If you want a turbo mid-sized sedan from Hyundai, you’ll have to shell out more than $30,000 like everyone else.
If you had your sights set on a mid-sized sedan from Hyundai and wanted to get their biggest engine without breaking the bank, for 2019 it looks like you’ll have to pay a couple thousand more. According to Car Scoops on their update on Hyundai’s lineup for 2019 earlier yesterday (Aug. 23, 2018) , Hyundai isn’t offering its more powerful and capable engine option in the Sonata Sport trim. Instead, you’ll have to skip up to the Hyundai’s most expensive Sonata Limited 2.0T.
Last year, if you wanted a Sonata Sport 2.0T, MSRP hovered around $27,485. Now, you’ll have to put down $32,785 and jump up to the Sonata Limited which is now the only trim level that offers Hyundai’s more powerful engine option paired to an eight-speed slushbox. That’s more than $5,000 if you also want Hyundai’s sport-tuned suspension thrown in, which, by the way, is missing from Hyundai’s configurator for MY 2018.
But, all might be for naught if you really want Hyundai’s secret eco rocket as, although the Sonata did get a refresh for 2018, its performance figures remain somewhat the same. That means the fastest Sonata is still the Hyundai Sonata Eco trim with its barn burner of a 1.6L Turbo with 178 HP and 195-lb-ft paired to its far superior seven-speed Dual Clutch manual transmission. Don’t take my word for it, Motor Trend did quite the comparison three years ago, a comparison that’s still relevant today.
Then again, if you’re considering a sporty Hyundai, I’d suggest ditching this newer Sonata with less value for 2019 and just get yourself an Accord, Camry, or, Fusion, which by the way, has a segment-leading 2.7L V6 EcoBoost turbo that puts out a whopping 325 HP and 380 lb-ft.
Sales have not been kind to the Sonata for 2018 with sales lagging behind 2017 figures by a large margin. I’m not sure this reshuffling of trim levels, including deleting a more powerful engine from its sporty trim, will boost sales towards higher trim levels for 2019.
If you want the sporty Sonata, get the Eco. If you’d rather get something that’ll have a higher resale value down the road and won’t get hit by massive depreciation, just skip the Sonata altogether and sidle into its competition.
