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Comments
Its clean no integral light.
I just think theses cars really look good with some real minor tweaking.... i seriously can't imagine going to the 225/50 tires would make much of a ride quality difference.
Actually corporate hyundai said since the brochure says 225 or 215 its a reasonable request.. and the dealer at most should ask for the difference in price between the 225 and 215 .. what maybe 10 bucks.. and that they should do it then... handling and braking will impove and a more muscular stance will be a optical benifit.
if i were to do it again i'd pick the dark blue or black.. put on a chrome(black) grille. mud gaurds and lip spoiler..i've seen the other spoiler.. its a bit to much with the light and all.
i have intrax lowering springs, slotted aand drilled rotors and front and rear stabilizer bars coming tomorrow.
and i'm working with a custom shop to add a 50 shot of nitrous... so not only look good/ handle better but have some extra testosterone going as well 284hp will make this one fast sonata. I'm doing this to raise the bar for all of us. A good looking, more sport stanced and extra hp to boot Sonata can only be good for the rest of you all too..
No longer will the car be a good car for the money.. but a damn good car all the way around....( don't worry i'm 40+ and i'm not gonna race this car but it would be nice to suprise some g35's Maxima's lexuses and the sort.. with a clean not "ricer looking" Sonata... with the black leather it already feels BMW ish when i'm inside That 3.3 is a honey of a motor. my only wish would be for a six speed auto and about 25 more NA hp... i'd hate to do intake and exhaust mods..although cheap as it woul be ..that might raise it up at least 20- -25.
Wish they made a performance chip.. cause i can guaarantee you 20-30 hp is lurking in the A/f ratio's and timing.
i think the 08-09 Sonata will vear toward more sporty looks and performance as the Azzera will make for luxury end.
All i all guys... i really love this car.. i can't beleive i'm saying it.. but its a honey..
oh i'll be top ending it sunday as i turn 1000miles on the odo..( don't worry my best friend is a capt in the hwy patrol and will be accompaning me in his Charger hemi..hope he can keep up...lol
I, too, am over 40 and passed the bling...bling, high testosterone stage many years ago
Enjoy your car my friend as it appears you are going to have to keep it a VERY long time to get out of it what you're putting into it
We all long for the past...you are reliving it and I wish you the best as you attempt to turn your Sonata into a Infinity G35
Enjoy!
...And this evening, coming back home from work, engine is hot, I check my oil and I notice that the level is about 3/8 of an Inch ABOVE the "F" mark ----
---- may I suggest a theory that my engine is WHINING / WHEEZING because last time they did the oil-change they put in TOO MUCH OIL???
What do you think, fellow wise-guys and experts? Any merit to this theory, or is this totally stupid on my part?
Mine came with a spoiler and even though it's small it looks quite nice. And they probably cost under $200, so I don't see anything wrong with getting that. But I don't think any sensible person would spend $500 just to make their tires look nicer. And we're talking 1 cm wider here. But that's just me. To each, his own.
the cost per unit is something like 5-11 dollars .
the 225 have a 8.86inch footprint and sidewall height of 4.43 inches
the 215 tire has a 8.46 footprint and a lower 4.27 sidewall height..making it a lower profile. optically the 50's in 225 will fill up the wheel well better.
Now corporate hyundai says i should only pay the difference per tire as they cost brand new. so 40 bucks will give me more foootprint and a smoother ride.
I deally 245- 45 17 tire give a whooping 9.25 footprint and a 4.34 sidewall height.. notice its inbetween the 225 and 215 sidewall height.
THIS IS THE CORRECT TIRE FOR OUR CAR. it will look the best offer better handling and breaking and give the comfortable ride with no harshness.
corporate says i should pursue what makes me happy.. thta mmy reasoning is logical and a resonable request.
