Two Years of 2.0T What Say Ye?

[bonsai]

Lot of fanfare when the new Sonata came out and then the later release of the 2.0T. Is it still what you thought it was?

Other than the left pull that effected some, me included, I've been fairly happy. I'm not impressed by A/T though the six speeds beats four.

I still don't care for the advertising of all that torque at around 1750 w/engine when in fact the slush box ate up a lot of that low RPM power. Even the '13 models don't have slick tranny. Where's the dual clutch and posi-trac? Traction control is swell for snow.

Why does the engine automatically shift before redline when your foot is on the floor or in manual? This outlines my major disappointment.

Hyundai is going to flash whatever software they wish on your car. They did it to me w/MDPS in vainly attempting to stop the left pull from the wrong end of the stick. To add insult to injury they refused to change it back to the default, the style of purchase, and the traveling dolt that worked on my car prevented any other Hyundai service from officially working/changing the settings back to default.

Ya'll w/SE can have the faux manual rack & pinion charade, but I've no interest in the illusion. On a scale of 1-10 the slight of hand might eek out a two.

Same goes for shifting before redline and turbo boost. At any given time they can decide to detune your car w/TSB reflash. It was confirmed in the early dyno test that there really wasn't 274 horses available in that factory trim. If they had posi-trac then they wouldn't have to limit full boost to fourth gear and up.

I knew it wasn't a hot-rod or a sports sedan when I purchased. I should be able to accelerate to redline in every gear and also decide how easy or hard I wish to have the P/S.

Would've been nice if the five disc CD had a random setting. The passenger seat should've had power adjustment as the driver seat.

Nothing has broken or left me stranded, but w/13K I'd hope not to have mechanical issues. So far so good on reliability for me.

[Zebodog]

It's a good car. My '07 3.3 Sonata had fewer interior creaks and rattles so it took me a little longer to deal with them in the '11 but the car is silent now.

30,000km in, the brakes and tires look new, the steering and suspension feels like it did on day 1 and the mileage is higher than I expected. I do have some small rock chips in the paint but no bettter or worse than my '07.

The only warranty item I've had was for a plastic clip holding the trim to the dash down by the traction control button beside the column.

[ut11sonata]

My SE handles fine for a sedan, and it was less than the LE, so whatever on the FAUX rack and pinion, its a budget sedan that has some power, and can smoke plenty of cars out there. This has been a great car for me, and I don't have many complaints about it myself. It has the sexy looks that turns plenty of heads and the room to impress clients. Everyone complains about little creaks here and there.. Turn on the freakin radio and you won't hear them, I haven't noticed little noises unlike others on this forum. This is a great car for the money and has treated me great for two years running.

[Bill C.]

Originally Posted by ut11sonata

My SE handles fine for a sedan, and it was less than the LE, so whatever on the FAUX rack and pinion, its a budget sedan that has some power, and can smoke plenty of cars out there. This has been a great car for me, and I don't have many complaints about it myself. It has the sexy looks that turns plenty of heads and the room to impress clients. Everyone complains about little creaks here and there.. Turn on the freakin radio and you won't hear them, I haven't noticed little noises unlike others on this forum. This is a great car for the money and has treated me great for two years running.

+1 Had my SE for a year and 18000 miles. A few small things I don't like. But for the money I spent I think a got a great deal.

[bonsai]

Please gents I've no intent of ridiculing you for your decision in buying the SE model. The cat's long been out of the bag that the SE & LTD share identical steering w/only difference being the amount of effort required to turn the wheel due to different settings of the MDPS.

If Hyundai wished to provide a more sportier feel they should've clipped some of the real estate off in the lock to lock turn. However, there's quite the tight turning radius and that's handy. I have a '92 Buick Park Avenue sitting next to the Sonata and you might be surprised how close these two cars are to another.

Granted, there's 19 years and 104 HP (170 for the base 3.8L) difference, but the weight and width are fairly close w/length & height trailing a bit more as I recall. Design is much different, yet the early Buick came on a smaller Electra frame w/V-6 transversely mounted, FI not a throttle body and a four speed auto. There was a supercharged version ultra that packed 205 HP.

"The base Park Avenue got its power boost for '95 so it made 205 hp. The last year ('96) of this generation saw the Ultra receive the Series II supercharged V6 (with 240 hp) and variable-assist steering."

Sound somewhat familiar? The Chinese love the Buick and don't think for a minute that tidbit went unnoticed by the South Koreans. In fact that's the only reason that the tri-coloured shield has survived instead of following your daddy's olds and Chief Pontiac.

