Like most, I'm sure, I didn't arrive to these forums until a few days ago when I began looking at the Sonata. I appreciate the history of info I have at my disposal (provided I have time) to read through, so I wanted to contribute and share my first impressions of the Sonata after a day of ownership for those coming behind me looking at the Sonata. I have done this for many products across the internet and I personally feel like the very initial, non-judgmental impressions are often the best.
This is for a 2017 Sonata Sport 2.4L with the Value Package. These are in no particular order, just my random thoughts.
- The car drives fine. It's not exciting in terms of acceleration or speed, but I wasn't expecting that. The wheel control isn't mushy but isn't "right there" either, it's usable. Basically exactly what you would expect on this car.
- Ride noise is average based on my experience, it's not something I noticed like I have in other cars. I only considered it consciously at a later time.
- The difference in white balance temperature between the headlights and LED daytime running lamps is kind of ugly. It's a stark contrast between warm and cool, they're not even close to matching. I can see exactly why others have swapped in LED or HID headlights.
- Interior room on this Sonata is fantastic! I'm 6'4" and larger than normal size in the gut area, and I'm comfortable. With my seat where I like it, my daughter has plenty of room behind me in her booster seat. The car honestly feels like a full-size sedan and I'm not sure how it's not classified as such. Edmunds states it has 122.4 cu.ft. of interior room, which compares to the Impala (123.8) I was also looking at.
- Engine power is slightly better than I was expecting. I'm moving down from a 240hp turbo engine from another manufacturer on a 300lb heavier car so I knew there would be a difference, but it's not bad. I can tell that I will need to use caution when pulling into faster traffic though, I'm the type of person who likes to get up to speed so the car behind me doesn't have to slow down any.
- WAY too early to tell, but gas mileage looks like it will be pretty good. I will be keeping track of this at every fill-up for the next few months to see how accurate the car is. I do love the quick glance trip stats when you turn the car off, that tells you how far you drove and what your MPG was. Nice touch.
- I like the inconsequential settings on the dash screen. It's stuff that you won't really ever touch after initially setting them but I like the detail given to even having these as options. I've never driven a car that lets you customize it so much, you're typically at the mercy of the manufacturer. The settings I'm referring to are things like configuring how many times the turn signal blinks if you tap the handle, whether to have the wheel turn warning pop-up, when to lock the doors after shifting or getting to a certain speed.....stuff like that, of which there's a lot more.
- Apple CarPlay is as awesome so far as I'd hoped it would be. It's really the single feature I was looking for when shopping for a new car. It works well with basically zero lag, there's no waiting around to get in and navigating about. It's unfortunate that Apple requires me to use Apple Maps for navigation and that there isn't pinch-to-zoom available (which I think is a Apple problem, not Hyundai, but I could be wrong).
- I'm really digging the SiriusXM/FM/AM integration. My previous car required you to go into separate modes to access your saved favorites but here, it allows you to save any channel from any source into a unified favorites list. Nice.
- The console screen is fast and I've yet to encounter any lag. Everything scrolls smoothly.
- I was really pleased with how smart the system is in regards to swapping your phone between the bluetooth connection and the USB connection. The switch is quick enough (about 5-10 seconds for it to recognize you've unplugged your phone for it to switch to bluetooth) and the physical button for getting to the phone will take you to whichever mode you're in (bluetooth or CarPlay). Pressing the voice control button on the wheel is also smart enough to use Siri anytime you have your phone plugged in instead of the built-in technology.
- I'm signed up for the BlueLink services, which are cool, but why is it so expensive? It's unfortunate that you even have to pay a subscription for remote start but I guess I can see why it costs money (internet access to talk to the car isn't free). It's even more unfortunate that you appear to have to pay for the base $99 subscription just to be afforded the privilege to pay another $99 for the remote features. In testing, I've thus far found these to be a bit laggy, but that's suitable for the application of the features. If I send a remote lock or unlock, it can take upwards of a minute to initiate and see my car lights blink. However, like I said, this is meant to be done remotely and I don't expect it to be instant like a key fob within 20 feet of the car.
- I like that the USB port is easily accessible behind the gear shift, however it's unfortunate that they didn't put a notch in the door for the phone cable to run out of cleanly. Maybe they intend for you to put your phone into that console, however the small cubby right in front of it (between said console and the cup holders) appears to be designed to lean your phone into. I have a feeling this door will never be closed in my car.
- When hooking in the car seats into the back, I really liked the small touch of having the plastic "doors" to help guide your hooks into the LATCH system. Most cars just have a small logo that's somewhat over top the latch, then you end up just stabbing the buckle in between the cushions a few times until it finally clicks on somewhere. Hyundai has made it painless. Parents reading this will know exactly what I'm talking about.