We all have great cars.. but with the Hyundai name and some cost cutting we will still appear to be in a cheap model.. once these few optical items are addressed.. the car can stand out as the best overall value/performance and yes even looks in its segment
Maybe I'm missing something here but I'm having trouble understanding your fixation with tires. If the car came with 225's, I doubt any dealer will swap them off another car for 215's or the other way around just because the brochure states that one will have a later availability. I have the 225's and I am very happy. If my car came with the 215's, I would still be happy.
I still think you may want to trade in your Sonata for a Honda Civic...as was stated above...far more opportunity to modify and it appears you are after looks and performance and that sounds like the makings of an awesome Civic
Taller sidewalls typically have smoother rides but the profile between a 50 and a 55 would not be very noticeable nor would the difference between a 215 and a 225. We're talking millimeters here. 5mm is about 3/16th of an inch.
215-55 17 8.46 width/ 4.65 heigh(higherproile)
235 45 17 9.25 width/ 4.16 sidewall heigth
And they will replace them.. And they will let me upgrade them.. my 215 are brand new and when they intake them .. hey be sold a single repacement to tire road hazzard damage
when i get my 235' with an ultra low profile the handling will be crisp only 2/10th of an inch of the 225 50 series.
thess minor things (details make the difference,, it wil handle brake an look better, and like be cheaper.
PS the springs were installed as well as he strut tower mods.. and the nitrous its just beast.. i cansafely report 150+ with the nos and she ia sleeper..
THEY MAY NOT SWAP>>> BUT Hyundai corp says they should give me new price for my nw tires... let me choose the tire size i like and then pay for the difernce.. this will likely come to lesss than 10 dollars a tire.
hyundai knows how to be fair and keep costumers from spready dumb rumors..
so 235 45 17 with an additional 70 hp handling and braking upgrades make it a contender.. all fo less than a 1500 preety boy package. I win
the nos system.. kills all in its segment and proves Korean can do it.. and this car comapany will be making the engineered cars soon to engineer past the upper asian conterparts..
Wait 10 more years.
i'm confident,
i own M3/ Srt 4/ 2007 Hyundai Sonata/ 98 vette and celica Red GTS... a wel as 2 mustangs 95 GTs and 99 GT.
this car pls some minor tweeks is A+ quality vehicle.. though like others a few individual iteam ai
Would love to drive your Sonata Interceptor. :shades:
...the brakes are already excelllent.. even is a well put together car more so now..
when i dail in the Nos ..and it doesn't add any decible increase ( not significantly).. it wil feel very well done.
i take offense to the "you should buy a civic"
this Sonata possecess the luxury ride the Class.. especially with the Black leather and infinity system.
i have no ego with this car.. it flys under the radar.. silver with silver billet uppper an lower grille black front and rear mud guards, colorkeyed lip soiler.
lower by an impercievable 1 inch front and back the Nos system9 un marked.. the Sonata nand hyundai debadged from the back.
and the lowly platinum edition on the rectangle plate mount for the front IT looks totallyy different and functionaal.. .. after getting the 235 45 17 tires.. it won't be too show off at all .
plugs \(
colder range--nitrous needs) and i beleive it runs strong eough to hold its own only when neded ..like hwy cruising.
And did i mention ho much i love all its character and interior styling....
i've been offered a job and the Hyundai dealer after i showed some of my ad ons and my projected mods.. all this can be done for very little scratch..and when done ., you won't what to get rid of it anytime soon..
my ideas will benifit all you alls resale value.. cause this is an awsome car... but yes augement and change.
AL
th
the 215 tire has a 8.46 footprint and a lower 4.27 sidewall height..making it a lower profile. optically the 50's in 225 will fill up the wheel well better.
I was just trying to get a clarification and prevent the spreading of misinformation. The 245 X 45 sidewall height will not be between the 225 X 50 and the 215 X 55.
The 245 X 45 X 17 will have an even lower profile and noticably stiffer ride.
a 4.16 sidewall. the 225 50 will have a 4.43.... so yeah its a lower profile by about a 1/4 inch.
less body roll may be its benefit as well as the 9.25 footprint.