I don't have an issue w/you enjoying a stiffer feel to the steering. Your preference, more power to ya. My anger in this instance lies w/Hyundai attempting to wag the dog of left pull from the wrong end.

Then I was more angry because they tried to pull the wool over my eyes not giving me credit to see/feel their ploy once I drove my car after they screwed w/it.

Finally, I was even more angry still as they officially refused/blocked/red flagged my car from being returned to the original.default setting on the MDPS.

The LTD, and the SE would if you had them change the settings, mimics the fluid power steering style very well. The idea that they could introduce less assist/more effort in copying a manual rack and pinion is a bit of a stretch.

For crying out loud it's a FWD. That's not going to happen, but they did a good job of masking torque steer albeit at the expense of performance.

Overall I'm happy w/2.0T in LTD trim. Not a SS though still fun to drive and relatively taut in turns w/18x225/45. The low end torque pulling hills w/minimum throttle is stately-esque. Paddle shifters are handy in traffic to downshift quickly if need be and the car is responsive. Under 15 sec 0-100 and mid-high 14's pushing 100 in the 1/4 is very respectable for a sedan especially in this price range.

I think that adds to the frustration for me. The car is so close on some accounts to being a SS that I'm close enough to almost taste it. Bang for the buck w/gas mileage is impressive. However, now that 2013 has rolled around other models are copying the successful formula of DI/turbo.

A question for the 93 octane crowd. Do you see redline in first and second gear? I understand boost being limited, but I'm wondering if anyone can actually wind it up to 6500.

I know about the learned logic, I'm not going to dog the car for a few more RPM, but the closest I've come to redline is 6250 in any gear.

[ryster]

Originally Posted by bonsai

Lot of fanfare when the new Sonata came out and then the later release of the 2.0T. Is it still what you thought it was?

Other than the left pull that effected some, me included, I've been fairly happy. I'm not impressed by A/T though the six speeds beats four.

I still don't care for the advertising of all that torque at around 1750 w/engine when in fact the slush box ate up a lot of that low RPM power. Even the '13 models don't have slick tranny. Where's the dual clutch and posi-trac? Traction control is swell for snow.

Why does the engine automatically shift before redline when your foot is on the floor or in manual? This outlines my major disappointment.

Combination of fuel economy and warranty. Hitting redline frequently will take a toll on engine and transmission durability. It also eats more fuel. Hyundai is worried more about limiting their warranty claims and hitting CAFE numbers than they are giving drivers a "perfect" driving experience.

Hyundai is going to flash whatever software they wish on your car. They did it to me w/MDPS in vainly attempting to stop the left pull from the wrong end of the stick. To add insult to injury they refused to change it back to the default, the style of purchase, and the traveling dolt that worked on my car prevented any other Hyundai service from officially working/changing the settings back to default.

This is how Hyundai (and other automakers) operate. They issue Service Campaigns. When a car comes in, the service department applies the service campaign to the car. This is how Hyundai assures that as potential issues with cars are found, they get fixed. Honda, VW, Toyota, GM, et al. all work this way as well. Some dealers do not even tell customers that these updates are performed, they just apply them when the car comes in to the shop. 99% of customers don't care about these updates as long as their car is reliable.

Ya'll w/SE can have the faux manual rack & pinion charade, but I've no interest in the illusion. On a scale of 1-10 the slight of hand might eek out a two.

Same goes for shifting before redline and turbo boost. At any given time they can decide to detune your car w/TSB reflash. It was confirmed in the early dyno test that there really wasn't 274 horses available in that factory trim. If they had posi-trac then they wouldn't have to limit full boost to fourth gear and up.

I knew it wasn't a hot-rod or a sports sedan when I purchased. I should be able to accelerate to redline in every gear and also decide how easy or hard I wish to have the P/S.

There are vehicles that allow the driver to adjust settings for steering, ride, engine performance, etc. These are features usually found in vehicles in a price range well above the Sonata (Porsche, Audi, BMW, Mercedes). All Hyundai did was take the Sonata and put a turbocharged four in it to replace the outgoing V6 option. This was more to address fuel economy numbers than to turn the car into a dedicated sport sedan. The transmission is nothing more than a 6-speed auto with a computer-simulated manual shift option. It is for those that want to feel like they are shifting their own gears, but in reality the computer is still doing all of the thinking.

Would've been nice if the five disc CD had a random setting. The passenger seat should've had power adjustment as the driver seat.

