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Hyundai Sonata 6 cylinders or 4?

73 messages,  Last post on Jul 27, 2009 at 4:56 AM

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#68 of 73 Re: 4 cyl or 6 cyl [newowner10] by dave868 Dec 15, 2008 (9:00 pm)
Replying to: newowner10 (Dec 15, 2008 10:25 am) "Are you related to the kids with the free-flow muffler who thing that the muffler makes a 4 cylinder Honda Accord a race car."   No, I am not a goofball "boy racer" with the coffee can mufflers that think if the car sounds fast, it is fast. I am a 40 year old father of 3. And drive pretty conservately. Believe me, I was all set to buy the "sensible" 4 cyl Sonata. Gone are the days of BMW's and Infinitis But then I drove the 4 cyl Sonata. And I proved what I always believed, cars should have an engine that appropriately sized. A 4 cyl in a Civic, Corolla or Elantra makes perfect sense. Anything more would be silly, fun maybe, but silly. However a 4 cyl engine in a Camry or Sonata is fools economy. Unless you feather foot it and cruise at a steady 60 mph, you are overstressing the engine. Big cars with small engines is false economy   "You are stating that a V6 is more efficient than an I4."   Not blanketly. But if the car is too big for the engine, yes. Engines have sweet spots. If you are forced to operate an engine too hard too often, it is less efficient. It also experiences greater wear and produces more polution. Compare the 4 cyl to the V6. The V6 produces 48% more horsepower, yet the 4 cyl only gets 15% greater MPG (according to the EPA, I contend real world numbers are closer still) Even so, I think that gives credence to the V6 being more efficient.   "12 seconds then you will be going pretty fast (70)"   Ouch 12 seconds to 70? And how many feet?. Many (most) of the merging lanes in my area are 75 feet or less preceeded by a tight radius 160 degree turn. So you have to accelerate from about10 mph to 65+ in 75 feet. Underpowered cars are a major source of accidents in this scenario.   If you are happy with your 4 cyl Sonata then God Bless. Maybe your driving needs allow for efficient use of the 4. However I am confident that had I bought the 4 cyl Sonata I would have been annoyed every time I drove it, and not realized any mileage benefit. Replies to this message: newowner10 (Dec 16, 2008 7:44 am) bhmr59 (Dec 16, 2008 11:44 am) billward (Jul 27, 2009 4:56 am)
#69 of 73 Re: 4 cyl or 6 cyl [dave868] by newowner10 Dec 16, 2008 (7:44 am)
Replying to: dave868 (Dec 15, 2008 9:00 pm) I actually agree with you on many of your points. I test drove other cars (Accord, Milan, Legacy) with the 4 cylinder and I decide I would need the 6 cylinder but for some reason when I drove the Sonata with the I4 it appeared to have adequate power. I never drove the V6 Sonata due to the I4 having the power level I could live with. The Sonata is the first 4 cylinder car I have owed in 20 years. I have the basic I4 GLS with Automatic and my goal was to purchase a car I could afford to wear out in 5 years. Thank you for your thoughts.
#70 of 73 by i360 Dec 16, 2008 (9:36 am)
Generally I would understand your point of underpowered engines in larger cars but I don't feel this is the case. If I drive 60mph for an extended period I can get up to 38mpg which would not be the case if it couldn't handle it. While the i4 does make some noise from take off if floored, once your in 3rd and moving along, the engine noise is gone. Well it is on mine but I own it and have driven it alot more then your test drive. It can cruise at posted limit speeds at 1,500-2,000 rpm which results in a quieter engine. So again, unless I punch it at a stop light its generally quiet. I've owned it for three months and in my section of the world I have to share the road with some of the worst drivers in the US, who tend to drive alot over the posted limits and have not had an issue with speed, handling or evasive menuveurs. I just dont want people to stumble into this thread thinking the i4 is a hatchback Civic, it's not. In fact I dusted one the other night before he knew what was happening. Normally I don't race my cars, but this guy was annoying and fit the description posted above.
