2020 Hyundai Sonata Review

[MUSIC PLAYING] CARLOS: The Honda Accord has long been our favorite family sedan. It's spacious, smart, and nice to drive. It even won our best sedan award two years in a row. SPEAKER: If anything is going to challenge it, it would be the 2020 Hyundai Sonata. It's entirely new and packed with usable features. Mostly usable. CARLOS: We've spent a lot of time evaluating these vehicles. We've done performance testing, static measurements. We've even taken them on our standardized road test loop. We've also lived with the cars, and commuted in rush hour, and ran all the family errands. SPEAKER: All of that sounds pretty thorough, so which one should you buy? CARLOS: That's what we're going to tell you in this video. But before we do, make sure you hit subscribe and visit Edmunds.com to find your perfect car. [MUSIC PLAYING] Yeah, these cars aren't evenly matched with regard to pricing and powertrain. But with that in mind, remember we've tested every variety of Accord over the past few years. We even had a 2018 as a long-term test car. So think of this red touring as a representative of our experience. SPEAKER: Mid-sized sedans have a reputation for being boring, but both the Sonata and the Accord are clearly making efforts design-wise. Now, it's pretty difficult to say which one has the best design because that is so subjective. But I think we can tell you which one has the most design. Carlos, do you have a giant grill? CARLOS: I have a chrome unibrow. SPEAKER: Not as good. Do you have light-up chrome strips? CARLOS: I have chrome, but they don't light up. SPEAKER: I'm taking that point. What about a full chrome greenhouse surround? CARLOS: Partial chrome? SPEAKER: Chrome door handles? CARLOS: Again, partial chrome. SPEAKER: Do you have speed nubbings on the tail lights? CARLOS: Are those fake vortex generators? SPEAKER: Do I look like an aerodynamicist? CARLOS: No, I don't have speed nubbings. SPEAKER: How cool is your hidden trunk release? CARLOS: Uh, not as cool, and my trunk's a little flaccid. SPEAKER: I think it's fair to say that these Sonata wins for most style. Whether you like it or not is up to you. CARLOS: Obviously the interior of a midsize sedan should be functional answer of the duties of a family commuter or both. But because you'll be spending a lot of time inside, it should make you feel good, too. SPEAKER: Based on specs, the interior dimensions are similar, but the Sonata has a few small advantages. It appears to favor the front seats more, especially with regard to leg room. The Sonata is currently telling me that my attention level is high, I think. I don't know. Also, it's saying that it's sunny, which is something I could have figured out by looking out the window. CARLOS: I think so, yeah. Yeah. SPEAKER: What do you think of the interior in the Sonata? CARLOS: I think this design is really strong, but it's ultimately let down by the materials. Like, the layout's really cool, and modern, and pleasant. But then you look at some of the materials they used to put it all together and the way it's kind of assembled, and it just doesn't match the design. The dash material right here and some of the gaps just aren't as uniform or as pleasant as they are in the Accord. SPEAKER: Yeah, I can't argue with that. I like the way that they laid out, like, these door handles that are insert in the door, like a 911 or something. And this is kind of cool and Star-Trekky. But you would never have this much hard black plastic in a real luxury car. CARLOS: Piano black trim across all cars-- this goes for luxury cars, too-- is the worst. It looks great when it's clean. But as soon as I put my gross oily hands on the shifter area, which I would do because I'm shifting while driving the car, look. Now, it's covered with my gross oil hand oil. SPEAKER: That is so gross. CARLOS: And now, you have to touch that. SPEAKER: I'm not touching. [LAUGHTER] CARLOS: OK. But design aside, the Sonata actually does some really nice things with storage, like this front cubby, right? SPEAKER: The cubby is so much better than the one in the Honda. And I'm actually very surprised to ever let a Honda lose in terms of small storage, because they normally do such a good job. But this cubby has more options for more different size phones. You could put things that aren't phones there. You can see what's there and reach it while you're driving without having to dig inside. And all of that cleverness applies all the way back, too. This is really nice in the cup holder. CARLOS: Yeah, yeah. It's really cool that you can have multiple phones in multiple places in the center console and have it not interrupt the functionality, whether you're in the wireless charger, whether you're in the center of the cup holders. Really nice, clever stuff. And then on the right here, I have an additional little cubby that you don't have on that side and the Accord doesn't have it all. And that's really nice just to have more options to put your things. SPEAKER: The other thing about the Sonata has over the Accord is charging ports in the back seat. CARLOS: At least one, yeah. At least one. It doesn't have heated back seats, but I think the power options for rear passengers is more important. And the car seat