2010 New York: 2011 Hyundai Sonata

MotorTrend

Motor Trend Detroit Editor Todd Lassa talks about the new 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Turbo

Transcript

00:00 Okay, we're here with Scott Marguson, the Director of Product Planning for Hyundai Motor

00:10 America.

00:11 Now, this is the new Hyundai Sonata.

00:13 We've seen it on the streets already with the base four-cylinder engine.

00:17 Cars in this category typically usually have a four-cylinder and a V6 option.

00:22 Not this car.

00:23 Why not?

00:24 What we decided to do was to replace the V6 with a new 2-liter turbocharged engine.

00:30 So it's a gasoline direct injection engine.

00:32 It has 274 horsepower, but yet has 34 miles per gallon on the highway.

00:38 So more power than a V6, but with as much fuel economy as a typical base four-cylinder

00:45 engine.

00:46 Okay, and so you mentioned 274 horsepower.

00:48 How does that compare in the class?

00:50 It actually is better than all the competitive V6s, but yet because it's an efficient four-cylinder

00:56 turbo, it gets 34 miles per gallon on the highway, which is as good as any four-cylinder

01:02 competitor.

01:04 So you get V6 power with four-cylinder fuel economy.

01:08 And what's the city mileage number on that?

01:10 City mileage is 22, so that matches our base 2.4-liter Sonata.

01:16 So you get 2235 in the base car with 200 horsepower.

01:20 In the 2.0T, you move all the way up to 274 horsepower.

01:24 Same 22 city and just a slight decrease to 34 highway.

01:28 Well, this certainly is a sign of things to come.

01:31 Let's take a look at another one of your cars that predicts the future, the new Hyundai

01:36 Sonata Hybrid.

01:38 Tell me what kind of power train this has.

01:41 This is a full parallel hybrid system.

01:43 So it has a 2.4-liter gasoline engine and then a 30-kilowatt electric motor.

01:50 Those two together produce about 209 horsepower.

01:55 The electric motor is powered by lithium polymer batteries.

01:59 This technology leapfrogs the current in-market nickel metal hydride batteries and is also

02:05 superior to the lithium ion batteries that are going to be coming out in the future as

02:09 well.

02:10 With lithium polymer batteries, you get a much denser energy capacity.

02:16 They're more reliable.

02:17 They're easier to package.

02:20 They also run cooler, have a lot of other advantages.

02:23 So a lot of state-of-the-art equipment in this new Sonata Hybrid.

02:28 How fast can you go on pure electric with this car?

02:31 Sonata Hybrid is unique in that it actually can go up to 62 miles per hour in pure electric

02:36 mode.

02:37 That's pretty impressive.

02:38 And what are the EPA numbers on it?

02:40 The EPA numbers are 37 in the city and 39 in the highway.

02:45 That highway number is what's really unique.

02:47 Most hybrids are appealing because of their great fuel economy, but one of the reasons

02:54 they're appealing is if you drive a lot of miles.

02:56 But yet, where hybrids are typically good is in the city, but if you really drive a

03:02 lot of miles, typically that's going to be a lot of highway miles.

03:05 So with the Sonata Hybrid, we wanted to balance the city and highway fuel economy numbers.

03:11 So we have this very high class-leading 39 MPG highway figure, as well as a strong 37

03:18 mile per gallon in the city.

03:20 Okay, Scott, we've seen the new Hyundai Sonata Turbo and the new Hyundai Sonata Hybrid.

03:25 Are you talking price on either of these yet?

03:27 On the Hybrid, that vehicle is not going to go into the market until right at the end

03:31 of the year.

03:32 So we'll announce pricing at that time.

03:35 On the Sonata Turbo, the Sonata 2.0T, we have announced that it will start under $25,000.

03:43 A typical Hyundai value.

03:44 A typical Hyundai value, absolutely.

03:46 Scott, thank you very much.

03:47 Thanks, Todd.

03:48 Thanks, Todd.

03:50 Thanks, Todd.

03:51 (upbeat music)

03:54 (whooshing)

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