2011 Hyundai Sonata: Four-Cylinder Only?

[asiancivicmaniac]

Quote:
That's odd, I don't have issues merging with a 1.6L 4 cylinder engine with 242K miles. So I stay in 2nd or 3rd longer than the guy with the big V6 or V8. But I wouldn't say it's hard to merge with a small car.


I used to drive an auto 1.7 liter Civic. I would be flooring the gas trying to reach speed and merge before the ramp ended while trying to avoid being rear ended. Maybe we just have crazier, less courteous drivers here. Gaining speed to pass was fun as well.

Quote:
Not to mention, any benefits of the large engine are often offset by the higher costs of ownership, perhaps it's a larger car so harder to park, etc.


If we are comparing same model cars with one having an i4 and one with a v6 then they shouldn't vary in size. I have to agree though that they cost more to maintain (more gas, +2 spark plugs, +2 ignition coils, fast wearing tires on drive wheels, etc), but some people actually know what they are getting themselves into. Not to mention the ones who buy the v6s probably aren't the uber thrifty minded.

Quote:
In fact, since my engine is so small, the spring on the throttle body is one of the easiest I've ever pressed. So I'd say it's pretty easy to merge, It's a lot harder to press down on the throttle of larger engines. LOL


In this day and age, drive-by-wire is becoming more prominent therefore a traditional throttle body should be a non-issue. Now it depends all on the OEM programming of the ECU. My 2002 model year car has DBW in it, and it takes little effort to get the throttle to respond to the pressure I put on it.


A v6 is so much fun to drive. I might not want to look at the price gauge when I'm filling it up, but that's another story. Of course there are the Honda and Toyota v6s that reportedly get good gas mileage for the what they are.

 

[The Critic]

Quote:
Inside Line has learned that Hyundai plans to offer a direct-injected version of its 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine in the U.S.-spec 2011 Hyundai Sonata. The engine, we're told by sources inside Hyundai, will be rated at 195 horsepower -- a significant bump over the 175-hp rating for the 2.4-liter in the current Sonata and more than Honda offers in the four-cylinder Accord EX.

In a nod to both fuel economy and performance, sources tell us there will also be an optional turbocharged engine, most likely the D.I. 2.4-liter with power in the neighborhood of 240-250 hp. This will make the Sonata one of only four turbocharged sedans in the midsize market along with the Subaru Legacy, VW Passat and VW CC.

It will also make the 2011 Sonata Hyundai's second turbocharged model behind the rear wheel drive Genesis Coupe 2.0T, which uses a boosted 2.0-liter four-cylinder rated at 210 hp.


http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/20...24l-engine.html

 

[parimento1]

hehe so plenty of people aside from Ford and VW are going for turbos...this should be interesting to see if it is possible to make a turbo car as reliable as a NA one.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Wonder if it will require synthetic oil that meets some Hyundai spec.

 

[Tosh]

How times have changed. And for the better! I remember when Honda scrambled the original Legend V6 and shoehorned it into the Accord. 95-96?

 

[ryland]

I drove both the 09 I4 and the 09 v6 and the off the line speed seems the same but the 40-80 mph is way different. I actually like the 4 more (why I bought one) because the 6 was too quick for my wife and I just dont see the trade off of MPG-horsepower unless you live in the country with a lot of one lane highways where you have to pass a lot or if you live in dallas texas where you have to drive 100mph to keep up with traffic and have to do 5 second 0-60's taking off from the stupid toll booths! Although I hear they are makeing everyone get the toll tags now.

 

[BearZDefect]

The 2009 Sonata v6 does not open the throttle completely in first gear, that's why it didn't seem all that impressive... until is shifts to second then it flies away while the Sonata i4 is winding up the sewing machine.

I've driven both, there is a big difference in the performance. Plus the transmissions are programmed to keep engine speed so low (if you're easy on the throttle) that the i4 vibrates and gets very unresponsive at 1,400rpm, while the v6 is smooth and puts out more power at 1,300rpm.

Regardless, you pay for the power, the choice is yours.

 

[crinkles]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Wonder if it will require synthetic oil that meets some Hyundai spec.


It needs any brand of oil that can do ACEA C3 (most of which will be synthetic).