Nothing has broken or left me stranded, but w/13K I'd hope not to have mechanical issues. So far so good on reliability for me.

While I do not have the 2.0T, I have messed around with the manual shifting in my 2.4. It is good for 2nd gear starts in the snow or downshifting when in the snow or on steep hills, but that is about it. I have had my Sonata for 30 months/34,600 miles. No major mechanical issues. Hyundai has reflashed the steering and the transmission. The steering reflash was a noticeable improvement. The tranny reflash made the car seem less responsive. Nothing that can be done about it. The brake switch has been replaced once so far under warranty. Numerous interior trim related rattles, and the doors rattle/shudder/clunk now when driving in sub-40degree temperatures. I have started researching new vehicles and plan to trade the Sonata in the next 6 months.

This is my first Hyundai, and the car has been mechanically more reliable than previous cars I have owned. I would buy another Hyundai but would go upmarket to an Azera or Genesis sedan. The Sonata is a good daily driver, "Point A to Point B" type of car. I just want something with a little more "wow" factor and better attention to fit and finish.

[cdelena]

We have had our '11 Limited turbo for just about two years (only 15K miles) and are pretty happy with the experience... it is not a perfect car but capabilities at this price level made it a good buy.

The steering feel and tracking pretty much sucks but our does not really pull. The road noise is a little high. The power is adequate, the mileage as advertised if you drive for it (we don't and don't use the econ setting so ours is 9% lower), and the car has required no repairs.

No regrets here; it was the best choice two years ago although the competition has improved since. It is not a performance car and those of you that want a sedan to flog may be disappointed.

The car and the Hyundai organization have met my expectations.

[simonfzhao]

Only concern with the car it self is that the Panoroof creaking gets more and more noticeable :S

[bonsai]

"Combination of fuel economy and warranty. Hitting redline frequently will take a toll on engine and transmission durability."

Be that as it may traditionally an engine and tranny is designed to run at redline. I'd wager there's at least a 15% cushion there as well. Whilst upgrades are all good and fine there stands the possibility that the car/performance that one bargained and paid for are suddenly diminished w/o owner approval. The company could in effect renegotiate the terms after the sale.

Now, I used to on occasions see redline if the ole noddle still serves me. I wonder if it's part of the learned logic and if resetting the ecu will bring it back for whatever period of time.

It's not the end of the world and I putt around most of the time pressing the throttle a tad over half way in acceleration. There are times in passing on two lane opposing traffic that I'd enjoy the engine to take the trip all the way to redline.


"The steering reflash was a noticeable improvement. The tranny reflash made the car seem less responsive."

I'm curious how the steering reflash effected your driving experience.

As well on the tranny reflash as mine has never been executed.

Why do you feel the car is less responsive? Is the tranny shifting the same, yet the engine seems slower or did you notice the tranny shifting sooner?

If I barely give it throttle the tranny shifts quickly, but if I stick it over half way I'm easily pulling over 3K. I know it doesn't sound as much RPM, yet I recall a time when it seemed as if around 2K was the shift point. The turbo does allow early shift due to the high toque down low.

My tranny appears to be responsive enough though I have to be careful in auto shift from 1st to 2nd. There's enough of a lag in the shift that combined w/quick response of the engine can make for a hard shift under certain conditions. Hence my adopting the over half throttle approach until reaching speed.

"don't use the econ setting so ours is 9% lower"

I hear ya. If in the mood on low traffic two lane I'll coast a lot. Especially coming up on stops/lights/tight corners. Agreed, I'm not going to flog the ride, but I'm also not going to use the eco button or drastically change my driving style for a couple of miles per gallon.

I wondered how the pano roof would work out. Nobody rides in the back of mine, so I'm happy w/std power sunroof and I figure the less weight and smaller area might be a small advantage. To date I've no issue, but I remember the old Elantras came w/manual crank in case of electric motor failure and was surprised that there's no such feature w/Sonata.

[YoshiFD3S]

January 15th makes 2 years for me.

I'm at I think ~22,XXX miles...

Still loving it.

No incapacitating dealership visits for warranty-related issues.

Car runs great.

My tune runs 24/7.

Gas mileage is still 30+ MPG's highway.

Only gripe is the obnoxious howling from my Borla exhaust.

I still have plans to buy some different headlights and tail-lights down the road, as well as eventually install a boost gauge and a wideband AFR gauge, but I have other financial priorities....and her name is "Nana", my RX-7.

LOL