The Kona isn’t the only car Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors is launching soon – the company also previewed the new Hyundai Sonata to the media this week. Fully imported from South Korea, the eighth-generation DN8 will be fighting in a D-segment sedan market that is slowly shrinking but still counts the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Volkswagen Passat as its fiercest competitors.
For now, the new contender is wading into battle in just a single trim level, powered by a new Smartstream G2.5 MPI engine. The 2.5 litre naturally-aspirated petrol four-cylinder makes 180 PS at 6,000 rpm and 232 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm, all of which goes through a six-speed automatic gearbox to the front wheels.
The new Sonata certainly looks a great deal different compared to its staid predecessor. The first car to bear Hyundai’s latest Sensuous Sportiness design language, it returns to the sleek four-door coupé look first seen on the sixth-generation YF.
At the front, you’ll find a far wider and more aggressive Cascading Grille, flanked by slim trapezoidal LED headlights that sweep upwards towards the front wheel arches. The Sonata’s characteristic chrome bonnet strips take on new functionality as they hide the LED daytime running lights, which disappear from view when turned off thanks to laser-etched perforations.
Moving over to the side, the sweep of the low-slung roofline is mirrored in the arching shoulder line, accentuating the car’s concave and convex surfacing. The rear end features C-shaped tail lights that you might recognise if you are a Honda Civic owner, joined together at the bottom.
The Sonata enters the market in standard form, meaning that it gets the more conservative look with a full-width chrome strip and hidden exhaust pipes. Make no mistake, however, this is still a very striking-looking car, a fact emphasised by the complex 18-inch alloy wheels.
Break out the measuring tape, and you’ll notice that the Sonata is a little larger than its predecessor. At 4,900 mm long and 1,890 mm wide, it’s 45 mm longer and 25 mm wider, while its 2,840 mm wheelbase is 35 mm longer. It is, however, 30 mm lower at 1,445 mm, which adds to the car’s dynamic look. The drag coefficient has also been reduced to 0.27, thanks to features like a flat underbody and finned tail lights.
Inside, the new car is again quite a departure, with a slim dashboard, a tall centre console and a freestanding infotainment touchscreen. The display unit seen here sports an eye-catching two-tone colour scheme, with a tan upper dashboard and leather seats. The touchscreen is the smaller eight-inch unit rather than the 10.25-inch display available in other markets, but it still supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Other unique touches include a push-button gear selector and a cooled Qi wireless charger that keeps your smartphone from overheating. Standard equipment includes keyless entry, push-button start, power-adjustable seats with driver’s side memory, dual-zone climate control with rear air vents, auto lights and wipers, an auto-dimming rear view mirror, a 12.3-inch instrument display and a 360-degree camera system.
Under the skin, the Sonata rides on a new third-generation platform that makes the car both lighter and more rigid. There’s a multi-load path structure and greater use of hot-stamped and super-high tensile strength steels, which improve crash safety and reduce noise, vibration and harshness. Enhanced steering and suspension geometry also make for increased stability and handling response, Hyundai says.
Safety-wise, the Sonata boasts a new Blind-Spot View Monitor, which works just like Honda’s LaneWatch but with two key differences. It uses cameras on both sides of the car, instead of only the far side; it also displays the feed in the instrument cluster (replacing the gauge on whichever side the driver indicates) rather than the infotainment screen.
The car also comes with six airbags and stability control, but unfortunately, it misses out on Hyundai’s SmartSense suite of driver assistance features, including autonomous emergency braking. This omission is particularly grating considering that the range-topping Kona 1.6 T-GDI, which will almost certainly be much cheaper, will come with these systems.
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Not aeb??? What on earth.
sell here under 140K.
Wow, what an amazing car. Now you know why Hyundai sells 8 million cars globally to over 200 countries.
Hyundai’s first car rolled out in 1974, just 10 years before Proton was born and yet, they can sell so many cars globally and is top seller in USA and Australia.
We must learn from the Koreans their magic to success
Hyundai started 10 years before our Merdeka and by the time they rolled out their first cars, they were already a billion dollar conglomerate. Based on what resource available to them, anybody else that had the money and market size of Hyundai/KIA, they could have been a world beater today.
Your ‘200 countries’ including the moon, Venus, Mars and planet troll?
Meeting 500 country ha ha ha
Non turbo engine with lame output
that time 2006 i din buy Hyundai Accent RX, but Proton Gen2 CPS. smartest decision i ever made.
“over 200 countries”
Wasn’t it “over 400 countries”, was it?
Mohd Sidek bin Pahman on Sep 25, 2020 at 4:57 pm
Japanese cars are sold ‘in 230 countries’
Christy Wong on Sep 23, 2020 at 7:48 am
At least VVTI Toyota engine is sold ‘in over 200 countries’.
Mee Hailam on Sep 15, 2020 at 5:26 pm
And yet, Hyundai sells 8 million cars globally ‘in over 200 countries’.
Dato JH Ramli bin Hj Thanby Chik on Sep 04, 2020 at 3:00 pm
Malaysians know one thing, Japanese cars are sold ‘in over 200 countries’.
Michael Chong on Sep 15, 2020 at 5:57 pm
There is a reason why Toyota VVTI technology is sold ‘in over 200 countries’.
YB Kunta Kinte on Jan 16, 2019 at 7:39 am
This car uses a Toyota/Daihatsu engine that is recognised and won awards ‘in over 200 countries’.
Last-last we know who is the real troll here.
Maybe try looking at the road and not your phone while driving its not that difficult of a concept to grasp.