 

[Magnum_Madman]

I'll run anyone on the Merritt Parkway here in Ct at 5:00 pm
with my 2007 Tacoma and I'll win, my 2011 Mustang V6 is fun but
I was stopped the first week on the said parkway, 70 in a 55, I got lucky the trooper was a car guy and let me slide with a warning, everyone else was moving at the same clip, so I'll be using my 2011 Sonata from now on, it doesn't garner the same type of attention. The gentleman parimento1 is correct unless you live west of the Mississippi HP is a waste of money. But there was a time, I remember putting a 409 in a 55 Chevy ragetop and ripping up I95 or pulling into the White Castle changing too slicks and running up against Ramchargers, them was the days. Today we live in motor [censored] great technology and total restrictions on its use.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: tonycarguy
Originally Posted By: parimento1
Yes, the V6 should be reserved for very heavy cars or light trucks. Nowadays, 4 cylinders make the power of V6s, maybe not the torque but. For example, I own a 97 Toyota Avalon, with a 200hp V6. All the major brands have 4 cylinder engines that have almost, if not 200hp. Shows you the day of the V6 in regular cars are numbered. The bad thing is however, is that as the 4 cylinders get more powerful they approach the mpg of the V6s and sometimes are less fuel efficient, if you really need to flog it for perfomance.


You're comparing a 12 year old V6 with a 2009 L4? Why not compare a 2009 V6 with a 2009 L4?


As already suggested, I think the comparison illustrates how far engines have come in 20 years. I remember shopping for a car back in the mid-80s, and people were impressed that the GM 60-degree V-6 was making 125 hp. I owned an 83 Trans Am (I think that the Statute of Limitations has expired so I can now admit that...) with a 5.0L V-8 that made 150 hp and 240 ft-lb of tq. The car magazines (one of them anyway) clocked that car at 0-60 in 9.5 seconds. My Camry hybrid blows that away in all respects, including and especially gas mileage.

Point is that the current crop of I-4s have come to the point where they begin to make one wonder why to pay a couple grand extra for a nose-heavy V-6. For perspective, I've actually owned Camrys in standard I-4, V-6, and hybrid configurations. No surprise to all of you, I'm sure, but my favorite is the hybrid. Although it is quite heavy, 150 lbs heavier than the V-6 car in fact, with "only" an I-4 up front, and both the traction and 12v batteries in the back, it feels balanced and not "nose heavy" like I think the V-6 does. With virtually the same "go" as what was admired in the V-6 of just a couple years ago (true also for the vanilla I-4, to a slightly lesser degree), I'm left wondering, "why bother with a V-6?"

I suspect that this is where the Hyundai decision makers are as well.

 

[The Critic]

Ekpolk,

Since you seem to be saying that V6 engines are not needed, do you ever miss the G35 you owned?

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Ekpolk,

Since you seem to be saying that V6 engines are not needed, do you ever miss the G35 you owned?


Ahhhhhh Mike, you forget -- there's a big, big difference between "need" and "want". AND, you forget that I replaced the G35 with a Prius (though even Glen Beck would probably find that to be a basis for "not guilty by reason of insanity..."). Shoot Mike, that's TWO strikes with one swing!

You know I'm kidding, of course, but I'm also sure you see my point. I sincerely hope you enjoy your V-6 car, and I'm 150% serious about that (despite its nose-heaviness...).

EDIT: Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to answer your actual question: yes I do miss the G from time to time -- but my mpg calculations, even with the TCH, go a long way toward countering any such emo moments.

 

[sciphi]

A big V6 is fun to flog, especially a low-end torque monster. For 99.9% of automotive tasks, a 4-cylinder is perfectly sufficient. So outside of a narrow range of automotive tasks, a V6 is not necessary. It's fun, and overkill. But some folks like overkill for "just in case". It's their $$$ to spend...

Hyundai's not hampered in the least by not having a V6 in the new Sonata with regards to sales. I see a LOT of them on the roads.

 

[Ben99GT]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
The fact that the ancient 4.0L V6 makes nearly as much power as the 4.6L 2V V8 is interesting. Our V6 mustang has 20 less horsepower and 40lb/ft torque less than our expedition.


