Hyundai is getting a lot of soft-touch press these days, working this new love affair to best advantage, crowing a bit about Hyundai’s nascent role as leader and innovator. After spending a week with a loaded Sonata, and visiting a couple of dealers to look over the stock on the ground, I’d say Hyundai has a major effort ahead to become an innovator, as the Sonata is nothing more than a pleasing mash-up of ideas from other companies, a blatant compilation piece. The car also has flawed suspension and steering, and some hit-and-miss quality, mostly relating to the assembly and fit of molded pieces, both inside and outside the car, but also to fundamentals of the structure. However, Sonata is a clear statement of intent from the Koreans that they will compete on par with Detroit, and the second tier of Japanese companies, and with a bit more work can compete with Honda, Subaru and Toyota in the future. Hyundai does not make my very narrow recommended list, but with a little work, they just might.

Prime Numbers

• Price: $25,295. As Tested: $28,415
• Engine: 2.4-liter DOHC inline four
• Horsepower: 198 hp @ 6,300 rpm
• Torque: 184 @ 4,250 rpm
• Drivetrain: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive with six-speed automatic transmission, including semi-auto shift.
• Suspension F/R: MacPherson struts/multi-link independent
• Length: 189.8-in.
• Width: 72.2-in.
• Height: 57.9-in.
• Wheelbase: 110.0-in.
• Weight: 3,316 lb.

Who’s The Buyer

This car is for you if:

• You buy knock-off Rolexes from downtown sidewalk vendors.
• You appreciate getting a lot of “stuff” for the money, and are not overly concerned with long-term residual value or comprehensive quality.
• You will revel in explaining your purchase to your neighbors, who might not be aware that Hyundai (and its vassal Kia) have caught up with Detroit and the lower echelon of Japanese carmakers.

This car is not for you if:

• You appreciate the superior build quality of the best Japanese car companies (e.g., Honda, Subaru and Toyota).
• You can’t get on the Hyundai bandwagon, and embrace a company with an evolving image in the marketplace.
• When chatting with the neighbors, you don’t want to explain or defend any purchase.

Alternatives To Consider

• Toyota Camry XLE. When you get in this car, you know why it has dominated the market for more than a decade. Though it holds no appeal for enthusiast magazine writers because it is compromised towards comfort, that’s exactly why it remains the benchmark. The engine is silky smooth, the six-speed automatic “learns” your driving style over time (an ECU tracks how you drive) to smooth out shift action, the seating is comfortable front and rear, and the thrifting of this car has been nowhere near as obnoxious as in the Honda Accord. Thanks to the unwarranted Obama attacks on Toyota, the financing deals are pretty good. The top-line Camry XLE with engine and transmission comparable to Sonata is about $950 than the Sonata, but you get a Toyota.
• Honda Accord EX. Comparably equipped, it’s LESS than the Sonata, and it’s a Honda. Hmmmmm. OK, Accord is another car with Bangle-derivative exterior design. We’ve criticized Honda for its blatant cutting of corners—the farther you get from the driver’s seat, the cheaper the car becomes. Though Honda’s small-displacement fours are arguably the best in the US, their larger four-cylinder is noticeably rougher and cobbier than the comparable Toyota motor. However, both Honda and Toyota engines are markedly superior to the Hyundai engine.  Hondas feel “sportier” because the front suspension is right on the edge of too harsh, but this makes the car seem more responsive than the softly sprung Hyundai.
• Ford Fusion SEL. If Bob Lutz and his various co-conspirators at GM product development over the past eight years had tried a little harder, the Malibu might have turned out as well as the Fusion. Admittedly, Malibu is pretty good, standing out for its steering and handling, an area where the Sonata falls on its face. But Fusion is the safer bet if you want to be a patriot and buy American.  The four-cylinder Fusion SEL model is about $500 less than the Hyundai, and it’s much, much better looking. Thanks to the refreshing change brought by a CEO who is an accomplished engineer, Ford is also turning out far sharper products than in recent decades.
• VW Jetta. It’s German. Compared to anything Korean, it’s better-built, has original thinking, has far superior suspension and steering with resulting vastly superior driving experience, it’s an example of clean industrial design, and you don’t have to defend the purchase. Like the Fusion, much shorter in the wheelbase than the 110-inches of the Sonata bit smaller and thus less family-oriented, but also less costly. VW has evolving quality—the hope is the Porsche executives being drawn over to the VW side can bring with them the lessons of the Toyota Production System that Porsche has followed for nearly a decade. A VW is still superior to anything from the Koreans. Also, you can get the TDI Clean Diesel version for about the same price as the Hyundai, and get far, far better fuel mileage. The TDI is definitely the coolest model in the Jetta lineup.

