Smooth and Refined Engine - 2015 Hyundai Sonata Long-Term Road Test

Comments

• allthingshonda Member Posts: 878

  February 2015 edited February 2015

  My girlfriend has a 2011 Sonata with the same engine but with more horsepower. I know Hyundai chose to reduce power to boost fuel economy but still... Anyway I found that the engine is more powerful with miles on it than when it was new, the car really does feel quicker. And it's a smooth operator at idle and all the way up to red line. When you read the specs on the engine you can see that Hyundai didn't cut any corners with tech and quality components. The transmission is the smoothest I have driven. Her car has almost 50,000 miles on it and you still can't feel the transmission engage when shifting from Park to Reverse and all shifts are buttery smooth. The down side is it reduces acceleration times a bit; I think the computer reduces power to execute smooth shifts.
  
  It still doesn't get the mileage that's on the sticker. Even on long all highway road trips the best we've averaged is 31 mpg. Not the 35 that's on the sticker.

  0
• foxgtr Member Posts: 4

  February 2015

  I purchased a 2015 Sonata 2.0T Sport Limited last month. I've put 2.300 miles on it so far commuting to work and making a couple trips to Daytona. (Sprint Unlimited and Daytona 500). The engine is very smooth, provides a good amount of power, and runs without any issues. My only complaint with the car so far is with the Direct Injection system. When the engine is cold it makes quite a racket. It is quick to warm up and quiets down after about 15 seconds, but is still noticeable.
  
  In my driving so far (75% HWY), I've averaged 28.5mpg over 5 fills. The car is only rated at 31HWY so I feel it is capable of doing what the EPA rates it at. On the trips to Daytona (350 miles round trip), I averaged 31.4 both times. That includes 16 miles of 0-10mph crawling in heavy traffic. I was using the Smart Cruise Control system for traffic control and had the speed set at a comfortable "Extra-Legal" speed, as Edmunds likes to call it. It performed great and was almost unnoticeable in the way it managed slowing traffic and gaps opening up. Plus, in the speedway traffic, it was wonderful.

  5