Apples and Oranges though, the 4.0L SOHC made 50 HP and 62 lb-ft less than the 4.6 2V that last showed up in the Mustang, which is significant. The 4.6 2V even won the HP/L contest.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
A big V6 is fun to flog, especially a low-end torque monster. For 99.9% of automotive tasks, a 4-cylinder is perfectly sufficient. So outside of a narrow range of automotive tasks, a V6 is not necessary. It's fun, and overkill. But some folks like overkill for "just in case". It's their $$$ to spend...

Hyundai's not hampered in the least by not having a V6 in the new Sonata with regards to sales. I see a LOT of them on the roads.
Well, here's a question to fuel the debate further: where is all this going? Is Hyundai the first car maker to show signs of courage-sanity? Twenty years ago, passenger car V-6s were good for 125-ish hp. Today they're approaching, some exceeding, 300 hp.

So in 2030, are our V-6 sedans going to be delivering almost 600 hp???? What on earth are we going to do with that? This is most assuredly NOT a case of towing a camper trailer through the Donner pass -- 99% of such cars would be doing what they do today -- transporting teachers, CPAs, lawyers, etc. to their offices. Yes, absolutely, it is a free country, but you've REALLY got to have a swollen ego (or a touch of psychosis) to decide you NEED 600 ponies to get to the office every day!

Heck, somewhere between 2050 and 2060, our V-6 Camrys and Maximi should reach 1000 hp -- then we'll really be set! Of course, I'll probably be dead by then, but that's beside the point. Then the owner of such a gem will REALLY be able to whoop the poor fool at the stoplight who opted for a mere 500 hp I-4...

So, either the engine output trend will continue unabated to utterly absurd levels -- and I'd like to hear someone justify a 1000 hp Camry as a daily driver. Or something else will happen. What say you all on what that might be?

 

[Propflux01]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk

So, either the engine output trend will continue unabated to utterly absurd levels -- and I'd like to hear someone justify a 1000 hp Camry as a daily driver. Or something else will happen. What say you all on what that might be?


No. Horsepower will level. Efficiency will be the ever-increase.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: Tim H.
Originally Posted By: ekpolk

So, either the engine output trend will continue unabated to utterly absurd levels -- and I'd like to hear someone justify a 1000 hp Camry as a daily driver. Or something else will happen. What say you all on what that might be?


No. Horsepower will level. Efficiency will be the ever-increase.


I'd agree that this is the likely shape of the future. I just wonder how and when. Other than this seemingly small, but perhaps significant omission of the Sonata V-6 option, and maybe the existence of the Lexus 2.5L V-6, it doesn't seem to be happening yet.

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: Tim H.
Originally Posted By: ekpolk

So, either the engine output trend will continue unabated to utterly absurd levels -- and I'd like to hear someone justify a 1000 hp Camry as a daily driver. Or something else will happen. What say you all on what that might be?


No. Horsepower will level. Efficiency will be the ever-increase.


I'd agree that this is the likely shape of the future. I just wonder how and when. Other than this seemingly small, but perhaps significant omission of the Sonata V-6 option, and maybe the existence of the Lexus 2.5L V-6, it doesn't seem to be happening yet.


it depends on the MPGs. higher horsepower while keeping the MPG the same is a win-win. 1000 HP and 35mpg/gallon would be the bees knees

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
For 99.9% of automotive tasks, a 4-cylinder is perfectly sufficient. So outside of a narrow range of automotive tasks, a V6 is not necessary. It's fun, and overkill. But some folks like overkill for "just in case". It's their $$$ to spend...


Someday you might be in a position that you have to get out of somebodys way fast...I mean real fast...That V6 just might end up saving your life.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE
Originally Posted By: sciphi
For 99.9% of automotive tasks, a 4-cylinder is perfectly sufficient. So outside of a narrow range of automotive tasks, a V6 is not necessary. It's fun, and overkill. But some folks like overkill for "just in case". It's their $$$ to spend...


Someday you might be in a position that you have to get out of somebodys way fast...I mean real fast...That V6 just might end up saving your life.
It could just as well end up killing you too if you experience a momentary lapse of judgment in applying its excessive output. . .