I was going to cut and paste the whole article but it is tooo damn long. An excellent read.

The Artilce !



I know these are not exciting cars. But these are the cars that make these companies. Hyundai is beating Honda and Toyota. Gotta love it. This is why competition is good. Now you can a get great family sedan at an affordable price again. This is great for the consumer. And it forces everyone into line. Honda did it in the 70's and 80's. But, as is the circle of life they get big and start to rest on there laurels and the price starts to creep up. Why not? It's good to be the king. But there iis always someone in the corner....lurking...waiting. Just when you think it is safe ...BAM! the competion comes outta nowhere.
Now, why can't american car companies do this? We just (un)officially got hosed by a Korean car manufacturer that used to be the laughing stock of the car industry.

 

Go Hyundai.

 

Wow I never knew they stepped up that much. Comptetion is definitely a good thing.

My only experience with Hyundai is with their industrial products and they've always been pretty good. Our Hyundai CNC lathe came fully equipped for about $20k less than our similar Japanese lathes and it has been every bit as reliable.

 

it seems the article is unaccessible?

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Please contact the system adminsitrator. "

I've been pushing my sis to get a Hyundai ever since she recently graduated and looking for reliable/cheap car. She doesn't like anything but Toyota and Honda. This article may convince her otherwise.

 

Uh oh...time for Honda and Toyota to make some changes. Either price or build.

 

Great win for Hyundai. Very cool. They're out for blood.

 

For the price, the Sonata is unbeatable. If Honda and Toyota want to compete, they will have to add more standard features for less money. The reason the Sonata won is the same reason a lot of people like Acuras (myself included), they just give a tremendous value for what you get.

 

Wow @ the fuel economy they observed for the Accord!

 

go hyundai~~~

wait till the new Azera and the Santa Fe~~

 

Its great that Hyundai won on a value basis, but as usual, it would have been nice to have seen 4cyl vs 4cyl/v6 vs v6 to see if the car itself was better.

 

^^^ true to a point but in this type of car especially (family truckster) nobody shops a 20k car and a 29k car

I was amazed the 6 cylinder hyundai was that good.

From the stats on braking, tires etc it did pretty damn well on its own right

 

Read the following

http://www.freep.com/money/autorevie...e_20050721.htm

on another Sonata review. Other than the price and the numbers on paper, there is not much else to cheer the Sonata with. Bad interior, vague steering, feel less powerful than spec, average handling and driverability, etc.

 

Would've been much more impressivei if the other cars had 6 cylinders..

 

No suprise the Accord beats the Camry again. Wonder why the Accord isn't #1 selling car in America? Aside from being ugly, It's won every comparison test it's been in (or atleast manage to beat the Toyota every single time)

 

I'd much rather have the Accord. The Hyundai is a great value, but it's unproven. I learned the hard way many times to avoid first model year cars, especially at a brand new plant that Hyundai built. I think it scored so high because it shocked many people (a Hyundai being so good), but once it settles in, I still believe the Accord and Camry are superior.

Lastly, let's put the I4's against eachtoher and the V6's against eachother. It's a more fair comparison even if the price isn't exactly the same.

 

I also would get an Accord or Camry first but props to Hyundai for doing a hell of a job.

 

now all they need is to beef up the power plant of the Tiburon.

 

sonata v6 0-60 is supposedly 2nd best among other v6 sedans(priced under 30k?) right next to altima. 8.2 is very disappointing. some magazine had 7.2

anyway, with the 100K warranty i think it's a great deal.

 

^^^^ how does edmunds do there testing. From there other tests looks like it is like consumer reports with no clutch drop, etc.

They had the sti and GTO at upper 5 range so they seem to be about a second behind the other mags so that would put the sonata about where we expect, in the low 7 ranges

 

While Edmunds performance numbers seem to lag behind other rags, I think they are more real world of what you can actually expect during everyday driving where car and driver may just flat out abuse the car to get an appealing number.

The car is an improvement, but I can't say they've won me over an accord or camry, not sure I'd even test drive one because I'm not a big fan of what they've done with the interior or exterior. If toyota or honda came out with a similiar style for a 06 model I think people would be disappointed, but with hyundai they are pleased because they have no previous expectations.

 

I've told many people that the Hyundai today is like the Honda of the early 80s. Just give them a few years and watch what the Koreans bring to the table.