situation is more traditional, where the anchor points are just sort of wedged in between the seat bottom and the seat cushion. So you do have to reach into them. It's not bad. It's not something to not buy the car over. But just know the Accord pays a little bit more attention to that. SPEAKER: Yeah. I mean, Honda is just really good about thinking about moms and dads, you know, what they might need. CARLOS: Families, yeah. SPEAKER: Families. [LAUGHTER] [MUSIC PLAYING] I cannot reach the dead pedal in this car. CARLOS: And how tall are you with your shoes on? SPEAKER: Like 5'5" with these shoes on. So that's a normal height. I should be able to reach it. And it's, like, two, three inches away from me. So I don't know who their test driver is over at Hyundai, but they are very long-legged. I really like the way that the digital gauge cluster looks, even if it does give me information that I don't necessarily need. CARLOS: Like it's sunny? SPEAKER: Yeah, I know. CARLOS: Yeah, thank you. SPEAKER: And I absolutely adore the way that they integrated this into the dash. It just looks so pretty, and it's really easy to use. Even if you've never been in one before, you'll be able to figure it out. CARLOS: This is like 10.3 inches or something. It is the top of the line system in the Sonata, but you can option it on most Sonata trim levels, and it's just nice. It's powerful. It's high-resolution, definitely a higher resolution than the Accord, and it moves more fluidly, too. And it's a little bit easier to use. Not only that, but when you have Android Auto or Apple CarPlay in use, you get the widescreen version of both those systems. And that's a really nice advantage when you have it, because that's the way I'd like to use those systems. SPEAKER: Yeah. There's a lot of little things in the Sonata that make it kind of cool or quirky. CARLOS: Accord's definitely more comfortable, but this has a lot more tech. Before we move on to functionality and all that, let's talk about overall style of the Accord. SPEAKER: OK. I think it's boring, but nice. [LAUGHTER] CARLOS: Well, here's the thing. When I hop in the Accord, I get a very obvious but kind of undefinable sense of quality. And I think that it has to relate to how the interior is assembled, and just sort of the quality of materials. It just seems nicer than most vehicles in this segment. SPEAKER: Yeah. I mean, if I was just looking into each of the vehicles that we have here, I think that the Sonata actually is a cooler interior. But once I get in, this one feels better put together. CARLOS: Yeah. Now, the backseat, you get heated seats in this car, for sure. But no power ports for backseat passengers? SPEAKER: Yeah, it's interesting. When you think about why people might choose a small SUV over a mid-sized sedan, I think that a lot of that has to do with the design of the seats behind the driver. CARLOS: Let's talk about the car seat hook-up. The upper anchor points are easy to find. You have the lower tether anchor points. I think that's the right term. They're kind of by little fabric blankets that you can fold in. And once you do, the anchor points are right there. You don't have to reach your fingers in and squeeze them in between seat cushions. That's a nice little touch on that in the Accord. SPEAKER: Yeah. Then, you don't have to fight your way through year old Cheerios to find the tethers. I think that if you were looking for a more family-friendly car, unsurprisingly, once again, Honda is the way to go. CARLOS: Now, up front, we can talk about the entertainment system, but I think you want to talk about seats, right? SPEAKER: I mean, I want to take a nap, because this is an extremely comfortable seat, and I'm enjoying sitting in it. CARLOS: The Accord has a nicer front seats, for sure. I mean, I've got a 12-way adjustable seat in the driver's seat. I think year is eight-way adjustable. And they are obviously so much more comfortable than the Sonata's. The Sonata's aren't bad. But for long driving, these are the seats I want to be in. And what's nice are these are the seats that you get across most Accord models, too. SPEAKER: Yeah. I think that there's, like, without question, the Accord has more comfortable. Really just across the board, but especially in terms of the seats. CARLOS: Now, the entertainment display, this is the biggest and nicest screen you can get in the Accord. SPEAKER: It's not that big and it's not that nice. [LAUGHTER] CARLOS: It's an adequate screen. Like, it gets the job done. But the upgraded screen in the Sonata, which you can option on most Sonata trim levels, is just not only bigger, but it's nicer to look at and it's nicer to use, too. SPEAKER: Yeah. It's glossy, and it's really clear, and the cameras are really clear, and it doesn't have these little fiddly buttons. CARLOS: The Accord is definitely the more comfortable car and the one that feels more nicely put together. But it does have some key disadvantages with, again, the entertainment display and interior storage. SPEAKER: Yeah It's also just less interesting, you know? Like, it doesn't have neat digital gauges or anything like that. [MUSIC PLAYING] CARLOS: When it comes to performance measurements, we don't really care about outright speed. What we care about