Sunday, December 5, 2010

Hyundai Sonata

I wandered the National Car rental lot looking for a vehicle I had not already driven.  There were several trucks but have found a truck is not a good business trip vehicle. 

Finally saw a car with a good looking"dress pant crease" design.. First I thought it was a Chrysler then finally able to interpret the badge to see that it was a new Hyundai Sonata.  The nice impression did not continue on the inside unfortunately.

The interior comes across as cheap with lots of plastic.  Other vehicles may have the same amount but the Sonata's really looks like plastic.  The faux-chrome lines are just that...faux.  The color just doesn't work.  The center console display screen appeared to have a liquid crystal defect which only added to the "cheap" feeling.

The driver's seat was not well shaped and the steering wheel could use a telescoping option.  The Sonata does have auto-down and auto-up driver's window.  I like the auto-up feature.  There are a number of various electronic and analog controls.  I didn't realize the center display was changeable until the last day of rental.  I didn't get a chance to use the integrated bluetooth phone.  It seemed to be voice activated which would be a nice feature.

There appears to be plenty of power to get around town.  In ECO mode there is a tendency to downshift frequently even when going up slight inclines.  The Denver elevation may have something to do with that.

Overall I'm not very impressed.  The exterior metal folds are handsome but the interior doesn't follow through at all.

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