The Car Connection Expert Review
Likes
- Efficient hybrid option
- Three solid powertrain choices
- Compelling makeover
- Climate control dials and buttons
- Clean interior
Dislikes
- Thin on rear legroom
- Base cloth interior’s thrifty-looking
- Few options
Buying tip
features & specs
The 2024 Hyundai Sonata sedan sports a new look, an updated interior, and streamlined powertrain options.
What kind of vehicle is the 2024 Hyundai Sonata? What does it compare to?
Sold in SEL, N Line, SEL Hybrid and Limited Hybrid trims, the Hyundai Sonata midsize sedan sports a new look with an updated interior and three powertrain options, including a hybrid, that should keep it competitive with the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, and Subaru Legacy.
Is the 2024 Hyundai Sonata a good car?
With one of the most efficient hybrid offerings in the segment, and a loaded value proposition with an exceptional warranty, the 2024 Sonata earns a TCC Rating of 6.7 out of 10. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
What's new for the 2024 Hyundai Sonata?
The 2024 Hyundai Sonata glows from a major makeover. The biggest mechanical difference is a first for the Sonata: the addition of available all-wheel drive on the 2.5-liter models.
The front end of the Sonata signals the mid-cycle upgrade with a pair of struts and a horizontal span across the nose, which replace a downturned ovoid grille with an, um, distinct appearance. This one’s more in line with Hyundai’s EVs—as is the cabin, with its new wide-screen digital displays and horizontally themed dash.
Hyundai has dropped the former 1.6-liter turbo-4, leaving three carryover engine choices. The base 191-hp 2.5-liter inline-4 powers most cars, and an 8-speed automatic sends power to the front wheels or available all-wheel drive. It’s fine, so long as you don’t sample the 290-hp 2.5-liter turbo-4 with a dual-clutch automatic that elevates N Line models. Our pick? It’s still the 192-hp hybrid, due to its Prius-like 47 mpg combined. Ride and handling are capable if not inspiring across the board.
Interior dimensions haven’t changed, so front-seat passengers have lots of shoulder room and small-item storage, while rear passengers have 34.8 inches of legroom, which is on the tighter side of most midsize rivals. Hyundai makes up for it with a roomier trunk with 16.0 cubic feet of space that can be expanded with 60/40-split rear folding seats.
The Sonata has earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick, but it comes with an asterisk. The NHTSA hasn’t fully updated its tests. All models come with excellent standard driver-assist technology such as automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, blind-spot monitors, a safe exit warning system, and active lane control. A 5-year/60,000-mile warranty also remains standard.
Options include a surround-view camera system, automatic parking, 12.0-inch head-up display, 12-speaker Bose audio, a power trunk, and a new Digital Key function that lets you operate the car using a smartphone as the key. Most are available only on the top-flight edition.
How much does the 2024 Hyundai Sonata cost?
Prices start at $28,650 for the Sonata SEL, which has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 12.3-inch touchscreen, 17-inch wheels, cloth seats, a power driver seat, and LED headlights. The SEL Hybrid costs $31,950 but gains wireless smartphone charging and a power front passenger seat. The $36,100 Sonata N Line has 19-inch wheels, a rear spoiler, and premium audio—and the $38,350 Sonata Limited Hybrid gets leather seats, a panoramic sunroof, a surround-view camera system, and cooled front seats.
Where is the 2024 Hyundai Sonata made?
In South Korea.
2024 Hyundai Sonata Styling
The Sonata has taken on the look of Hyundai’s EVs.
Is the Hyundai Sonata a good-looking car?
We think so. With a revamp that echoes some of the smart lines from Hyundai’s EVs and a cabin with wide-screen digital displays, we give it an 8, with two extra points for the body and one for the interior.
The makeover features a hood dips low into a light bar spanning the nose. Underneath that light bar is an entirely new front end. A broad lower grille outlined by chrome stretches the face to appear lower, wider, and altogether sportier. Rectangular headlight housings flank the ends and sit over raked air intakes that at the bottom wrap around the fenders into a body line down the side to the rear.
As on the outgoing model, another body line arcs over the beltline to the rear, where a light bar spans a trunk topped with a spoiler. The backup lights diminish in sequence across the broad swath of the trunk, emphasizing the lowered look of the Sonata. Performance-leaning N Line models ride on distinct 19-inch wheels and come with quad exhaust finishers.
Hyundai reorients the interior to complement the wide and low attitude of the exterior. The low dash features twin 12.3-inch screens curved toward the driver under a single pane of glass. The dash shelf sits over a thin band of vents stretched end to end, and beneath them are volume and tuning dials for audio followed by actual climate controls instead of just a haptic touch panel. A wireless smartphone charger caves out a space between the stack and the console, which appears thinner and optimized for driving with less clutter. The gear shifter has been moved to the steering column, similar to the Ioniq 5, and a new three-spoke steering wheel completes the transformation.
2024 Hyundai Sonata Performance
With the Sonata, Hyundai peddles both the pedestrian and the performance-oriented.
Is the Hyundai Sonata 4WD?
Most Sonata sedans are front-wheel drive, but the base Sonata SEL in non-hybrid spec can be fitted with all-wheel drive.
How fast is the Hyundai Sonata?
A choice between three 4-cylinder powertrains greets the Sonata shopper. In base cars, the most commonly purchased, a moderately enthusiastic 191-hp, 2.5-liter inline-4 teams with a smooth-shifting 8-speed automatic for decent acceleration and fuel economy. It’s nothing special, just relentlessly competent. It’s the basis for the Sonata’s performance score of 5.
