2021 Hyundai Sonata N Line long-term review: Around town
As Melbourne emerges from lockdown, the last few weeks have been all about getting to know the Sonata N Line in 5km increments.
- Smooth and quirk-free dual-clutch auto
- Slick multi-view 360-degree cameras
- Nimble enough to handle tight inner-city streets
- Occasional park sensor false alarms
- Fake engine noise a bit silly around town
- Brake hold function hasn’t won me over
Spring has sprung, and for Sydney and Melbourne, the tide has turned on COVID restrictions, with the ability to go more places, visit venues, and catch up with friends.
Before we move on, though, Melbourne’s sixth lockdown provided a decent opportunity to get to know the 2021 Hyundai Sonata N Line in fine detail on short trips.
Summer will see bigger distances and better roads tackled. The sad reality for me (and most of us) is that even with restrictions lifted, there’s still going to be plenty of trips to the shops, designated driver shuttling of friends and family, and the ever-delightful grind to and from the office.
So – what’s a fairly large sedan, with a potentially potent engine under the bonnet, like shuffling to Woolies and back?
Well, in short, it’s very good.
Getting the first potential sticking-point out of the way, let’s have a look at how the Sonata’s eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission behaves.
In the past dual-clutch autos haven’t always delighted with their low-speed behaviours. Balancing the delicate act of finding a clutch bite point (something the car does, not the driver) while making slow, steady progress could, historically, catch a DCT out.
I’ve even pointed a finger at variants of this same eight-speed auto in the Hyundai Santa Fe diesel. In the SUV application, there’s some creep-hesitancy, and starting off on an incline can leave the transmission struggling to gather itself in a forwards or backwards direction for an uncomfortable moment or two.
Perhaps because of the Sonata’s slightly different powertrain, though more likely through control software differences, the Sonata seems to have mastered the art of behaving more like a traditional torque converter automatic.
It can roll smoothly forward as you let off the brake, instead of the clumsy stumble forward of older DCTs. It’s even possible to trail the brake and have the car pull itself slowly forward. A simple act that has flummoxed the control software of dual-clutch autos in the past.
There have been a few occasions where, when parked nose to kerb, the Sonata has been slow to reverse away. It doesn’t roll forward but rather holds itself in place, with revs, not brake hold.
Perhaps not a negative trait, but when it does everything else so well this tends to stand out. Push the accelerator harder than you think you need to, and the car will slowly back up – not surge its way out, so it’s still controllable, just a little awkward.
From there, it’s very much a case of business as usual. Once you’re underway, the Sonata drives like a medium-to-large sedan should. Power builds progressively, so it’s not a case of carefully metering the available 213kW and 422Nm.
It’s possible to be sedate and gentle around town, easy to roll along with treacle-like traffic flow, and no sweat to shuffle along with changing conditions. Should you need to drop the hammer and squeeze into a merging lane, or fire up a freeway exit ramp, there’s grunt in reserve to do just that.
The N Line isn’t one-dimensional in its performance, so it carries enough authority to perform if you need, but can lope along sedately if preferred.
The Sonata N Line’s three drive modes, Normal, Sport and Sport+, basically work out to what a regular car might call Eco, Normal and Sport.
The Hyundai defaults to Normal each time the push-button start is cycled, and for most of the running around town it doesn’t feel like it’s holding power or performance aside, but the accelerator response and transmission are relaxed enough for smooth progress.
| Key details | 2021 Hyundai Sonata N Line |
| Engine configuration | Four-cylinder turbo petrol |
| Displacement | 2.5-litre (2497cc) |
| Power | 213kW at 5800rpm |
| Torque | 422Nm at 1650-4000rpm |
| Transmission | Eight-speed dual-clutch automatic |
| Drive type | Front-wheel drive |
| Weight | 1636kg (kerb) |
| Power to weight ratio | 130.2kW/t |
| Fuel consumption (urban, claim) | 11.5L/100km |
| Fuel consumption (urban, on test) | 12.4L/100km |
| Fuel tank size | 60L |
| Estimated range | 741km |
| Sales category | Medium car |
| Key competitors | Toyota Camry | Skoda Octavia | Mazda 6 |
Although not strictly necessary, Sport mode sharpens responsiveness a little. Still liveable, but handy if you want a little more immediate reaction times to driver inputs.
There’s a Custom mode, too, to mix and match the steering, pedal response and transmission settings to your liking.
The other side of inner-urban living is manoeuverability. Can you get in and out of tight spaces, can you sneak through narrow laneways, is that tight turn out of your driveway going to be an effort?
Here’s my acid test: if I want to park in front of my house, there’s a little U-turn point at the end of my street around a traffic island to point me in the right direction. There’s often through-traffic running perpendicular at the top of my street, so being able to make it around in one swing is a win.
