1994 Hyundai Sonata Review (continued)
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Walkaround

Remember when economical really meant cheap looking"? That description may have fit the original Sonata, but not the new one. Exterior styling won't break any new ground, but it has a surprisingly refined look that speaks of a much higher price.

The sloped cowl, raked windshield and under-bumper air scoop suggest Hyundai designers spent some quality time in the wind tunnel. That translates into not only improved fuel economy but also lower wind noise in the passenger compartment.

It took some very picky eyes to find even the slightest flaw in our test Sonata's fit-and-finish-there were only a couple. To most motorists, the quality of the exterior would easily stand alongside some of the better Japanese competitors."

Interior Features

Inside is where manufacturers are most likely to cut corners. So imagine our surprise when we slipped behind the Sonata's wheel to find a pleasantly refined interior. Gauges were well-marked, well-spaced, and easy to read and operate.

The fact is, you spend a lot more time inside your car than you do watching it sit in your garage, so the car's interior needs to please all the senses. That's something Japanese manufacturers have long understood. The original Sonata was a hodgepodge of different and often cheap looking plastics. This time, though, Hyundai has benchmarked the competition. The materials used for the instrument panel, doors and other plastic components looked and felt solid, and all interior surfaces were covered with the same attractive grain pattern.

Fit-and-finish was generally quite good, with a couple of exceptions. The passenger air bag cover didn't fit well, a problem that seems almost endemic in the auto industry. More frustrating, though, was the fact that when our passenger tried to adjust the three-point seat belt anchor, he wound up pulling off its plastic cover.

If safety is one of your big concerns, you'll be pleased to discover that dual air bags are now a standard feature on this car. The Sonata also meets upcoming side-impact protection standards. It comes with an impact-absorbing steering wheel, a reinforced roof for better rollover protection the bumpers are the 5-mph kind. We only wish that an anti-lock braking system (ABS) was also on that list of standard features. ABS is available as an option, though, and the Sonata offers a sophisticated four-channel system, as opposed to the three-channel ABS found on many competitor's cars.

The Sonata's biggest plus? Room, and plenty of it. Even with a pair of six-footers sitting up front, there was more than enough space left for two friends sitting in back. Statistics can often be misleading, but seat-of-thepants research showed that when it came to interior space, the Sonata compared favorably with almost all of its competition.

It's too bad the seats didn't live up to our expectations. They looked comfy enough, but we found them lumpy, particularly in the lumbar region.