It is glad to know Hyundai is still using the port injection NA with 6-speed gb. But the 8” touchscreen is really disappointed
6-speed auto and 8″ touchscreen is both from 2009, they still have stock to sell to Malaysia.
Nice
Agreed. Aston Martin lookalike.
Hard to justify this 2020 Hyundai Sonata. Same $$$ can buy 3bijik Proton X50 Flagship for whole beloved family…
Those who can afford higher class, buy Kimchi. Those who cannot afford and look for economical car, go for x50 or X70.
You are comparing a D segment sedan vs B segment suv??!!
Why dont you vs a Porsche Cayenne vs X50, that one you might have 10 units instead!!
The world is big, please read more
DOA. Dead on arrival.
CBU with 2.5NA engine? Good luck. It’ll be more expensive than the Accord and Passat then, and have similar price like the Camry and Mazda6. Let’s see if they can sell 20 cars in 1 year.
I just tried Mazda6 2.5 NA 2 days ago, my 10 years old 2.0 NA is more powerful…what a disappointment
be amazed with Civic 1.5 power
After 50kkm when the intake valves start to clog, that’s really “amazing”…haaa
my fren 1999 Perdana plonked in 2.5L 24v V6 macem lg mantap…atas jalan mmg rare
Civic? Then be amazed with x50 1.5 3 cylinder power
I wouldn’t call 109PS “power”….
I would rather go for Proton anytime
Pros (Compared to other Models):
Tab Leather seat, 360 Camera, Fully Digital Instrument Cluster, Better looking?, Apple Carplay Android Auto, Sunroof
Cons:
No Hyundai SmartSense
Summary:
Its still a pretty good car.
Not my cup of tea. The exterior and interior, esp the dashboard design, look very outdated.
That power train is pretty rubbish
2.5l for 175hp at 6,000 rpm sounds indeed a bit outdated.
Koreans have gotten adept at the art of making weird shapes somehow look comely – that’s how they get to the leading edge of design ahead of others. Plus their driver aid tech is second to none. Alas to survive in the Malaysian tax-structure, a lot of it is watered down. I’ve said it before – why not waive tax on safety systems? Calculate the taxes on the vehicles after deducting the cost of safety systems like AEB, blind spot warning etc why not? It will directly contribute to reducing the carnage on our roads.
Incorrect. They can if they wanted to, see Ioniq with best features under 100k when it first came. From then, all went downhill as cost increases and Koreans got greedy. How else can you brain Elantra being more expensive than Civic and nearly same price as CBU Altis.
The most laku Hyundai here is the Starex. Because no other competitors in that price range.
The others? Am surprised Hyundai and Kia haven’t pulled out from Malaysia yet seeing demand for China cars have went up locally.
No… Why a 2.5L??
What a poorly spec car? No ADAS, tiny 8 inch screen, no turbo engine seen in other countries, etc. Even the air-con controls have been dumbed down. Would rather consider an Accord.
im not sure if it the camera or lighthinh
but that is one heck of ugly car..more so the dual tone interior..doesnt blend at all…yucks
The old Sonata YF looks way nicer than this latest one… So many car makers nowadays trying too hard to make their latest cars look different from their older cars, only to churn out ugly designs.
The steering is sooooo… ugly
With increase of 100cc over the 2.4L but the horsepower remain same 175hp while the torque is only 5nm up. What’s wrong with Sime Darby to bring in slow and old tech port injection NA while most others start bringing in GDI or Turbo. When Hyundai launched the sonata back on 2011 there was a wow factor where it applied high horsepower and 6 speed auto. But after 9 years it still apply similar tech while others are moving ahead. It is just a car for showroom display purpose and it will fail like what they faced in last generation sonata.
Both Hyundai and Kia are doing badly in Msia mostly because of completely wrong strategy by local distributor.
After all these years, we can feel that the distributor is not serious in business. Very not serious. Lack of business-minded people.
the dashboard looks so beautiful!…..for 90s era, that is.
I guess the design evokes 90s charm, to attract retirees today.
Interior look very nice. Due to missing the advanced safety feature the direct competitor I think is mazda 6 2.0, honda accord TC and passat. For Malaysia Market c segment sedan price less than 140k like civic and Altis. But D segment car price above 180k+. The car can fill up this gap. If the price about 150k to 160k.
In 150k to 160k range people also can get the CIVIC, or CORROLA, or Mazda3, all comes with full suite of tech. Of course they are C-segment, which is smaller, but most people will still compare and would be attracted to a better spec-ed package. Cause Malaysians are smart consumers. ;)
At least buyer have option to get c segment or lack of features d segment. Thank for Hyundai Malaysia to bring in to Malaysia. Of cause if the price above 170k please don’t waste time.
KIa or Hyundai wil not works here in Malaysia. Please stop selling these cars in malaysia’a market. Very bad 2nd hand value due to unavailability of spare parts.
It is not the problem of those Korean brands, Kia and Hyundai. It’s the local distributor that is not serious in business. Look at their specs, their marketing. If I am the Korean, I’ll find any chance to void my contract with Malaysian distributor. Modern Korean cars are very good in quality. Those who own one can tell.
Car unreliability got nothing to do with local distro, it is because the car brand itself is unreliable.
Just imagine when a 1.3 litre turbocharged engine can give you almost the same horsepower with much lower consumption. Is this a prank preview ??
Higher class cannot mean pathetic engine
where is those 1.6 turbo engine?
the light brown and black interior is hideous. the brown colour looks like the plasters you put on your wound. Also the 2.5l produces low power in comparison to its rival. better get the honda accord turbo.
Like putting on bandages everywhere.
the interior is vomit
MPI why not GDI?
wow…. announce 200k above…