I test drove a '04 Sonata and thought it was very competent as a daily driver. Looks ... eh ... but price that VS Accord / Camry and it didn't look so bad after all.

 

Great comparison, Hyundai is doing a lot by forcing the others to reevaluate what they're going to give their consumers as standard equipment.

I did notice some odd tidbits - they commented that the Camry's interior is the blandest of all, but in the actual evaluations, it's ranked higher than the Accord. The Accord outbraked the Camry (this has got to be a first!) and was behind the Sonata, but again in the evaluation under Braking, they ranked the Accord #1.

 

One area where the Sonata wins hands down is the looks. They did a great job on that body.

For the interior, from the pictures I would say the accord looks the most upscale.

And you have to wonder about this quote:
"Unlike previous iterations, this Sonata's V6 isn't lacking in power. Sporting a heady 38-percent horsepower increase over the outgoing 2.7-liter unit, the new 3.3-liter V6 pumps out 235 hp and 226 pound-feet of torque. This baby is state of the art, with all-aluminum construction and variable valve timing that provides a broad spread of power. "

State of the art?? 3.3-liter with 335 hp vs. a 3.0-liter Honda with 240 hp from three years ago? 19.9 mpg?

8.2 seconds 0-60, that's about what my 5AT TSX might do, with much better milage and only 200 hp.

Not to knock Hyunday, I'm sure the car is a great value, but not through state of the art, rather through more basic and cheaper technology.

 

KP!!!!!!

 

Its nice, but after seeing one on the road, it falls into the "just another commuter car" segment. Its not bad by any means, but it aint hot by any stretch.


Think the 05 Camry SE exterior is still better looking imo, with the hyundai 2nd and Accord last cause thats what they deserve.

 

 

I agree. I really don't see where Edmunds is praising the Hyundai's interior - it's decent, but geez they make it sound like an Audi interior. Design-wise, the Accord (especially with the leather interior and plood accent) looks the most upscale; even in the ho-hum trim of the LX it still looks good. Quality-wise, I think the two Japanese are still superior.

 

Edmunds doesn't brake torque. I remember reading the Accord EX review and they specifically pointed out that the 7.0 second 0-60 time was done without brake torquing. I'm pretty sure that's their overall philosophy because as others noted, Edmunds tend to publish numbers that are more 'real world' (read: slower)than other sources.

 

One area where Honda shines is the center stereo/climate controls design. If you look at most other cars, even the latest Audi or BMW, their centre console looks like an add-on piece, with a big thick border around it, large gaps, and two or three big knobs that remind me of 1980's FM radio.

On Hondas, Acuras, and the new Lexus, the center consoles are smoothly integated into the dash, with modern flowing lines. It makes a huge difference IMO.

 

can accord and camry do this sh!t?

 

i had 04 accord coupe LX, and it looks great on pics only. the material, fit and finish is same sh!t with hyundai's interior IMO

 

http://www.gostudie.com/new/large_image.php?it_id=841#
http://www.gostudie.com/new/large_image.php?it_id=840#

few more subtle mods, sonata can be gorgeous. if i could do these stuff on my 04 accord couple, i wouldn't have traded it.

 

woooo! go korea!

i love the new designs hyundai is coming up with. just a little behind on the power. what i loveed most was when tuscani went all out on the Tibby. those modded out sonatas are pretty damn wicked.

 

Why couldn't they, looks like a wheel upgrade.

 

camry's front end looks alright, the bugeyed headlamps just started to grow on me.. but that bland, boxy version of the ford tarus rear end still needs improvement.

although the lip kit and rim makes the car pretty tasteful

 

my dad has an 05 accord and my uncle has an 04 camry. they are nothing special in design tho the accord has better quality. to me, the hyundai looks better both inside and out and cheaper to boot

 

even with rims and kits, camry doesn't look good. it's like you are trying to mod a buick.

 

I agree. The expression is "putting lipstick on a pig"

 

I saw a brand-new black Hyundai Sonata with tinted windows yesterday for the first time, and I admit I was extremely impressed. The car looks pretty damn good from afar. That interior looks pretty below-average with the fake wood and the radio being in no-man's land, but the outside looks very sleek and more expensive than the car really is. Pretty nice car, I must say.