245 50 17 would give it a sidewall between the 225 & 215 muchcloser to the 215 55.
maybe thats the ideal tire size.
And for those of you being kind enough to not call me a ricer modder.. just understand i want this Sonata (as goood as she is) to stand out in a classier way.. it behooves all of use.. whena audi driver is checking my Sonata out( remeber its debadged) i get a chuckle.
Side note.. how fast do you think you personal Sonata is 0-60 wise.. just curious.. a Nissan Murano was playing games with me trying to get ahead of me to be first at the stoplight.. and i successfully held him even from 20-65.. i thought that wass good without using the "GAS"
a 4.16 sidewall. the 225 50 will have a 4.43.... so yeah its a lower profile by about a 1/4 inch.
less body roll may be its benefit as well as the 9.25 footprint.
245 50 17 would give it a sidewall of 4.82
maybe thats the ideal tire size. but i think it may be too wide to clear full travel of the power steering
And for those of you being kind enough to not call me a ricer modder.. just understand i want this Sonata (as goood as she is) to stand out in a classier way.. it behooves all of use.. whena audi driver is checking my Sonata out( remeber its debadged) i get a chuckle.
Side note.. how fast do you think you personal Sonata is 0-60 wise.. just curious.. a Nissan Murano was playing games with me trying to get ahead of me to be first at the stoplight.. and i successfully held him even from 20-65.. i thought that wass good without using the "GAS"
Note i 'm using th Zex universal import Nitrous kit.. its a simple install cost less than 500 and i'n my opinion with a wider non allseason tire.. will have no traction issues..
some one will have to tell me how to post pictures on here ..i'm not real computer savy.
no k thumps/no abs resetting, no sloshing.. and its a friday car
Uh-huh...
but if i can turn peoples idea about the sonata around.. yes our cars resale value will go up.
case in point.. my mechanics partner was a Honda / toyota service manager upto 5 years ago. when i said i was getting the Sonata he laughed at me and said "its still JUST a hyundai. when i showed up, debadged tinted, front grill lip spoiler, black leather the 17's euroflaged with the intrax springs on.. its less than an inch drop more like.75..... he was stunned.. i told him to drive it..and he has a new 06 accord.... The expression on his face priceless... "uh that 6 sure feels peppy and smooth" what a nice interior" i drove his accord and quite frankly the sonata feels better and has more character.
Good looking examples of our cars make all of them rise up in the pecking order.
What you are doing to your Sonata does indeed sound nice and I'm sure your car looks pretty awesome on the outside as well as the inside with the Nitrous kit.
I really don't see this impacting resale value as I have modded many vehicles in the past and when it comes time to sell or trade, the only thing anybody seems to care about is the book value in the end. It's like putting a swimming pool in your back yard. When it comes time to sell you house, that $75,000 you spent is only worth $10,000 to your buyer if you're lucky and the same will apply to our cars as well. I'm glad to hear that you plan on keeping your Sonata for a very long time because even with all of your mods, unless you can find someone through the paper that thinks your mods are truly worth something, the dealer will give you zilch, zero for all your hard work and spent dollars.
I think we are all looking forward to seeing pictures of your car so don't let us down :shades:
http://www.gainec.com/sonata/sonataixion.jpg
http://www.gainec.com/sonata/sonatasentania.jpg
http://www.gainec.com/sonata/sonatastudie.jpg
I have relatives on both coasts of Florida and if I make it back down there I will get in touch. Sounds like fun.
PS I live in beautiful Montana.
Craig
http://www.gostudie.com/studieshop/file/8/5(12).jpg_x
Go to "my car space" at the top of this page, click on it and go ahead and set-up your account. Take some digital pictures and save them to your computer. Nothing racy this is a family site. LOL When you save them to the computer remember where you put them. There is a button in "my car space" to upload photos, click it. There is another button that says "browse", click that and go to where your photos are stored. Click on the photo file name you want to upload and then click upload. You may have to do this multiple times....I'm not sure if you can upload more than one photo at a time. If this is confusing I never said I was a teacher just an F&I guy at a car dealership.
