are very nice, however I found the fusion to be quieter, more solid and better riding.  The Sonata is a very nice car but the ride was a little to sensitive and the interior materials not as good. I still really like the sonata and will definitely take one out again. The motor is great!!

Thanks for the insight.  I spent a week with a rental Fusion SE and loved every minute of the drive.  However, I will have to test drive the Sonota.  Unfortunately, our local dealer can't keep them in stock!!

[Shnak]

James, how much highway/cruising did you do while testing the Sonata? A 8.4L/100km average would suggest close to a 50%/50% split in terms of highway/city driving, no?

[wing]

Mostly city actually.

I reset the trip again when I filled up this morning.  Drove from Stittsville to Bank St Hyundai, took hunt club the entire way averaged 6.8!

[Shnak]

And how much kilometers on the odometer? I'm curious to know if the engine is already broken in...

[CanuckS2K]

Mostly city actually.

I reset the trip again when I filled up this morning.  Drove from Stittsville to Bank St Hyundai, took hunt club the entire way averaged 6.8!

That's impressive!!   

[wing]

And how much kilometers on the odometer? I'm curious to know if the engine is already broken in...

10,000

[Shnak]

Oh ok. With barely 2000km on the clock, I got close to 12L/100km for my first 3 tanks on my Sonata so far. Those are pretty much 90-95% stop n' go tanks though... Then again, I'm not exactly the smoothest on the throttle. Maybe I should make an effort there...  The few times I've hit the highway with it, I've seen in the 7's on the trip computer. Once broken in, I'm hoping my tank average can lower into the 9's/low 10's for that same 90-95% stop n' go routine. We'll see.

[Minou]

Mostly city actually.

I reset the trip again when I filled up this morning.  Drove from Stittsville to Bank St Hyundai, took hunt club the entire way averaged 6.8!

So the figures you reported are all from the trip computer?  Some of them seem to be overly optimistic...

Last night, I recorded 6.1 L/100 Km on my Scangauge II on an approx 100 Km slow drive along rural roads and highways including a few lights, etc.  But overall calculated tank averages are mostly in the low 7's these days.

A typical full traffic city drive would be more around 10.

[wing]

Yes I use the computer, I have driven hundreds of cars and have compared perhaps 25% of them to the fuel pumps and they are always BANG on.

The Sonata said 8.4L/100km after driving about 200km and I put in about 17L of fuel.  Trust the trip computers I've yet to see one incorrect unless you only drive a few Km.

[aknutson]

Oh ok. With barely 2000km on the clock, I got close to 12L/100km for my first 3 tanks on my Sonata so far. Those are pretty much 90-95% stop n' go tanks though... Then again, I'm not exactly the smoothest on the throttle. Maybe I should make an effort there...  The few times I've hit the highway with it, I've seen in the 7's on the trip computer. Once broken in, I'm hoping my tank average can lower into the 9's/low 10's for that same 90-95% stop n' go routine. We'll see.

You must be hard on the takeoffs, we are getting much better mileage with our V6 Santa Fe, even with the first tank it wasn't far off 11L/100Km and after almost 10K Kms we're averaging 9.5-10.5L/100 Km. I commute a fairly long distance every day and am amazed how many people I see burning up their money by being in a hurry, only to be right behind them again at the next light...

[Shnak]

Oh ok. With barely 2000km on the clock, I got close to 12L/100km for my first 3 tanks on my Sonata so far. Those are pretty much 90-95% stop n' go tanks though... Then again, I'm not exactly the smoothest on the throttle. Maybe I should make an effort there...  The few times I've hit the highway with it, I've seen in the 7's on the trip computer. Once broken in, I'm hoping my tank average can lower into the 9's/low 10's for that same 90-95% stop n' go routine. We'll see.

You must be hard on the takeoffs, we are getting much better mileage with our V6 Santa Fe, even with the first tank it wasn't far off 11L/100Km and after almost 10K Kms we're averaging 9.5-10.5L/100 Km. I commute a fairly long distance every day and am amazed how many people I see burning up their money by being in a hurry, only to be right behind them again at the next light...

I'm sure my driving style isn't helping things, but in my defense, my commute is about 15km where my average speed is under 50km/h... lots of stop/go, especially at night where its 45 minutes of a lot of bumper to bumper, made that much worse with construction on the two different ways I have to get home.

I'd be curious to see how this new Sonata would fare compared to my Sonata in the same conditions... I bet it wouldn't get anywhere close to the 8.4L/100km James got. Even my Accent would average just over 10L/100km per tank when I had it.

[greengs]

Not sure if I missed it but when is the Kia version coming to Canadian market or is it?

[MKII]

James, any chance of you cruisng thru Richmond......I am here until Sunday before I jet back to Euroland.

I have been driving Fusions for the past 3 weeks, a 2009 3.0L and a 2010 2.5L manual. The 2010 Fusion has really impressed me, and IMO is 100X more car then the old Fusion.

I have seen a few new Sonata's on the roads here and like the looks of them.

