Its here! The 7th generation of the Sonata (LF). We had the opportunity to test drive the all-new Sonata at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama(HMMA) back in June but couldnt get the full experience of the 2.4L in its limited edition. Let’s see how this one did…
[ads id=”4″ style=”float:left;padding:9px;”]In this opportunity we got the Shale Gray Metallic Sonata with Black/Brown leather interior. The front fascia of the Sonata is something i enjoyed a lot, the aggressive look with those sleek LED daytime running lights and HID Xenon headlights, including Hyundai’s signature upside-down trapezoid grille, is not only is aggressive but an extra premium touch. Right at the middle, below Hyundai’s emblem we find a black rectangle in which gives a very odd look to the front but this is the sensor for new features like the smart cruise control and forward collision warning (we’ll talk more about it later). On the back we have LED Taillights, dual exhaust, rear view camera, small trunk spoiler and the new smart trunk, first introduce in the Genesis Sedan.
The LF body lines comes from the newly engineering design Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 (The Sonata YF was the first car to introduce the first Fluidic Sculpture). This new generation was first introduced by the 2015 Hyundai Genesis sedan and thanks to this new premium art design the Genesis has won many awards this year and still competing for more. Talking to a lot of previous owners, especially on the car scene, many of them dislike and disapprove the new design since it went from a unique and sporty design to a more sedan and “boring” looking car.
In the media presentation we found Hyundai positioned the YF Sonata in powerful, sleek, sporty and fun to drive section, and i’m sure the owners can agree to that. The LF Sonata, in the other hand, the non-sport version goes above the Ford Fusion with high quality and confident but on the side of modern/design oriented.
Its not only the outside of the Sonata where this car has evolve, let’s take a look inside and see all the new technology its offering. This is something the majority of previous owners will enjoy about this new generation, even though the interior is almost identical to the Genesis sedan, some of the materials aren’t the same high quality as the Genesis such as the wood accent and aluminium trim but the luxury of the interior has not been lost. After driving the car for one week everything was very comfortable, very roomy and very entertaining with all the new technology. The brown leather seats with 8 power seat adjust was great, including the feel of the leather material. The driver and passenger seats can enjoy the heated and cooling seats but now the rear passengers are not left out because they have heated seats for them. Let’s not forget about the panoramic sunroof, auto high beams, pair of 12 V power outlet and rear sunshade ( that helped me a lot with my new born baby since I had to buy that for my car). Panoramic Sunroof was also an option for this Sonata.
Some of the new features were transferred from the Genesis sedan like the Blind Spot Detection, Lane Change Assistant, Lane Departure Warning (Camera behind the rear view mirror) and Warning Collision but unfortunately these are passive alerts and will not steer or brake for you, and depending on your drive manners it will either become a very powerful tool or a very annoying one. The smart cruise control feature is definitely something very welcome from the Genesis sedan, you can quickly set it up on the steering wheel and control the distance between the car in the front and yours and you’ll love this when going work/home or just cruising to enjoy your Sonata. You’ll also notice right away how quite this car has become, especially comparing it with previous generation, Hyundai did a big improvement on sound deadening to either enjoy your music or just cruise in silence.
[ads id=”4″ style=”float:left;padding:9px;”]On my test drive in Alabama, like i said before, i couldn’t drive the Limited version so i felt the inside was very boring because i love cruising but with good music and good beats. I always enjoy when my gadgets interact with each other, so first thing i did was pair my Note 4 via Bluetooth, open Google Music and enjoy the Infinity Sound system with its 400-watts external amplifier with my windows rolled down and sunroof open. I asked in some Facebook groups to name couple songs to test the Infinity bass and i gotta say, it had a deep bass and good punch. Some will be satisfy with this system but i’m sure most people will do just fine, at least for couple years.
Playing with the 8 inches infotainment screen was great, the navigation system is very clear and easy to use. Unfortunately there was no CarPlay or Android Auto to test but hopefully soon we’ll get to try it. Also the new infotainment comes with new support to Pandora app, once i open the app on my phone, the screen will go all black with Pandora and Hyundai logo, this will give you full access and can be easily control with the screen or the steering wheel control. Another screen is the 4.3 LCD between the gauges in the cluster. This will provide many types of information from a compass, music playing and TPMS to navigation details, lane departure and smart cruise control. This is definitely a very functional little screen in which it’ll come very handy in your every day driving.
Now lets talk about the Theta II engine and the obvious decrease in horsepower and torque. Unlike the 2.0 Turbo engine, the drop wasn’t as bad, from 190 HP @ 6,300 RPMS and 179 Torque @ 4250 RPMS. As most of you guys know, we are talking about the same engine and same transmission as the YF. If you are going for the Limited edition, then probably HP is not exactly the reason you arr buying this car but either way, the car felt really great on highway and very planted on curves due to the improvement on the Aero dynamics and underbody cover. I did a small video ( i wanted to do something bigger but i moved to a new place, so time was very limited for me) with a 0-60 and 0-100 times. This was done on Sports mode, in which increases the RPMS at every shift and the feel on the steering wheel. Also it was done at a closed road so no one was harmed while making this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICyHCjB-S8Y
While the LF Sonata might not look as youthful, sporty and standout from the crowd like the YF, this new Sonata has a different eye catch, we can simply make the 2.0T engine and make it a go car or just buy this version and make it as VIP. The 2015 Hyundai Sonata Limited retail price is $26,525 and includes the Tech and Ultimate Package, adding an extra cost of $ 5,050.00 (3,500 and 1,550 respectably) coming to a total of 32,510.00 (Includes Inland Freight & handling).
I know most of you guys are eager to customize your cars as soon as possible, so i decided to give a little help when it comes to aftermarket parts, here are some of few parts available to the Sonata LF.
I’m sure more parts will start showing up by the time this article is up, but for now this is what we have currently. Let’s us know in the comments if you are planing to buy or lease the Sonata or if you bought one, which one you bought.