HYUNDAI WAS PEDDLING EXCELS in the mid-Eighties when I entered the car magazine business. The only thing on the road worse than a Hyundai was a Yugo, or perhaps a Mitsubishi, from which Hyundais were derived. In the Eighties and Nineties, you had to be a halfwit to buy a Hyundai. Forgettable products like the S-Coupe and early Tiburons didn’t change matters. Ten years ago while working at an ill-fated dot.com, I drove a Tiburon and couldn’t believe how horrible the steering was—at the time I made the comment that my uncle’s Model T speedster had superior steering.

Forward 25 years from that first Excel, with decades of help from Porsche Engineering and Group Lotus, plus various partnerships with companies like DaimlerChrysler (for the current 2.4-liter GEMMA engine), and Hyundai is no longer a joke. In short, the cars are worth inclusion on the comparison shopping list.

Though a week spent with a Sonata was proof enough that Hyundai is NOT a top tier automaker yet, in spite of what some journalists might think, busy to curry favor, the issues holding them back can (and should) be fixed very easily. We know GM is most terrified of Hyundai, as should be the other two Detroit companies, which have had variable quality over the past few decades. Hyundai is poised to eat Detroit’s lunch—if it can step up. With a more focused production quality system, Hyundai might reach parity with the best of the Japanese, but that’s a much longer haul than the Koreans recognize.

My perception of Hyundai will be forever tainted by their first 15 to 20 years of shoddy products foisted on America. But a new generation of buyers might not hold the same negative perceptions, and they are up for grabs. With Gen Y and the Millennials entering adult life and earning money for themselves, they represent the best chance for any company ready to compete. Not surprisingly, Hyundai wants on that express train to global success, and has followed a program of fast model redesigns (each generation lasts no more than four years) to churn the market and keep things fresh. And each generation of Hyundai is superior to the previous generation.

Engine, Transmission, Drivetrain

Hyundai Motor America is filled with former Detroit guys. The former Detroit engineer who handles powertrain development did an exceptional job with the Hyundai 2.4-liter, an engine developed in partnership with DaimlerChrysler. The engine is a bit rough, with a loping, loose character, but the calibration is pretty good. The six-speed transmission will hold revs nearly to redline, and then deliver well-damped yet crisp shifts. The Tiptronic shifter works OK, though the car’s suspension and steering are so sloppy that one is not inspired to become more involved in the driving process by bumping the shifter around. The only reason to use the Tip shifter is to engage a lower ratio to get more consistent revs when climbing a mountain road, or get more engine braking when working down a steep hill or mountain. Otherwise, why bother with it? This is not an engaging car—Sonata is a family tool, not a sports sedan.

We did not find the engine as refined, quiet or turbine-like as a comparable Honda or Toyota, but GM and Chrysler (much of the Fiat engineering that’s coming here as “Chryslers” is derived from GM/Opel/Saab joint-venture work of the past decade) and the lesser Japanese ought to be concerned. If the Koreans continue to partner with the right folks, as they did with DaimlerChrysler to develop this engine, they can potentially surpass GM and Fiat-Chrysler.

To pull around a family sedan or a CUV, Hyundai’s 2.4-liter is far better than adequate. If that sounds like damning with faint praise, it’s only because engines for this segment tend to lack character. They serve a purpose, and are meant to be durable family servants. The DaimlerChrysler/Hyundai engine in the Sonata should serve well for years, and provide decent gas mileage.

Suspension, Steering, Brakes

Steering and suspension? Thisis where the Koreans really fall on their faces, flat. Most buyers won’t know the difference when toddling around town, but this is point of pride for an engineering company.