I just set-up my space here and will download some photos my Mustang, probably today. The photos I took of my Sonata might make it here this week. I just need to download them at home and save them to a disk.
Let us know when you get this done. You can browse the pictures already on this site by clicking on "photos" at the top of this page. Maybe by the time you read this my "pony" will be there.
I'll be darned if I can find a place to upload photos after I set up "my CarSpace" account......more info to follow.
Interceptor kinda disregard some of the instructions. You can download one photo to "my carspace" but for the likes of me I cona't figure out how to download an album. I put the Pony and me in there but that was all I could do. Any help out there?
At least you can put your ride in there for us to see.
I added two photos after a lot of trial and error. There is no way I could walk you thru this. You're on your own brother.
My car looks like crap compared to them. Its not lower with the intrax springs.. and the bodykit on the studies looks awesome.. especially black with the black grille. (I KNEW IT) man thats hot.. Mine looks basically stock.. lip spoiler is hyundia's.. the billet grille is from Sfx performance, mud gurads in black all around
The 225's is what i settled on because a wider series would not be standard and may cause issues with the warrantee... but they are better than the 215.
The tint is common enough. and the Nitrous zex kit.. was a foolish mod.. since its universal i'm putting it on my Srt 4. What was i thinking?.. buying the Sonata is to have peace of mind.. ie: not worrying for 10 years. My Srt4 was out of warrantee the minute i upped the boost. the Nos belongs on it.
My Sonata is nice.. now i want to realy lower it and put that body kit on it...
Now that i have a point of reference.. i'd say black on black interior, no lip spoiler of any kind, twin duals out the back. blacked out grill.. the stocker could just be paited for econimical reasons..along with the Body kit.(side skirts and those edge things in chrome). then bigger tires or lower springs.. thats classy.
i still think mine looks good.. but i did make judgement errors. Warantee.. damn guys yell at me... Never Nos a 10/100mile.. i really was manic.. back on my meds lol.
I'll miss that extra jolt.. but it will be far more fun on the Srt... hell that car runs low 13's with about 1200 into the motor.. the Nos kit is about $600-800 with remote opener.
I guess reality is 0-60 in 6.5 seconds is what an automatic mustang gt from 1998 could do. thats not too bad.. 140 top end stock. Its pretty good as well. I keep thinking i'm 20 not in my 40's i guess its time to grow up.
i'll get a picture of my ride on here, soon as i get myself a new cam...
Thanks for collectively accepting a wild buck into the community.
Oh today i felt the abs reseting itself b4 20 mph . so everything on here is pretty damn accurate.
Still love it.. but hATE THE DEALER.. MY STORY NEXT TIME.
Click on the album tagged "The Pony".
Many of the complaints of existing Sonata owners who have the GLS trim with the 2.4L I4 and the 4-speed automatic are actually addressed with the Kia Optima's 2.4L I4 offering, as it offers a 5-speed automatic. Also, some complaints of the Sonata's dash and center stack are addressed with the Optima. I find this very interesting, as Hyundai is the parent company of Kia, and Kia is "supposed to be" Hyundai's poorer sibling - so to speak.
For example, a friend of mine works for Hyundai USA. He told me back in the Spring of 2005 that the Kia Spectra's platform would be the basis for the new generation (2007) Elantra. Now, why would Hyundai offer the newer platform in a Kia which preceded the new Elantra? This is another point I find very interesting.
Compare the Sonata side-by-side to the Optima, and in some cases - especially the interior, the Optima is better executed than the Sonata, and the materials seem to be of better quality. Frankly, this mystifies me, but someone must have an answer for this??
Timing. The Spectra was due for a redesign before the Elantra was.
I believe it will be interesting to see how the Optima and the Sonata are differentiated going forward so as to avoid competing for the same market share . In my opinion, the Kia will evolve into the sportier model while the Sonata will evolve into the more luxury cruiser model . Just my opinion though !
