Still Waters

Out with the edgy, in with the mellow, the all-new Sonata gets a Fluidic Treatment

When Hyundai unveiled its sixth-generation Sonata a few years ago, it elected a million gasps across the world. No one had expected to see Hyundai with such a unique identity. The Fluidic sculpture design meant that Sonata was quite radically styled for a car of its kind, making it stand out like a sharply-suited 30-something among a swathe of beige trouser-wearing oldies.

Even though the swoopy Sonata is far from old, Hyundai thinks it’s time it grew up. So, in comes the all-new, seventh-gen Sonata.

Clearly, Hyundai has continued with its fluidic ways, but this car benefits from Fluidic Sculpture 2.0, which is Hyundai’s way of saying it’s gone a bit softer with its design tools. Gone are the many designs flourishes – the sixth-gen Sonata had more creases than a Chinese Shar-Pei dog and in came smoother, flatter panels, which impart a more elegant, mellow flavor.

The current Sonata has a unique design of its own, but this one actually follows a bigger genesis. When designing the new Sonata, the mantra for Hyundai was ‘Inner Force’, which places greater importance on evolution, and “confident perfection”. It remains to be seen if the rest of the world sees that, but one thing’s for sure, Hyundai gone down the safe route with this one.

Not only has the Sonata matured on design ideology, it’s also quite literally grown up, too. This new Sonata is 35mm longer and 30mm wider than the current car, and uses 30 per cent more Advanced High Street Steel (AHSS) than the previous model. Hyundai says AHSS is twice as rigid as regular steel and still lighter, which means the new Sonata will not only fare better at the crash tests, it’ll also be more fuel-efficient.

Inside, it’s all refinement. Apart from using better materials, and improving ergonomics, quality and feel of the switches, Hyundai has also focused on reducing noise, vibration and harshness. The engineers in Seoul have added extra insulation in locations that are potential sources of cabin noise, reduced the booming noise from the engine at higher revs and damped the suspension so it doesn’t go crash-bang every time you go over a pothole.

The increase in size has also translated into more interior space, with slender front seatbacks blessing the rear passenger with extra legroom. As expected, Hyundai hasn’t disappointed on the feature front. Both front seats are height-adjustable, and can be heated or cooled, as per choice.

Folks at the back are split too, with seats that can be warmed, and electric rear window blinds and side curtain blinds. The multimedia system which can be had with a 3.8-inch LCD or an 8-inch touch screen display also features voice recognition, Bluetooth, USB and iPod connectivity. Safety features include a driver knee airbag, radar-based cruise control, automatic emergency braking, blind spot detection, and lane departure warning and high beam assist.

There’s another thoughtful touch in the form of the smart Trunk function. Unlike cars that have sensor under that rear bumper, which opens the boot lid when it senses a wave of your leg, the new Sonata has a fender-fitted antenna that opens the boot automatically when it detects the smart key near rear bumper for more than three seconds. Seems gimmicky, but saves you from looking like an idiot waving your foot under the car’s bottom in a parking lot.

 

Surprisingly, Hyundai has only listed petrol engines so far. The current 2.4 Litre GDI will now make 190bhp instead of 198. Torque stays at 247nm. Gearbox options remain identical- 6 speed manual or 6 speed auto. There’s still a chance that we’ll get a diesel engine when it launched in India.

It will continue to compete with rivals like the Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Passat, at a slightly higher model than that of the version it’ll replace. Now all that remains is to see how India takes to the watered-down Fluidic philosophy, because so far, we seem to be impressed with the brash new design template of almost every modern Hyundai.