It doesn’t seem like 25 years since Hyundai Canada opened its Canadian doors.
From a faltering start, Hyundai learned fast. I’m sure they won’t object if I say their early models like the Stellar that wasn’t and the Excel that didn’t largely missed the mark.
But the Korean automaker quickly came up to speed with the first Sonata back in 1988.
It was roomy, packed with extras as standard, solid, and above all easily within the budgets of just about every Canadian.
The Sonata was the car that changed peoples’ minds about Hyundai just as the Tucson compact SUV broke new ground and showed that Hyundai could meet and exceed its rivals. Together, these vehicles took Hyundai into the mainstream. Since the first Sonata, Hyundai now has a full line of products from the affordable Accent and Elantra to two SUVs and a full-size minivan. Now Hyundai is preparing to take the next big step into the luxury segment with the V8-power Genesis sedan later this year.
Hyundai has a stated objective to be in the top five of the world’s automakers by 2010. To do that, it is going to launch seven new vehicles in the next 24 months.
Until the next Sonata comes along as a 2011 model, keeping the current model fresh is something that is taken very seriously. With the immediate competition being Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, Ford Fusion and Chevy Malibu, getting it wrong is not a good thing.
For the 2009 model, much of the 2008 is retained including it being the same in all dimensions with improvements being made to the drive train and exterior along with a major makeover of the interior.
What Hyundai saw with the price reduction on the 2008 Sonata to $18,995 was not lost in pricing the 2009.
Basically, the 2009 price was dropped $750 and $750 of formerly optional extras (like two-stage heated front seats, six airbags, and ABS) were made standard for an incremental saving of $1,500.
There are three trim models (GL, Limited and Limited V6) and two engines being a 2.4-litre DOHC inline four-cylinder (175 hp, 168 lb/ft) and 3.3-litre DOHC V6 (249 hp, 229 lb/ft). Except for the base GL model with the 2.4-litre which can be ordered with a five-speed manual transmission, Hyundai has chosen to make its five-speed Shiftronic sequential automatic standard across the board.
In the engine department, the 2.4-litre has eight per cent more power while using five per cent less fuel at 9.5L/100 km city and 6.2L/100 km highway.
The 3.3-litre gets a new, more direct induction system for a six per cent increase in punch to 249 hp and 229 lb/ft of torque. It is listed as an ultra low emission vehicle (ULEV) and gets 10.8L/100 km city and 6.9L/100km highway.
The base GL with 2.4-litre engine and five-speed manual starts at $21,995. The automatic with sport package is optional at $25,595. The Limited with 2.4-litre starts at $27,995 or with the V6 starts at $31,495. It can also be ordered with optional sport package that adds $2,200.
The sport package includes 17-inch wheels, power sunroof, rear spoiler, steering wheel audio controls, cloth seats with leather inserts and fog lights.
I mentioned the extras that are built into the Sonata and two examples worth noting are a hydraulic strut for the hood (no prop shaft to erect) and two, short hydraulic struts (not goosenecks thankfully) for the trunk. According to Hyundai, Sonata’s 462 litres of trunk volume is eight per cent bigger than Camry and 16 per cent better than Accord.
While changes to the exterior will take a trained eye, the interior is much different, starting with the front seats. Sonata buyers mentioned finding them uncomfortable, so for 2009, the cushion was extended 16 mm in length and 14 mm in width with seat bolsters that are 10 mm higher.
All the trim, even on the GL, is of a high caliber than one expects, but it has to be going up against Camry and Accord.
Along with a major revision of the instrument panel with blue lighting replacing amber, there is now a standard MP3 player interface that sits in the centre console bin. Air conditioning, power locks/windows/mirrors, cruise control and tilt steering wheel are all standard.
The Sonata, like its main competition, has grown in size and blurs the difference between mid- and full-size.
I drove both the Limited V6 with sport package and the GL with automatic that will probably be the volume seller.
The V6 is very punchy with nice engine torque/gear spacing on the automatic. Suspension on the Sonata is double wishbones at the front and a multi-link independent set up at the rear. MacStruts would have been simpler and less costly, but Hyundai knows the wishbones give a more solid feel yet are more communicative.
I put most of my miles on the V6 on a variety of roads in and around the Town of Erin with its pristine streets and houses and large presence of OPP. On gravel roads, the sport suspension with its stiffer springs and stout stabilizer bars didn’t take the ruts and washboard surface that kindly. On a normal highway surface I could feel the difference in tautness and response compared to the normal suspension of the 2.4-litre.
By the same token, the 2.4-litre was much more forgiving on the same gravel stretch but did not react as fast as the V6 with sport package.
The 2.4-litre also gets up to speed nicely but nothing like the V6 that feels larger in displacement than it is. However, the 2.4-litre with its great mileage makes it the smart choice based on the rising cost of fuel.
The answer there, of course, is the 2.4-litre with the sport package to get the handling and fuel economy at the same time.
Either way, the 2009 Sonata continues to do what Hyundai does best and that’s provide dependable motoring with a surprising list of features at a price that leaves the competition gasping.

HYUNDAI SONATA 2009
AT A GLANCE

BODY STYLE: mid-size sedan.
DRIVE METHOD: front-engine, front-wheel-drive.
ENGINE: 2.4-litre DOHC inline four-cylinder (175 hp, 168 lb/ft); 3.3-litre DOHC V6 (249 hp, 229 lb/ft)
FUEL ECONOMY: 2.4-litre, 9.5L/100 km city, 6.2L/100 km highway; V6, 10.8L/100 km city, 6.9L/100 km city
PRICE: GL, $21,995; Limited, $27,996/ Limited V6, $31,495.
WEBSITE: hyundaicanada.com