#71 of 73 Re: 4 cyl or 6 cyl [dave868] by bhmr59 Dec 16, 2008 (11:44 am)
Replying to: dave868 (Dec 15, 2008 9:00 pm) The 2.7L V-6 in my '05 Sonata has 170 HP, 181 torque and the car weighs 3254. The '09 4 cyl Sonata has 175 HP, 168 torque and the car weight 3327. The '09 has a little more horse, a little less torque and weight about 70 lbs more. Acceleration should be similar, with the '05 6-cyl maybe having slightly faster acceleration.   Also, you are probably underestimating the length of your acceleration lanes. Replies to this message: billward (Jul 27, 2009 4:56 am)
#72 of 73 Traded in 2007 Santa Fe with 3.3 liter 6 for 4 Cylinder Hyundai Sonata by sduff68 Jul 26, 2009 (6:11 pm)
I traded in a 3.3 liter Santa Fe for a 4 Cylinder Hyundai Sonata Limited.   Though they are two different vehicles, the V6 in the Santa Fe still has the same characteristics as the V6 in the Sonata. Plenty powerful, but slow to downshift when trying to pass or accelerate from a stop; however when it downshifted you got a nice torque rush pushing you into your seat.   When I test drove the 4 Cylinder Limited I did not even drive the the V6 because I knew I would like it better. The primarily thing I miss about the V6 now that I have been driving my Sonata for over one month now is the smoothness and the torque of the 6. The 4 cylinder has NO torque and even on dry pavement with the ESC turned of you can't chirp the tires.   The Lambda V6 just oozed class and luxury even if it wasn't the fastest engine in it's class. The 4 cylinder is pretty quiet for a 4 but it isn't in the same class as the 6 and it kind of hurts the "almost" near luxury appearance and feel of the Sonata.
#73 of 73 Re: 4 cyl or 6 cyl [bhmr59] by billward Jul 27, 2009 (4:56 am)
Replying to: bhmr59 (Dec 16, 2008 11:44 am) Even though this is now an old conversation, I'll chirp in.   I have a 2003 Sonata GLS V6 4-Speed Automatic (which was the 2003 equivalent to the 2009 SE). I also have a 2009 Sonata GLS I4 5-Speed Automatic. Of the two....   The 2003 has 113K miles on it and get 23/30 City/Highway in our driving. The 2009 has 5K miles on it and gets 26/33 City/Highway in our driving. Note that the 2009 has not hit the 20K mark where it will be fully loosened up and getting optimal mileage; we also put 1400 miles on it in the first 10 days of ownership, as we had two emergency trips on consecutive weekends to due to a death in the family, the death 240 miles away, the funeral 500 miles away.   The 2003 is slightly smoother, I think, in hard accelleration than the 2009...and I mean HARD acceleration, as I drive cars hard. The 2009 is the first 4 Cylinder I've bought since 1982, by the way, and I stopped driving that to buy my Baby IROC Camaro in 1989 (5.0 V8). Even THEN, the old Pontiac (the 4 Cylinder I bought in 1982, which was a 1980 model) had 105 HP on a 2100lb car, VERY sporty for the era.   OTOH, when my wife is driving the 2009 and I'm driving the 2003 (we sometime meet somewhere after work, and then drive home later in the evening) I've noticed that while I CAN leave the 2009 behind, I'm certainly not dusting it, and I'm pushing the car hard.... and if I'm behind my wife when she takes off at a stoplight, I have to rev fairly high on the 2003 to keep up.   I've driven the newer v6 extensively ( a couple of long term rentals, one a 2007, one a 2008) and was prepared to buy the v6 if the wife wanted the extra power... but from my perspective, I would have salivated over the v6 back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Now, the 4 has almost as much HP and oomph as my old Camaro, one of the last of the classic musclecars. My wife took one of the I4s for a test drive on the interstate, gave the I4 some gas, and smiled. That's when I knew we would get an I4.   I mean, I drive hard... even our MINIVAN is a "Sport" minivan, with a High Power v6, sport suspension, and sport tuning (a Crysler Rallye v6 short; would definitely qualify for CARS if we had waited!). The I4 is a good car.

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