Hyundai Sonata: The Best $25,000 Family Sedan in America

Source: Hyundaiinthenews.com

It’s simple math. Cars.com took eight of the country’s top family sedans, six auto journalists from the likes of USA Today and PBS’ “MotorWeek,” one actual family (two parents, two kids) and three days’ of driving to come up with the one best car you can buy for $25,000 or less. And that one car? None other than the 2011 Hyundai Sonata.

Every car was judged in 10 different categories, with each worth 10 points, for an overall available score of 1,000 points. The Sonata took home honors with 794 points, easily outdistancing the runner Toyota Camry by 42 points.

According to Cars.com auto expert David Thomas, also among those evaluating the vehicles, the Sonata won the “$25,000 Family Sedan Shootout,” for three reasons: “Value, value, value. $22,745 for navigation and all the other goodies in such an attractive wrapper. None of the competitors came close.”

And as far as what kind of competition the Sonata faced, other cars in the Shootout (in addition to the Camry) included the Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Malibu, Nissan Altima and Honda Accord.

It all adds up to yet another impressive award for Hyundai’s best-selling sedan, and with two new models on the way, it’s likely those honors will continue to multiply.

Beginning later this year, the Sonata will be available with Hyundai’s latest Theta II four-cylinder engine, a turbocharged gasoline direct-injection mill that turns 2.0 liters of displacement into 274 horses and 269 lb-ft of twist—and an EPA-estimated 34 mpg highway. That’s more power than most competitors’ V6s and better fuel efficiency than their I4s.

The Sonata also will debut Hyundai’s first hybrid powertrain this fall. Using a proprietary full-parallel hybrid architecture and the industry’s first application of lithium polymer battery technology, the Sonata hybrid will deliver 39 mpg highway and 37 mpg city. Those estimated EPA ratings reflect an industry-first strategy driven by government research. According to Hyundai, new studies show that U.S. drivers spend almost 60 percent of their time on highway-type driving, so the Sonata hybrid is tuned to provide best-in-class highway fuel efficiency on top of its stellar city numbers.

“Sonata was built to raise the bar in the midsize sedan category by integrating modern design and tremendous fuel economy into Hyundai’s value equation,” said Scott Margason, director, Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America. “Winning the Cars.com Family Sedan Shootout against the traditional volume leaders validates that Sonata hit the mark, and is poised to change consumers’ expectations in this competitive segment.”

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