That's what stands out to me currently. I rarely drive at night so I don't even know how everything looks lit up inside. So far, I'm really enjoying my purchase.
This is for a 2017 Sonata Sport 2.4L with the Value Package. These are in no particular order, just my random thoughts.
- The car drives fine. It's not exciting in terms of acceleration or speed, but I wasn't expecting that. The wheel control isn't mushy but isn't "right there" either, it's usable. Basically exactly what you would expect on this car.
- Ride noise is average based on my experience, it's not something I noticed like I have in other cars. I only considered it consciously at a later time.
- The difference in white balance temperature between the headlights and LED daytime running lamps is kind of ugly. It's a stark contrast between warm and cool, they're not even close to matching. I can see exactly why others have swapped in LED or HID headlights.
- Interior room on this Sonata is fantastic! I'm 6'4" and larger than normal size in the gut area, and I'm comfortable. With my seat where I like it, my daughter has plenty of room behind me in her booster seat. The car honestly feels like a full-size sedan and I'm not sure how it's not classified as such. Edmunds states it has 122.4 cu.ft. of interior room, which compares to the Impala (123.8) I was also looking at.
- Engine power is slightly better than I was expecting. I'm moving down from a 240hp turbo engine from another manufacturer on a 300lb heavier car so I knew there would be a difference, but it's not bad. I can tell that I will need to use caution when pulling into faster traffic though, I'm the type of person who likes to get up to speed so the car behind me doesn't have to slow down any.
- WAY too early to tell, but gas mileage looks like it will be pretty good. I will be keeping track of this at every fill-up for the next few months to see how accurate the car is. I do love the quick glance trip stats when you turn the car off, that tells you how far you drove and what your MPG was. Nice touch.
- I like the inconsequential settings on the dash screen. It's stuff that you won't really ever touch after initially setting them but I like the detail given to even having these as options. I've never driven a car that lets you customize it so much, you're typically at the mercy of the manufacturer. The settings I'm referring to are things like configuring how many times the turn signal blinks if you tap the handle, whether to have the wheel turn warning pop-up, when to lock the doors after shifting or getting to a certain speed.....stuff like that, of which there's a lot more.
- Apple CarPlay is as awesome so far as I'd hoped it would be. It's really the single feature I was looking for when shopping for a new car. It works well with basically zero lag, there's no waiting around to get in and navigating about. It's unfortunate that Apple requires me to use Apple Maps for navigation and that there isn't pinch-to-zoom available (which I think is a Apple problem, not Hyundai, but I could be wrong).
- I'm really digging the SiriusXM/FM/AM integration. My previous car required you to go into separate modes to access your saved favorites but here, it allows you to save any channel from any source into a unified favorites list. Nice.
- The console screen is fast and I've yet to encounter any lag. Everything scrolls smoothly.
- I was really pleased with how smart the system is in regards to swapping your phone between the bluetooth connection and the USB connection. The switch is quick enough (about 5-10 seconds for it to recognize you've unplugged your phone for it to switch to bluetooth) and the physical button for getting to the phone will take you to whichever mode you're in (bluetooth or CarPlay). Pressing the voice control button on the wheel is also smart enough to use Siri anytime you have your phone plugged in instead of the built-in technology.
- I'm signed up for the BlueLink services, which are cool, but why is it so expensive? It's unfortunate that you even have to pay a subscription for remote start but I guess I can see why it costs money (internet access to talk to the car isn't free). It's even more unfortunate that you appear to have to pay for the base $99 subscription just to be afforded the privilege to pay another $99 for the remote features. In testing, I've thus far found these to be a bit laggy, but that's suitable for the application of the features. If I send a remote lock or unlock, it can take upwards of a minute to initiate and see my car lights blink. However, like I said, this is meant to be done remotely and I don't expect it to be instant like a key fob within 20 feet of the car.
- I like that the USB port is easily accessible behind the gear shift, however it's unfortunate that they didn't put a notch in the door for the phone cable to run out of cleanly. Maybe they intend for you to put your phone into that console, however the small cubby right in front of it (between said console and the cup holders) appears to be designed to lean your phone into. I have a feeling this door will never be closed in my car.
- When hooking in the car seats into the back, I really liked the small touch of having the plastic "doors" to help guide your hooks into the LATCH system. Most cars just have a small logo that's somewhat over top the latch, then you end up just stabbing the buckle in between the cushions a few times until it finally clicks on somewhere. Hyundai has made it painless. Parents reading this will know exactly what I'm talking about.
That's what stands out to me currently. I rarely drive at night so I don't even know how everything looks lit up inside. So far, I'm really enjoying my purchase.
