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Comments
does the lx model have overdrive? i've looked in the manuel and cant find anything on hilly terain
my previous cars i would take the car out of overdrive for more power going up hills how do you do this on the sonata
also i never did get an answer on the auto climate control anyone else notice you cant disable auto and just have the fan on
any answers will be appreciated
oh and by the way i simply love this car good solid fun to drive automobile
You can do something similar with the Sonata using the manual gear selector next to the "D" selector. Just bump the automatic shifter from "D" to the right, and then bump it down to the "-" (minus) sign to downshift.
I've found the Sonata's transmission to be so intuitive that you don't need to force it into lower gears for acceleration or passing. Just keep it in "D", press the gas, and let the transmission do its thing. The only time I use the manual gear selector is when gearing down for downhill descents and trying to control speed.
About two or three companies may have the ability to enter US 5 or 8 years later. Including(Chery, Geely and JAC??)
Chery is what Bricklin(the Yugo guy) plans to sell in 2007.
I don't think Bricklin will suceed this time.
There are many small problems in the chery cars. And Bricklin plans to sell the cars as cheap premium. However,in China, chery is famous for selling cars at the lowest prices. Different strategy from Bricklin in US.
JAC is a truck company there, it keeps steady growing rate about 50%/year for more than 15 years. The quality of the truck and vans are the best in the Chinese makers. And it has plans to build cars in recent years.
Geely is a company which can build really low price cars however the cars are a little bit out dated. This company struggled several years and becomes strong now.
Chery and JAC are quite close(less than 200miles). They can keep the cost enen lower if they can share some parts.
All these three companies have exported cars or trucks to Africa, middle east and some other countries. 5 years later, these companies may become very competitive even in US market.
I will definitely buy stocks of chery and JAC if available in US and maybe several cars from them 5 years later. :P
The 3rd gear is the one you need to get more power going up a hill, or heavy load of people or pulling a trailer/boat.(for speed above 25-30 mph)
To get to 3rd gear : Go from D to the right and Minus --> will down-shift to 3rd.
To get back to D move the stick back to D.
By the way, even "Shiftronics (4 AT)" have 4 Gears Forward and One Reverse.
do you happen to know anything about the auto climate control system
im trying to find out if i have a defect in my 2006 sonota or it is intended to work this way
im just trying to get the best gas mileage by just turning on the fan without the a.c.
but if the temp reading is below the outside temp evan with the auto off the a.c. kicks on
One thing I will never get is AUTO CLIMATE system, because usually it is set to work automatically using "Comfort Zones", with no manual adjustment.
However the owner manual may explain how to override it... and use it manually!
click the first videos to see how Landwind, an SUV made in China in alliance with Isuzu from Japan, fares.
No doubt China will make cheap cars, maybe even lux cars such as SSangYong they boutght from Korea. For now, it's still like whether you like to buy a car from Wal-Mart. I will look at crash tests before making any decision.
BTW, I think Cambodia will make cheap cars as well. If car building is nothing more than mounting a foreign engine to a steal box ( simplified but pretty true ). Chery uses Mitsubishi engines on its high-end lineups:)
And India makes cars too, pretty cheap. They now export its production line to China.
As for the Azera, well that is a nice car for them and may prove to be the image booster that reinforces Hyundai as a quality automaker.
Keep in mind that Hyundai is probably intentionally simplifying the Sonata for the U.S. right now to make it easier for the new factory in Alabama to ramp up while maintaining quality. Now that they have added the 4-cylinder models in Alabama, they can focus on adding more options and other features. I've found Hyundai is pretty responsive about making changes based on owner input, based on the experience with my Elantras. Between my '01 and '04 Elantras, they tweaked a lot of little things that were annoyances or nice-to-haves. So new Sonata owners should be sure to mention what they would like to see on the car in the new-car survey they get from Hyundai.
I drove on snowy roads with maybe an inch of new snow - no salt yet - and in a parking lot. I tried to push it a bit when safe to do so to check out the ESC. The ESC light comes on on the dash (The top half of the ESC OFF light). From the manual and promo I thought it would somehow sense direction and skids and bring me back into line by selective application of the brakes on individual wheels using the ABS system. That didn't happen on skids that were not powered. In forward motion with power the ESC light came on a lot and there is a loss of power as brakes are applied. What is happening I think is that the sensor knows that one powered wheel is slipping and slows it down by braking - if both wheels are alternarely slipping, it seems to slow both. If there is a bit of a skid under powered turn then the ESC light comes on and seems to allow keeping the turn under control. I didn't try all this with ESC off to compare but will do that soon.