But, all this seems to come at a price. I can buy a Sonata - any Sonata trim - for less than I can buy an equivalent Optima. This is the actual price paid, not a MSRP comparison. Frankly, I find this very strange, especially given Kia's market position perception.
This was also true when I bought my 2006 Elantra - the 2006 Spectra was more expensive.
Then again, MT Sonatas are few and far between, and perhaps the same is true of Optimas.
all 4 cyl models from 06 came with 215/60/16 Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 all season tires. 4 cyl GLS models came with 6 spoke alloy wheels but the tire and size was the same
6 cyl GLS models came standard with the same 16" alloy wheels and the same tires as stated above. there was an option for 17" wheels on GLS models and those came with the 225/50/17 Michelin Pilot HX MXM4. All LX models for 06 came with 17" euroflange wheels with 225/50/17 Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 tires which are marketed as an all season tire but are in reality a 3 season tire at best. Not strongly recommended for snow more than an inch or 2.
Now in 2007 wheels choices changed a lot. Base model now called GLS all came with 16" steels and the same tire and size as previous 4 cyl models. As part of the premium sport package (late availability) on 4 cyl models you got the 17" euroflange wheels with 215/55/17 Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 all season tires which are phenomenal in the snow. All SE (formerly 6cyl GLS) and Limited (formerly LX) models came standard with 17" euroflange wheels and 225/50/17 Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 tires. Mid way through the year (after the brochures were printed) they changed the tires on all the 17" wheels to the Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 all season tires in 215/55/17 probably in part of customer feedback of snow traction, ride, noise, wear etc. The Platinum Edition which we did not even get until 2 weeks ago came after the mid year tire change and so it will and would have gotten the MXV4 S8 all season tire in the 215/55/17 size.
Unlikely that the dealer will reimburse you for tires since they were on the car when you bought it and if youre this maniacal about tires I'm sure you would have noticed and could have made that a term of sale.
You guys rolling a lot of the 07 Sonata's off your lot? What's the favorite among buyers? Percentage of 4's vs 6's?
Thanks,
Craig
As far as the motor differences the 4's are the same. Timing chain and 164hp with great gas mileage. The difference between the 2 6's is night and day. the 2.7 while a good solid motor is a belt driven motor and only puts out 180hp. The Sonata V6 puts out 235hp. I have driven both motors and the 3.3L does get better mileage by atleast 2 pts.
Then again, MT Sonatas are few and far between, and perhaps the same is true of Optimas
MT sonata's for 07 are a unicorn. They dont exist, dont even bother trying to find one.
I can buy a Sonata - any Sonata trim - for less than I can buy an equivalent Optima. This is the actual price paid, not a MSRP comparison. Frankly, I find this very strange, especially given Kia's market position perception.
This was also true when I bought my 2006 Elantra - the 2006 Spectra was more expensive
This has almost always been the case. I remember when we used to sell Elantra's for $10-$12k back in 03-04 and Sonata's started around $12k and up to $17k loaded with leather. People would come in who had shopped Kia and it was the easiest close ever
1) - a different oil filter adapter that allows vertical mounting of the spin-on oil filter instead of horizontal mounting. (lambda V6 motors have a top-mounted cartridge oil filter in a fixed cannister)
2) - revised cylinder heads which are equipped with CVVT (continuously variable valve timing) technology for improved midband torque and a 15 hp. top-end boost.
The mu block and internals are identical to the previous delta block and internals - including the reinforced cogged timing belt arrangement - which carries the previous 60,000 mile replacement requirement. Gone are the previous hydraulic lifters, though. Solid, machined steel lifters have to be replaced outright when valve clearances exceed factory specified tolerances. Replacement lifters are available in 41 service lengths. Replacement entails removing the affected camshaft(s) for access and retiming the engine afterword - might as well pop for prophylactic coolant pump and timing belt replacements at the same time. That sucking sound in the not all that distant future is money draining out of '06.5+ KIA Optima owners' credit and checking accounts. (PHHhhhttt)