내는 모른다. 니는 아나? 2 번째 빠따

[김유철]

The Australian 8월 15일 자에 실린 글이다. 칼라 사진과 함께 지면 하나를 도배한 기사였다.

Hyundai Sonata V6

August 17, 2005

If you are shopping Japanese, this Korean marque is worth a look, writes Philip King

COMMONSENSE should tell you that driving under the influence of alcohol is dangerous, but there's a law against it just in case. For your protection and mine. We're unsure of the legal position, but buying a car under the influence of alcohol doesn't make much sense either. Judgment clouded, what looks like a great deal might have more strings than a Thunderbirds remake.

At the launch of the Hyundai Sonata in June, local boss B.G. Lee mixed a heady cocktail for journalists high on hospitality: would anybody like a Sonata half-price?

In the cold light of the next day sobriety reasserted itself and – without being present at the dinner – The Australian prefers to think few would have drunk from such a poisoned chalice. The dollar cost might be halved, but the cost to conscience would be immeasurable.

All the fuss about those revelations highlights one question, though – could buying a Sonata be a sober decision?

Hyundai Sonata V6

Comment: One of the cheapest V6s on sale offers excellent value. Smart, reasonably roomy design, capable drivetrain and tidy road manners make a persuasive case, especially against some older rivals. Bags of safety . . . impressive six count comes standard.

Price: $29,990

Warranty: 5 years/130,000km

Engine: 3.3-litre V6

Power/Torque: 173kW/304Nm

Transmission: Front-drive, five-speed auto only

Seats/Weight: Five/1580kg (tare)

Fuel tank/type: 70 litres/regular unleaded

Litres/100km: 10.1 combined

0-100km/h: N/A

Turning circle: 10.92m

Airbags/ABS: Six/Yes

Generally speaking, Korean cars have struggled on the lower rungs of the allure ladder for us, but Hyundai has shown signs that it's not afraid of heights. At the Korean motor show in Seoul in April, Hyundai executives said it would aim to be number one for quality, abandoning purely volume goals. Other Korean names, such as LG and Samsung in electrical goods, have begun the long haul to brand credibility. For some time, Hyundai has been trying to persuade us that it can do the same.

While it still has some way to go before it knocks Toyota off its perch, the Sonata is clearly a step in the right direction.

Start with its design. For us, this is the first Korean mid-size car worth a second look. Derivative, yes. Compare the rear lights with a Honda Accord V6, for just one example. But Korean designs have always followed rather than led, and few have succeeded. The Sonata looks smart, appealing and well-proportioned. It's no mean trick.

The Sonata comes as either a 2.4-litre four-cylinder or 3.3-litre V6, with the same mechanicals elsewhere. Both are new, all-alloy units and buyers are expected to split 50:50 between the two, with a strong preference for automatic transmissions – four-speed in the 2.4, five in the 3.3. We sampled the five-speed manual 2.4 but spent most time in the auto-only V6.

Standard equipment across the range includes airconditioning, remote central locking and alarm, 60-40 split-fold rear seat, cruise control, power windows, CD stereo, steering wheel controls and front foglights.

However, the Sonata gets the biggest tick for a high level of safety kit on all models. Six-airbags, active front headrests and disk brakes with ABS are standard. There are three child-seat anchor points and pretensioners on front seatbelts. Perhaps stability and traction control should not be limited to the V6. But it's still an impressive list.

Particularly for the money: at $29,990, the Sonata is the best value V6 on the market bar the soon-to-be-superceded Kia Optima, from Hyundai's sibling brand. Four-cylinders start at $25,490, with auto another $1500.

An Elite trim level, which adds leather seats, power driver's seat, climate aircon, rear parking radar and 17-inch alloys instead of 16-inch steels, costs $4500 extra.

The cabin strives for an aura of quality with dark tones for door and dash tops, light below. It achieves an airiness to the interior although the plastics are two-tone in quality as well as colour, with the light-toned stuff too hard and lacking tactile appeal.

Switchgear plastics are also of mixed quality but the layout is logical, if sparse. The same can be said for the instruments.

Despite steeply raked glass front and rear, visibility is good and the right driving position easy to find, even with the imprecise ratchet lever for backrest adjustment. The seat cushion is a little flat with token side support, but comfortable. The cabin line does compromise rear seat headroom a little but ample legroom will be some compensation. The boot, with struts for the lid instead of hinges, offers a useful 462 litres and the cabin isn't short of oddment spots.

Most impressive is a high level of cruising refinement for this price, with rolling noise from the tyres and suspension bumps well muted. One factor here is the low-rev cruising speed of the V6, which maintains 100km/h at a relaxed 1900rpm.

With 173kW of power and 304Nm of torque, it pulls well and its mid-pitch whirr turns to mild growl under load. It may not be the creamiest V6 we've sampled, but it's a long way from skimmed milk.

We could not match Hyundai's fuel economy figures, though – ours ended up the wrong side of 12 litres per 100km.

The transmission offers a pseudo-manual mode via the shifter, and while you'll seldom notice it going about its business left in D, you'll be frustrated by its tiptronic behaviour. The software changes up well before the redline and will not accept downshifts below about 3250rpm. The manual, only in the 2.4, surprised with a positive shift action that is pleasing to use. The four-cylinder needs a few more revs to perform at its best, but it's a good honest unit with 118kW and 219Nm.

The four-cylinder gets smaller brakes to go with its lower output, and we preferred the larger diameter in the V6. In both, the pedal allows nicely progressive application of pads to disks. Unlike some rivals, the Sonata has few pretensions of sportiness but there's a likeable tidiness to its road manners. A suspension set-up on the firm side feels like it could handle a more aggressive wheel-tyre combination than the 16-inch steels with 215/60 Hankooks on the V6 we drove. In quick tight corners, those tallish-wall tyres soon give up trying to go in the direction the wheels are pointing. The (unsampled) 17-inch alloys and 225/50 Dunlop Sport rubber of the Elite package should make a difference.

The 16-inch tyres probably helped cushion some of Sydney's more canyon-like potholes, as some jolting comes through to the cabin, shuffling occupants and occasionally juddering the wheel. There's just enough compliance for this never to be annoying and overall, the ride quality feels a notch above the car's price.

Most of the car has that on its side, in fact, and on that basis the Sonata deserves a test drive if you're shopping for some of its better regarded Japanese rivals.

And no, we haven't been drinking.

[조한선]

아버님은 워쩌시냐? 환절기로 넘어가믄 조심하여야 할틴데---

[조한선]

아참 글구 며느리도 잘있재?

[김유철]

걱정해줘서 고맙다. 조금 나아지신 모양인데, 퇴원하시기도 그렇고... 아무튼 어정쩡한 상태라고 한다. 이번 9월 말 방학 때 한국을 방문하려고 한다. 그 때 친구들 만나 볼 수 있으면 좋겠구나. 그리고 딸네미 사진 두 장 올렸다.

[조한선]

와우! 닥터 꼬 귀국환영위원회를 꾸리가씀니다