The Sonata with its 11.4m turning circle is able to make it around in one go. Something like a 12m-turning Camry takes a turn-reverse-turn movement. Not always pleasant with a fleet of impatient food delivery scooters bearing down on you.
I’m now also pretty adept at reaching down to the centre console and flicking on the 360-degree camera view as I edge towards a parking space. Yes, at low speeds the camera will auto-activate when the park sensors detect something, or when you select reverse, but a quick tap of the button can preload the visual feed before you reach the tricky bits.
This means that even if you’re the first to arrive at a row of spaces, or if the painted lines are a little worse for wear, you can perfectly centre yourself within a bay like a pro.
Fuel Consumption – brought to you by bp
| Fuel Usage | Fuel Stats |
| Fuel cons. (claimed urban) | 11.5L/100km |
| Fuel cons. (on test urban) | 12.4L/100km |
| Fuel type (minimum) | 91 Octane |
| Fuel tank size | 60L |
The multi-mode camera shortcuts also allow for a swift change between surround-view, targeted front and rear cameras, or car-side views, to keep the 19-inch wheels clear of gutters. The art of rockstar parking just got a whole lot easier.
There’s no automated self-parking mode, but given the clear view the car provides, I’m not sure it would be needed.
Fuel consumption is an important around-town detail. Hyundai suggests the Sonata should use 11.5L/100km in purely urban conditions. Depending on the severity of traffic, the short trip indication usually sits between 12-14L/100km and has settled at 12.4L/100km in all-city use.
That’s not miles off Hyundai’s claim, and I’m prepared to give it some grace given how large and powerful it is. It’s also a hard sell when Australia’s most popular mid-sizer, the Toyota Camry Hybrid, can run on less than half that – albeit with a resulting dip in performance.
The Sonata misses out on fuel-saving features like start-stop to switch the engine off when stopped at traffic lights. The irony perhaps being that it’s smoother and easier to live with as a result.
What about the functions or features I haven’t used?
While these may be useful for some, I’m not sure they’ll suit all.
The first is the auto hold function. This keeps brake pressure applied after you come to a complete stop, meaning the car won’t creep forward when you take your foot off the brake until you press the accelerator pedal.
For me, I don’t see much use, and while it’s hardly clumsy, the way brake hold releases and the car starts off isn’t as natural as going through the motions yourself. It also makes trying to manage low-speed multi-point parking a bit of a chore – but the button is within easy reach so it’s easy to toggle on and off.
The other around-town feature that wore thin pretty quickly is the Sonata’s Active Sound Design (ASD), which pumps augmented engine noise through the speakers. I mean, I get it – it gives the illusion the car is a little bit sporty or special without disrupting the neighbourhood – but it’s just a bit much for around town.
There are four settings for the ASD system, essentially high, normal, low and off. After a day or two on the lowest setting, I couldn’t deal with the awkward aural signature and deactivated the function.
Maybe I’ll revisit it again out of town on some more involving roads. Around town, though, it seems to rise and fall in volume out of step with the driver’s inputs and comes across a bit odd.
I’ve also discovered the car has a peak-hour ghost. It’s something that occurs in cars from time to time, and isn’t isolated to the Sonata, but the parking sensors occasionally detect something that isn’t there. Usually while stopped at a traffic light.
The park sensor system will be tripped, and not by anything near the car. Not people or animals, leaves or debris. Just at random. While it’s not a deal-breaker, it is a bit of a mild annoyance.
The Sonata’s poltergeist likes to stand at the left front corner of the car. It can be while the car is dirty or clean, on hot days or cold, so I’m not too sure what it might take to pinpoint the issue. Other than that, the front and rear park sensors do function correctly when I’m actually parking, so are certainly still useful.
Given the state of some of the roads in my area, ride quality matters. There are tarmac repairs in patches, missing repairs in others, and a few spots where utility access covers have sunk deep into layer upon layer of hotmix.
Don’t even get me started on the speed humps that have speed humps on top of them.
You get a sporty feel from the ride. It’s quite settled without being too rough and handles the frustrations like speed control measures and patchy road surfaces pretty well. Those sunken access covers I mentioned do tend to upset just about any car they meet, and the Sonata is no exception.
It’s a little abrupt on those sharp-edged hits, and feeds a bit of harshness into the cabin, but not in any way that’s outside of expectations. Add in an extra passenger or two, and control over those rough hits does improve, just a smidge.
Admittedly, tight inner-city suburban confines probably aren’t the natural hunting ground of the big sedan – although as the constant stream of large SUVs that live nearby have proven, there’s seemly no limit of cramming big cars into small spaces.
I’ve found the Sonata to be a pretty good fit for city life. Easy to navigate where space is at a premium, and easy to saunter about in when traffic won’t allow for anything else – all without scrimping on interior space, comfort or features (and I’ll go into these in more detail in a later update).
As always, if there’s anything about the Sonata N Line you’d like to know, ask a question or share your thoughts in the comments below.
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