First, the steering. It’s nicely weighted, with a hefty feel that will appeal to males and more aggressive females. OK, great. But that 1961 Dion classic sums it up: They call me the wanderer. When you’re forced to make corrections around a gentle bend on a freeway, the steering and relevant suspension geometry is junk. Oddly, it CAN take a decent set in some corners, but even then, you might find yourself making at least one correction. Worst of it is the constant meandering, which speaks to a lack of caster and self-centering. Ten years ago I adopted a description for this, after driving an early Kia Rio that felt like it was built from leftover parts, with no calibration work: shopping cart steering. The Sonata is not as bad as a ten-year-old Kia Rio, but it sure isn’t a Porsche. And much as many, including myself, have criticized some Toyotas of the past decade for uninvolved steering, Hyundai would be lucky if the Sonata steered like an old Toyota Echo. My ’49 Cadillac does a better job of taking a set in a corner. Steering of this low quality is disgraceful. Hyundai, you get low marks: D-.

Suspension tuning? The ride is not bad at all when cruising at 65-70 mph on a Southern California freeway. Most buyers will like it. The springing is relatively soft and when the car is NOT being pushed hard, it delivers a pleasant, smooth ride. Excellent if you never do more than visit the grocery store or drive a few miles to work.

I took the Sonata over a favorite road in my neighborhood that runs between water channels and over an active oil and natural gas field. Thanks to soft earth and gas pressure, the road is truly a roller coaster, nearly as good as some of the whoop-dee-doos I used to drive across at the Dearborn Proving Grounds. Put the Sonata over this road at reasonable speeds and you’re forced to conclude the Koreans know nothing about suspension set-up, and particularly how jounce and rebound in shock absorbers are used to control body motions over bumps or when cornering. On two of the whoops, the rear suspension lost its way and the rear end was literally gyrating to the right, inspiring little confidence. Put a couple of big, fat guys in the back seat and the handling could really get interesting. Our Editor Sawyer found this to be the case when he attended the original press introduction of the Sonata. Boomps-a-daisy over larger rolls and bumps in the road.

A good team of engineers can fix such horrific dynamics, and Hyundai should buy in the American or European talent needed. That team of engineers should spend a fair amount of time tuning the shock absorbers. Of course, that effort would be mostly pointless unless competent engineers rework the front suspension geometry to cure the serious flaws of the steering system.

In short, Hyundai has figured out how to copy the leaders, but they don’t understand the fine details. Perhaps good enough for grandma, but not for a family that travels to mountain camp grounds. And certainly not as rewarding to steer as either a Malibu, or a Honda Accord.

Body, Design, Quality

Sonata’s exterior design is a synthetic blend of Lexus ES350, 3-series, and C-class with a sprits of who-knows-what to complete the cocktail. That said, the styling is nothing if not bold, the fenderline spearing into the shoulder and running strongly right into the top of the taillight. From the side and rear the Sonata has an aggressive, sculptural look. Lexus ES-derived headlights combined with the mouthy grille give the Sonata a distinctive if droopy face. In short, Sonata is a blatant knockoff of the Lexus ES350, and likely won’t age so well.

Body build is very good. As Editor Sawyer would point out, the steel manufacturers ran a promotion on how to hem together a fine steel body, in hopes of increasing business and keeping the industry from shifting to more use of alloy. Right down to the means of putting the pieces together, Hyundai picked up the methods the steel industry mapped out, most blatantly. The body is pretty well put together, but it did suffer odd tremors over certain road surfaces, as the suspension movements were communicated into the body structure. Hyundai has put together a pretty good body structure, but they are no match yet for Honda or Toyota—or VW, whose bodies in most cases have that typically German billet feel. Hyundai? Not so much. They need to spend more time in the “tube” figuring out the weak points of the structure. If they can’t bend the metal properly, they can at least add lightweight braces to help quell the often-unpleasant vibrations and tremors. As with the steering and suspension, close but not top tier.

Interior, Ergonomics

The closer you get to the driver’s seat, the more Hyundai invests in the quality of the materials. Again, damning with faint praise.

The Raspberry Beret purple leather of our test car probably only sells well in certain neighborhoods most of us would prefer to avoid. I found it downright hideous. But in black or tan leather? This would be a very appealing interior. Also, with a 110-in. wheelbase, the Sonata delivers a whole lot of interior room for the money. Here, Hyundai is cleverly splitting the market, offering the sort of room you get from a Passat, Avalon, or other super-sized family sedan, but at the cost of a conventional family sedan. Very clever product planning.

