Post by bgluckman on Oct 5, 2004 23:09:56 GMT -5
Just got an email from a friend from another car site: he just got to drive an NF Sonata. And not just any NF Sonata, but a US-spec model!
How'd he do it? Well, simple: he rented a car from Dollar out of Phila CENSOREDa Airport. Confused? My friend (who knows cars, and has worked for Chrysler) was, too, but only for a moment. He suspects Hyundai's running prototype NFs in rental car fleets the same way Chrysler ran prototype NS minivans five months before the introduction. According to him, "...the general public found ways to break things that engineers never thought possible."
He's not a Hyundai fan by any means, BTW. With that in mind, here's some of his thoughts:
"It was nice, but... The seat, for me, was a backbuster. During the drive from PA to Jersey, I was not comfortable. Handling was, I would say, comparable to my Accord LX. Not nearly as flaccid as the '04 Sonata V6 a friend of mine has. The sportshift feature worked very well - upshifts were done in less than a second after I moved the gearshift. It had a V6, though I have no idea what the displacement is. At idle and at cruise it is *extremely* quiet, but not at WOT."
"Power-wise, I'd say it's like comparable to a V6 Camry. Quick off the line, great midrange and passing power at highway speeds. The V6 Altima would eat its lunch, however."
"I noticed that Hyundai started paying attention to small details - the consistency of the size and typeface of the printing on the gauges and switches, for instance. On the 2004, the radio has differently-sized printing and fonts than the gauge cluster or the signal stalks. It made the car feel cheap. Everything was much more uniform on the '05."
"I would have this Sonata over the Camry in a heartbeat. If resale values held even with the Honda, it would be a toss-up to personal preference between that and the Accord."
So, there you have it. Being as close to Philly as I am, I'm wondering how hard it would be to head up to the airport and get one for a weekend for myself...
How'd he do it? Well, simple: he rented a car from Dollar out of Phila CENSOREDa Airport. Confused? My friend (who knows cars, and has worked for Chrysler) was, too, but only for a moment. He suspects Hyundai's running prototype NFs in rental car fleets the same way Chrysler ran prototype NS minivans five months before the introduction. According to him, "...the general public found ways to break things that engineers never thought possible."
He's not a Hyundai fan by any means, BTW. With that in mind, here's some of his thoughts:
"It was nice, but... The seat, for me, was a backbuster. During the drive from PA to Jersey, I was not comfortable. Handling was, I would say, comparable to my Accord LX. Not nearly as flaccid as the '04 Sonata V6 a friend of mine has. The sportshift feature worked very well - upshifts were done in less than a second after I moved the gearshift. It had a V6, though I have no idea what the displacement is. At idle and at cruise it is *extremely* quiet, but not at WOT."
"Power-wise, I'd say it's like comparable to a V6 Camry. Quick off the line, great midrange and passing power at highway speeds. The V6 Altima would eat its lunch, however."
"I noticed that Hyundai started paying attention to small details - the consistency of the size and typeface of the printing on the gauges and switches, for instance. On the 2004, the radio has differently-sized printing and fonts than the gauge cluster or the signal stalks. It made the car feel cheap. Everything was much more uniform on the '05."
"I would have this Sonata over the Camry in a heartbeat. If resale values held even with the Honda, it would be a toss-up to personal preference between that and the Accord."
So, there you have it. Being as close to Philly as I am, I'm wondering how hard it would be to head up to the airport and get one for a weekend for myself...