John
Of course I am.
John
US Freeways which cross the US. Like the Freeway 401 which goes from Windsor to Quebec.
I was looking to buy an Accord but bought the Sonata 2006 GLS instead and I real happy with it. I got it for 16,000 way under invoice and way less than Accord with alot more options. Honda is so snotty and arrogant it turns me off.
$1 billion plant with much robotics, extensive employee training and the 6 cyls (GLS & LX top of the line) being built in USA from day one.
Hyundai is banking on this car big time. Do you think they would risk everything on building their top model-trims at an inferior facility and keep their lower model-trims in Korea?
For whatever logistical reason Hyundai wanted to keep the Alabama plant limited to 6 cyl engines for the first months of production. The build quality shouldn't be any different. Your VIN will verify where the car was built.
Remember when Detroit ruled? At that time, it didn't matter which plant a car was built in, they were the best at that time. The only thing to be concerned about was a "monday" or "Friday" car.
Have them mount a short post on the center hump (passenger side). Make sure the post has adjustable sections.
Use the car mount kit (have the installer put it in).
DO NOT get a separate in-line FM modulator. I did and it wiped out my AM frequencies due to the high power output.
Just buy a sattelite radio that has an internal FM modulator and tune your FM radio to the proper frequency.
It's really not too expensive to do. Parts and labor are less than $200 plus the cost of whatever type of Sat radio you buy.
Good luck.
KAL
computer manually, calculating by hand. The trip
computer gave me a result of 26.0, but actual was
25.5, or about a 2% error. Accurate enough for me.
I haven't been able to get near the sticker's
quoted 30 mpg, and the GLS V6 has almost 2k miles
now, so it is broken in.
As far as the seat comfort, this trip wasn't quite
as bad as the first. I got a 2" cushion, and also found that my right leg doesn't hurt as bad if I sit to the
extreme right of the seat. It seems that the accelerator is positioned more right than most cars. Has anyone else had leg problems from the GLS non-power seats?
That seems like good mileage for a V6.
Thanks for any help!
Seat belt chime is annoying - Enough said.
Automatic headlights on feature needs tweaked - As compared to our Trailblazer, the automatic headlights features needs to be a bit more aggressive. It doesn't kick on as early in the early evening as I would like or compared to the Trailblazer. Also, pet peeve here, but all manufacturers should wire the headlights to the wipers. In most states, if your wipers on on, state law indicates your headlights should be on as well. Nothing is crazier than people with DRLs on in a heavy rain with no tail lights on.
Fog Lamps on with marker lights - The fogs only work with full headlights on. They should work with your marker lights on as well.
Cruise/Brights/Fog dashlights need to be based on backlight setting - The dashboard indicators for those features are bright, even when you have the dash lights down. A little distracting to me.
Center console could be a little sturdier - Seems to move to the side when you place your elbows on it.
Anyone else care to add any of their suggested tweaks?
I have the 2006 Sonata LX with package 3 and love it.
My pet peeves are:
1. Seat belt chime.
2. Doesn't have delayed door locks.
3. I had the auto door lock activatedby the dealer so now when I drive, all the doors lock automatically. But when I stop and park the car the doors don't unlock automatically like my previous car did. Hard to get use to.
4. Only one heat setting for the heated seats which gets too hot.
5. The power steering is stiff when turning while drive slowly, like in paralell parking. Variable power assist would be nice.
6. No light in the glove box, and at night the interior lights don't come on automatically when you stop, put the car in park, and turn the key off.
7. No power passenger seat option.
John
with only your parking lights on.
Mine was with AC off, driving at speeds 70 to
80. Do you have some secret? I can not imagine
getting that kind of mileage. Around town I get less
than 20 mpg. Is the trip computer telling you
this, or have you actually measured it.
Oh, and if I was 4'6", I'm sure the seats would
be fine.
I fail to see the value of #6, why not turn
on one of the lights, if you need a light,
or just open the door?