Hyundai executives proclaim their nascent leadership in automotive engineering and design. I don’t see it. Interior features are all copycat. For AC and ventilation controls, cue up Volvo “mode man.” For audio/video/navigation, the Koreans cribbed Infiniti. For gauges, Infiniti again, with a dash of Ford Taurus. Shifter? Cue up BMW’s current dual-clutch shifter. A bit pathetic for a company that contends it will soon lead the world. And the materials are a mish-mash, with shiny black plastic and bright trim for Mode Man and the shifter, and soft-touch black matte for the other buttons. Oh, and the Infiniti knock-off AVN control is executed in a dull alloy, which stands in glaring contrast with the Mode Man trim, which would do well on a child’s toy car. Al lthe appeal of a Korean-made LG washer/dryer set.

Major pieces of the dash lined up pretty well, an impressive advance for Hyundai. But the materials are an odd mix of soft touch and hard. The hard materials also had, hmm, interesting graining. Having just taken a look at the new Ford Explorer, which has very nice soft-touch material all around the driver and front passenger, with beautiful detailing and design, this Hyundai mash-up is pretty pathetic. This is not leadership. This is cribbing.

And here’s the best measure of how the thinking doesn’t go all the way through the product, a clear sign that leadership is a fair piece down the road. Cruise control buttons are placed on the steering wheel, just like on a Detroit car. But to make the cruise work, boy, you have to press awfully hard, so hard it can aggravate your case of Blackberry Thumb. Again, the buttons and materials look great on the surface, but the underlying quality is not there. If you want to run with the big dogs, you have to deliver quality on all levels, not just the surface. Nice buttons? Again, Honda and Toyota, and now I’d have to say some Fords, at least those introduced in the past year or so. Hyundai needs to think beyond mimicry and instead properly engineer everything, not just the surface layer.

Conclusion

To once again reach to vintage rock and roll, Hyundai is far from leader of the pack. That said, if Detroit executives are not dropping pucks in their pants, I’d be surprised. Even Honda and Toyota had better find the flaws in Hyundai vehicles and clearly communicate to consumers visiting their showrooms WHY a Honda or Toyota is superior to a Sonata. Hyundai only needs a measure of highly focused engineering work to at least run in the pack with Honda and Toyota. Of course, one set of recalls and Hyundai will collapse, knocked down to its old 1985 Excel image. Perhaps GM can ask Henry Waxman and Obama to carry out a smear campaign on Hyundai next. I love Hyundai’s ads, with that wry, warm voice of Jeff Bridges damn near making you think Hyundai is as American as apple pie and kimchi. Hiring Jeff Bridges was and is a masterstroke. What a glorious voice.

Many of the US enthusiast car magazines are fawning over Hyundai. Would I recommend this car over the established players? No. But I would suggest to some folks I know to test drive a Hyundai as part of a thorough investigation of the market. Both in major systems (suspension, steering) and in minor touchpoints (feel and accuracy of dials and buttons), Hyundai is far from parity with the industry’s best. My favored recommendations in family cars remain Honda, Subaru and Toyota, with VW held in reserve for friends who want something out of the ordinary.

Coda: Hyundai Goulash

I love archaic slang, strange words and phrases people used 20, 30, even 500 years ago. I also enjoy what one might call vintage comedy. Before he became Sheriff Andy Taylor on TV, Andy Griffith was a brilliant comedic storyteller. Jonathan Winters in the Fifties was as nuts as he ever was. And then there was Allan Sherman, a Jewish comedian I found far more palatable than the offensive Lenny Bruce, who I’ve never found terribly amusing. The week I spent with the Hyundai Sonata had me singing a variation of an Allan Sherman ditty I loved to listen to as a kid: Hungarian Goulash, which I’ve posted below. Why the connection? Because the Sonata is made the same way: a mash-up, or goulash, of design and engineering concepts blatantly copied from other companies. If Toyota and Honda are McDonalds, then Hyundai is at best Arby’s, or perhaps angling to be Burger King, the alternative. I hope the explanation is enough that you don’t find the posted video too random or obtuse. I enjoyed my week of Hyundai Goulash, but I would recommend other dishes before ordering any more of this off the menu. If you like this one, follow through to YouTube and enjoy a few more Allan Sherman classics, like Camp Granada, the Sherman song most people are familiar with.