Rental Wonder: 2006 Hyundai Sonata

This week I happened upon renting a new Hyundai Sonata. Sure, you’ve seen the BMW-esque commercials with the silver car revving and cornering up a mountain road. Subtitle: 235 HP. Too bad it’s not rear-wheel.

From the standpoint of trying to push rentals on a weekly basis (with my own and the general public’s safety a top priority of course), this vehicle stands out as an exception from the average rental car fleet.

The standard road tests include:

• Power shifting – from neutral at standstill
• Power shifting – from neutral while rolling (various speeds and gears)
• Redline test
• Power brake test – slides at speed
• Drifting– usually wide cloverleaf exit ramps without edges
• 0-60 test
• Hard start – no power shift on dry pavement

Basic stats hold true- 235 horsepower from an overhead cam V-6 and a ‘poor man’s tectronic’ shifting system to boot. The look of the car is not bad; in fact today I got ‘the nod’ from a rice-burner. Could be the power of advertising.

Advantages:

• No-rev limiter, at least up to red-line RPM at 7000
• Ignition-kill does not kick in if you do a moving power shift.
• Parking brake – strong rear-brake is strong enough for power slides
• Horsepower-weight ratio is great. Hyundai makes a lightweight car.
• The ‘poor man’s tectronic’ is great. It’s a little clunky, but at least lets you run up to redline in each gear.
• Enough torque to break loose in 1^st in dry conditions
• The suspension is tight enough to do hard cornering without ‘nose-diving’ or unpredicted weight shifts;
• Drink holder in the rear-center arm-rest; bling bling
• Bodywork is tight- consistent edges and clearances all around

Disadvantages:

• Front-wheel drive limits any and potential of drifting this baby. If otherwise, this would be a true drifting machine.
• Ignition-kill sets in if you do a power shift from a standstill, like most rentals these days
• The center-console is over-designed

In sum...

Usually any rental fleet mid-size with 200+ HP is a death wish, but the Sonata actually has good gearing, balance, and suspension that add up to a predictably fun ride. This car puts comparable ‘mid-size’ rental fleet performers to shame.