3rd Jul 2015, 22:55
Just be careful with that keyless start - if you're driving then handing over the car to someone (e.g., your wife dropped you off at the airport but you drove on the way), make sure you hand over the key. If you leave with the key and they drive off, once they turn off the engine (or the car stalls somewhere), they can't start it again. I've heard of that happening a few times - yes, due to habit, thinking that if the car was running, the metal key is in the ignition switch.
Change the tyres, they make such a difference. Sometimes night and day. Check out reviews and get something that suits your road and driving situation. If you live in a country where roads have a coarse chip pavement, you will want a quieter-running tyre so you don't get that fatiguing drone.
30th Jul 2015, 01:33
A little follow up.
- The panoramic sunroof is awkward and I'm not fan of it. The sunshade can only be activated by a switch, and when the sunroof is open, the sunshade cannot be set at a desired position manually. Moreover, the sunroof does not have enough tint to keep from feeling the sun is burning.
- The A/C is good enough, but when driving in Eco mode, the A/C blows warmish air.
- The cooled/vented seats take long to cool down when the car has sat in sun and the leather is hot. The steering wheel also gets very hot to the touch.
- I mentioned the suspension before (shock and strut absorbers). When going over potholes I can hear the rear shock absorbers rattling like in a 10 year old car. This concurs with the poor handling at higher speeds.
- The headlight switch is on the turn signal lever and might not be obvious to use every time when getting into the car. It does have an 'Auto' position, but it's not well placed. One can drive with the car on position lights at night and not realize the headlights and the tail lights are off.
- The 2.4 non turbo GDI engine is good enough for city driving, yet it's slow for car passing. It feels anemic. Surprisingly, it shows 185 horsepower & 178 lb·ft torque. My other car, a S60 2.4 non-turbo Volvo has 167 HP and 170 lb·ft torque, and the acceleration feels stronger than in the Hyundai. Maybe Hyundai has been optimistic about the engine power numbers. Interestingly, Hyundai was already condemned for inflating the power numbers in the past. The 2.5L 2002 Sonata was advertised at 170 HP, while the government tests revealed the engine developed no more than 130 HP. It feels the actual 2.4 GDI engine develops no more than 150 lb·ft torque.
- The side blind spot warning works well, but it covers an area too large. Even on a three lane road, if there is a car two lanes away, it will ring.
- The intelligent (or smart they call it) cruise control is supposed to follow the car in front of me. I had an occurrence when I was following a car that changed lines quickly in a curved highway section, and it seemed the radar picked up another vehicle that was traveling faster. The cruise control then accelerated fast, which made me feel unsafe for a moment. I'm young yet I don't feel safe about the car controlling my driving this way. Fortunately, the cruise control can disable the 'follow the car ahead' feature.
- I cannot praise enough Hyundai engineers for the integration of all the electronics. They work flawless and are easy to use.
All in all, this car needs a (much) better suspension, better tires and perhaps more comfortable seats. It is a well built vehicle and I'm convinced Hyundai will improve it in the next generation.
31st Jul 2015, 04:08
Thanks for the tip about the keys. As for the tires, for now we are looking to buy good winter tires for the upcoming cold season, so that will hopefully bring some light on how the car is handling on decent tires. Will keep up to date.
3rd Oct 2015, 19:07
Another update car at 2000 miles. We had no issues (repairs) with it until now.
I would like to warn the buyers, this car engine has not the advertised 185hp. I believe this engine has about only 130hp. At highway (65mph) speeds, the car has no passing acceleration. I have floored the gas pedal on a flat surface - no winds - the transmission downshifted and the car barely accelerated. I went reading on Internet and the Sonata had a 2.4L engine in 2004 that produced 138hp. I think the 2015 engine has the same power. Very weak for such vehicle.
Be very careful with the cruise control. The cruise control will slow down the car if you follow a slower car, but this is tricky. Let's say you are taking a curve following a slower car. When the radar will lose the front car because of the curve, your car will accelerate all of a sudden. Or you are in a curve! Be very careful. Also the cruise control setting button to increase and decrease the speed is strange. To activate the cruise control, you must push down the button. Also, when increasing the speed, the button must be pushed up. Finally, be aware that if you keep the button pressed upwards, the speed will increase in increments of 6mph, which will cause the engine to suddenly accelerate.
2nd Jul 2015, 21:43
OP again.
I just discovered today how the key-less entry really works on this car (my bad, I'm not a very technical guy). Found out it's not only for the engine start-up/shut off, but also for getting in the car without pulling the key fob from your pocket. Have to confess, this is a neat trick - surely Hyundai is not the first to implement it. Don't know if this is available on all trim levels. So basically there is no need to remove the key fob from the pocket/purse at any moment after leaving the house. How nice is that? There is about a 7 feet radius around the car where the key must be located in order to be able to unlock/lock the doors. Still I find myself putting my hand in my pocket to remove the key when I want to go inside the car or to leave it in the parking lot. Long time habits, I guess. Only thing, I wish the black buttons on the door handles were larger.
I also discovered that the center console display can be turned off; the button is near the CD slot.
I wish Hyundai - and not only Hyundai - would relocate the start-up button to be more in view. It seems they think the button needs to be placed where the ignition barrel was before, but actually we have to blind guess by hand the start-up button. Perhaps placing it somewhere on the center console?
The is some whistle wind noise when the front windows are lowered. Not very annoying, but it's the first time I've heard this in a car.
Finally, the standard tires, the Kumho Solus TA31 in 215/55R17 size, are very unstable at speeds above 40mph. I have inflated them to 32 PSI, but the maneuvering just doesn't feel safe on the highway.
All in all, I do appreciate the great work Hyundai did with integrating all the electronics, the buttons and the functions. The LCD screen is also clear and easy to operate. I would have liked some colors for the cabin fan mode and speed buttons, so as to differentiate them more quickly from the other buttons.
On the down side, the suspension doesn't absorb the bumps smoothly, while the seats are also on the hard side and not exactly comfortable.