[Blueprint]

I have driven the Fusion and Sonata back to back. Both are very nice, however I found the fusion to be quieter, more solid and better riding.  The Sonata is a very nice car but the ride was a little to sensitive and the interior materials not as good. I still really like the sonata and will definitely take one out again. The motor is great!!

Thanks for the insight.  I spent a week with a rental Fusion SE and loved every minute of the drive.  However, I will have to test drive the Sonota.  Unfortunately, our local dealer can't keep them in stock!!

Spent 2700km in a rental 2010 Fusion SEL V-6 (loaded with leather, moonroof, ...), loved the car, and the trip computer did match tank averages : 8.5 l/100km through the Rockies and back!  Black on black, this car looks like a budget A4.  Too bad there are no sticks with the SEL 

[conwelpic]

Not sure if I missed it but when is the Kia version coming to Canadian market or is it?

according to Kia Buzz the Optima will be available in early 2011 in both US and Canada.  It will no longer be called the Magentis in Canada, that name has been dropped worldwide.  In Korean its known as K5.

[Blueprint]

Since a few of us are value-comparing the Sonata and the Fusion, I built and priced (just for fun) a Fusion SE with the manual tranny and the 12-speaker Sony stereo upgrade (mandatory after trying it in the rental  )... and after incentives : 20,900$ including transport & prep $ a/c tax.  That's Sentra money !!

[dirtyjeffer]

Since a few of us are value-comparing the Sonata and the Fusion, I built and priced (just for fun) a Fusion SE with the manual tranny and the 12-speaker Sony stereo upgrade (mandatory after trying it in the rental  )... and after incentives : 20,900$ including transport & prep $ a/c tax.  That's Sentra money !!

they are good deals, but there are two things that bother me about them.

1) They give a great "cash price", but considering most of us need to finance a car, they make their money back with their rather unattractive interest rates (6% or more).

2) It really makes me wonder why they have to give their cars away in order to get people to buy them.

and lastly, if anyone is interested, VW announced some teaser details for the newly designed Jetta today...you can get a fully loaded Highline TDI for about $27k...that's almost $5k LESS than 2010.

[99 Silver]

Mostly city actually.

I reset the trip again when I filled up this morning.  Drove from Stittsville to Bank St Hyundai, took hunt club the entire way averaged 6.8!

Do you live in Stittsville?  I used to live there.

[Blueprint]

Since a few of us are value-comparing the Sonata and the Fusion, I built and priced (just for fun) a Fusion SE with the manual tranny and the 12-speaker Sony stereo upgrade (mandatory after trying it in the rental  )... and after incentives : 20,900$ including transport & prep $ a/c tax.  That's Sentra money !!

they are good deals, but there are two things that bother me about them.

1) They give a great "cash price", but considering most of us need to finance a car, they make their money back with their rather unattractive interest rates (6% or more).

2) It really makes me wonder why they have to give their cars away in order to get people to buy them.

and lastly, if anyone is interested, VW announced some teaser details for the newly designed Jetta today...you can get a fully loaded Highline TDI for about $27k...that's almost $5k LESS than 2010.

In the US, the new Jetta will be priced BELOW base versions of the Corolla and Civic, and that's the target market.  It will make things interesting!

[Shnak]

Oh ok. With barely 2000km on the clock, I got close to 12L/100km for my first 3 tanks on my Sonata so far. Those are pretty much 90-95% stop n' go tanks though... Then again, I'm not exactly the smoothest on the throttle. Maybe I should make an effort there...  The few times I've hit the highway with it, I've seen in the 7's on the trip computer. Once broken in, I'm hoping my tank average can lower into the 9's/low 10's for that same 90-95% stop n' go routine. We'll see.

You must be hard on the takeoffs, we are getting much better mileage with our V6 Santa Fe, even with the first tank it wasn't far off 11L/100Km and after almost 10K Kms we're averaging 9.5-10.5L/100 Km. I commute a fairly long distance every day and am amazed how many people I see burning up their money by being in a hurry, only to be right behind them again at the next light...

I'm sure my driving style isn't helping things, but in my defense, my commute is about 15km where my average speed is under 50km/h... lots of stop/go, especially at night where its 45 minutes of a lot of bumper to bumper, made that much worse with construction on the two different ways I have to get home.

I'd be curious to see how this new Sonata would fare compared to my Sonata in the same conditions... I bet it wouldn't get anywhere close to the 8.4L/100km James got. Even my Accent would average just over 10L/100km per tank when I had it.

Alright, I've mellowed my driving style and now hover around 10.8L/100km on my daily commute (which, again, is mostly stop n' go), so that's a little more acceptable.

And last night, I went for a little drive and got 6.8L/100km while cruising at 110km/h, and 6.4L/100km while cruising at 70km/h. That's with my wife and baby in the car, and probably a litte A/C going on (it was on auto mode, hard to tell if the compressor is actually running).

Once the engine settles in, I suppose 10L/100km in the city should be feasible. The car is officially rated at 9.5/6.2 city/highway, so if I can eventually get around 10/6.5, I'd perfectly happy with that as it would be a nice drop compared with our Sportage's consumption of around 14/10.