is how well you can keep pace with the flow of traction, control your position within traffic and make it up freeway on-ramps. But we can talk about overall drivability, too. SPEAKER: Just for the record, I do care about outright speed. But these things are surprisingly decent. CARLOS: Even for mid-sized sedans. This Accord is significantly faster than the Sonata and more enjoyable to drive because its turbo two-liter engine is simply more powerful than the Sonata's 1.6-liter four-cylinder. We should note, however, that the less expensive and more comparable Accord EXL comes with a 1 and 1/2-liter engine that's closer in performance to the Sonata's. On the other hand, you can option the two-liter turbo engine in the EXL Accord for about the same money as this Sonata Limited. It's a worthwhile upgrade. Also, currently the Sonata isn't available with a more powerful engine. Now, the big difference between the two is definitely ride quality. SPEAKER: It's not even a question. The Accord has so much more comfortable in every way. I mean, we already talked about how the seats are more comfortable. But it's also quieter, and smoother, and just feels more refined in every input. CARLOS: Absolutely. The Sonata's suspension is way more firm, not uncomfortably so. But in that car driving back-to-back with the Accord over the same stretch of road, you certainly noticed bumps and hear bumps in the Sonata that you didn't even notice in the Accord. And that adds to that Accord's overall sense of refinement that the Sonata just doesn't have when it comes to ride quality. And you're right about the noise, too. The Sonata is just louder inside, both wind, tire, and engine noise. SPEAKER: Yeah. I mean, it's not insane or anything, but it's noticeable. One place where the Sonata does have it over the Accord is turning radius, though. On paper, it doesn't look like a whole lot. But it was dramatic on the street. CARLOS: Yeah. I want to say the difference was, like, four or five feet. And that makes the difference on a tight busy street between making a three-point turn, not making the U-turn at all, just not attempting it, or making it like you can in the Sonata. I mean, on the same stretch of road, we could make tighter turns in the Sonata than you can in the Accord, and that's a real plus when you're commuting or running errands. SPEAKER: Definitely a better getaway car, if you're planning on committing some crimes. [LAUGHTER] [MUSIC PLAYING] CARLOS: When you talk about value, you often get into safety features. And the truth is it's pretty much the same between these two. They both have similar features. SPEAKER: Yeah. They pretty much match up feature for feature. I mean, they both have blind spot monitoring and collision mitigation. CARLOS: Adaptive cruise, and so on and so on. SPEAKER: Yeah. CARLOS: But the Sonata does have some advantages when it comes to tech features. A lot of them, though, we've classified as why tech. SPEAKER: Why do you call it why tech? CARLOS: We'll show you. SPEAKER: All right, why tech number one blind spot monitoring cameras in the digital gauges. Oh, look. It's showing me what's behind me in here. Except if I'm turning, I need to be looking over there. So, like, neat trick, Hyundai, but why? Why tech number two, sounds of nature. I mean, I like nature, but don't really need-- [CRUNCHING] --the sound of a snowy village while I'm driving. And even worse-- [WATER RUSHING] --I have to pee. [TRICKLING] Now, I really have to pee. Can we cut? CARLOS: You have the ability to record voice memos in the Sonata. It's nice, but it makes you wonder-- why would I ever use this feature? Smart Park is a neat idea that kind of falls apart in execution. You can drive the car forward and backwards with just the key fob, but it doesn't steer that much. And any parking spot that type is just a place where you're going to get a bunch of door dings. So unless you have a really tight garage, why? We have to point out the Sonata's his biggest feature, and that is warranty coverage. It simply has longer powertrain and basic coverage. SPEAKER: While we're on the topic of features, though, I just kind of want to remind everybody that a nice seat is a feature. A good engine is a feature. Ride quality is a feature. And I think they might be the most important features. CARLOS: Agreed, and that brings us quite nicely to our conclusion. The Sonata has some real advantages on paper. It has great tech features, a really cool surround system. We love the entertainment display and we really like the digital gauge cluster. SPEAKER: The Sonata is more fun, or at least it wants to be more fun. It's doing some kind of cool, silly things. But in the end, it might be more sprinkle than cake. CARLOS: The Accord wins this comparison. And that's because it has priority on the things that matter when you're driving. These are cars. You have to drive them. So we consider more carefully how comfortable the seats are, what the ride quality is like, what it's like from behind the wheel. And while there are some shortcomings versus the Sonata, like the entertainment system and a couple of other things, they don't add up to outweigh the upsides. And that's why the Accord is our best midsize sedan. SPEAKER: Again. [MUSIC PLAYING]