We far prefer the Sonata’s available 192-hp hybrid powertrain. It connects a 2.0-liter inline-4 to a 6-speed automatic, a motor, and a small battery pack to stream out efficient, adequate power. It’s exceptionally thrifty and mute as it goes about its business, even if it isn’t very quick. Hyundai’s grown more adept at smoothing the transitions between shifts with its hybrid, too.
In these Sonatas, a softly composed ride tamps down most of the worst road surfaces, with a little suspension and tire noise making its way into the cabin. Unremarkable steering gains some heft when the drive-mode selector toggles into Sport—but that’s better used to keep the Sonata tracking in the center of the lane when its advanced driver-assist hardware hasn’t been engaged. The Sonata can be a relaxed highway cruiser and a super-efficient commuter without disappointing its drivers on sweeping curves.
For something with more seasoning, the Sonata N Line steps up to a 290-hp, 2.5-liter turbo-4 and an 8-speed paddle-shifted dual-clutch automatic. With its Sport+ drive mode engaged, it’s capable of six-second runs to 60 mph and a suitably sporting growl. Hyundai tunes the same front strut and rear multi-link suspension more stiffly here, and in previous editions we’ve driven the Sonata N Line struck an admirable point on the firmness spectrum: little body lean, no juddering sidesteps over pavement seams, and no darty steering moves courtesy its optional summer tires.
2024 Hyundai Sonata Comfort & Quality
A five-seater with good trunk space, the Sonata suits up properly for its midsize mission.
Who needs an SUV, when sedans like the Sonata still exist? With a spacious interior for five, good front and back seats, and a usefully sized and shaped trunk, the Sonata merits an 8 in comfort and utility.
With a 111.8-inch wheelbase, and stretching 193.3 inches long, the Sonata sits on the big end of the midsize spectrum. The interior’s particularly open and airy in the front seats, where cloth-covered buckets come with power adjustment for the driver and heating for both front passengers. The seats themselves don’t have much sculpting, but they’re comfortable enough to contemplate a long-distance trip. Leather upholstery, cooled front seats, and a power front passenger seat wend their way into upper trims.
The Sonata’s small-item storage abound, beneath its touch-panel climate controls where a smartphone recharges or in deep door pockets where bottles chill. There’s even a rectangular nacelle, if the phone’s already at 100%—rare, we know.
In back, two or three passengers have 34.8 inches of legroom—on the lean side for this class, but plenty of space in actual use. The bench seat benefits from less sculpturing here, with no awkward perch for a middle passenger to straddle.
The rear seatbacks can be folded down to expand the 16.0 cubic-foot trunk’s space.
Base Sonatas aren’t as inspired with interior trim as Hyundai’s latest electric vehicles, but the Limited spec gets better trim pieces—a gray vertical-woodgrain looks handsome enough—and the wide-screen digital displays convey an up-to-date appearance. It’s not luxury, hardly even premium, but it’s above average for the price.
2024 Hyundai Sonata Safety
Safety scores have slipped.
How safe is the Hyundai Sonata?
It’s still an IIHS Top Safety Pick, but concerns have surfaced. A tougher front-impact test causes the Sonata to earn a Poor score that’ll count toward its award status next year. For now it still earns that point plus one for standard accident-avoidance tech, for a 7 here.
We should note: The NHTSA hasn’t finalized its overall rating, but the Sonata has checked in with a four-star score for front-impact protection there, too—which would cost it a point.
Every Sonata has automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitors, adaptive cruise control, active lane control, and automatic high beams. A surround-view camera system comes on the Limited Hybrid. It’s useful, since rearward vision is middling.
2024 Hyundai Sonata Features
Hyundai dresses every Sonata for midsize sedan excellence.
A host of standard equipment in the latest Sonata pairs with a 5-year/60,000-mile warranty and three years of free scheduled maintenance, great infotainment, and a resulting good value to propel the 2024 Sonata to a score of 9 here.
Which Hyundai Sonata should I buy?
The $28,650 Sonata SEL offers standard pushbutton start, heated front seats, a 12.3-inch touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, cloth seats, 17-inch wheels, LED headlights, and a power driver seat. Options in a Convenience package include a panoramic sunroof, 12.3-inch digital gauges, 18-inch wheels, and wireless smartphone charging.
The $31,950 Sonata SEL Hybrid offers similar features and adds a power front passenger seat, and wireless smartphone charging.
How much is a fully loaded Hyundai Sonata?
If you’re feeling your family four-door oats, the $36,100 Sonata N Line gets 19-inch wheels, sport seats with sueded cloth and leather, a rear spoiler, sunroof, wireless smartphone charging, navigation, and premium audio. If you argue that successfully with your spouse, we want lessons.
The $38,350 Sonata Limited Hybrid caps the lineup with leather seats, a panoramic sunroof, automatic park assist, blind-spot cameras, parking sensors, a surround-view camera system, cooled front seats, and a padded dash.
2024 Hyundai Sonata Fuel Economy
The Hybrid remains the strongest Sonata in the fuel-economy playbook.
Is the Hyundai Sonata good on gas?
All versions have reasonable gas mileage, but the stellar economy of the Hybrid earns our kudos. The EPA rates it at 44 mpg city, 51 highway, 47 combined.
It’s not the top seller among Sonatas, though. For its score of 3 here, we rate the popular base model, which checks in at an EPA-rated 25/36/29 mpg—just shy of a score of 4, by 1 mpg combined.
Add all-wheel drive and that dips to 25/34/28 mpg. Of course, upgrade to the turbo-4 in the N Line and you’re looking at more like 23/32/27 mpg.
