2018 Hyundai Sonata Price, Release Date and Specs

The current Sonata is one of Hyundai’s best-selling cars with more than 210,000 units sold last year just in the US. In order to keep the car competitive, they already released a refresh for it with the 2018 Hyundai Sonata. This was already showcased in Korea, and it should arrive in the rest of the world quite soon. The car received quite a bit of attention both inside and out. Despite that, it seems that most of the running gear and powertrain are the same as before.

This likely means that the bland dynamic characteristics, as well as the average power, are still there. This isn’t really a big problem for most people who usually buy the Sonata for its great interior. The good part is that its cabin has been improved so the 2018 model should be considerably better than before.

2018 Hyundai Sonata Price and Release Date

The base of the new 2018 version remains the same as that of the car released in 2014. The update mostly brings exterior upgrades which allow the Sonata to better fit Hyundai’s current roster of cars. So far Hyundai has not showcased the pricing scheme for the new car, but the release date is between summer and the end of the year. It seems that the US version will continue to cost just as much as before. The base model will start at roughly $ 22.000 which makes it a really good deal for the price. The top end versions will still cost over $30,000, but these will come with better engines and considerably more gear inside the cabin. The release date of new sonata The all-new 2018 Sonata. Coming this summer

Engines and Specs

The 2018 Hyundai Sonata will retain the same engines as before. In the US the base car will use a 2.4 liter naturally aspirated mill with 185 horsepower. This provides decent performance and fuel economy, so it remains the perfect fleet car. Front-wheel drive and a six-speed automatic are going to remain the only options for it. The Eco model of the Sonata will retain the 1.6-liter turbo four with its 178 horsepower and Seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. These will offer better fuel efficiency while also having considerably more torque than the naturally aspirated engine. Both these models will look identical from the outside.

The 2-liter turbo four will also be available for the 2018 model. This will likely continue to offer 245 horsepower and a 0 to 60 MPH time of just 7.2 seconds. However, instead of using the old six-speed, automatic Hyundai decided to install an eight-speed gearbox. This should improve the fuel efficiency slightly and possibly its top speed. The current model also receives two hybrid engines, a plug-in, and a regular hybrid. Both of these offer right around 200 horsepower with the only real difference being the battery size. Unfortunately, Hyundai hasn’t confirmed any of them so far. This might be due to the newly released Ioniq which fits the spot left by the Sonata. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if Hyundai decides to get rid of both hybrid versions of the Sonata.

Exterior

The 2018 Hyundai Sonata received the most amount of attention on the outside. Here Hyundai did their best to make the car look slightly more aggressive and more in line with the rest of their lineup. Even though there will still be people hating the design, we have to say that they did a great job. The front end has a lot in common with the newest Elantra which is great. The car features brand new headlights that are slightly slimmer than before. The grille changed quite a bit as well and features a curvier look. The regular models get horizontal slats inside it while the 2-liter turbo version gets honeycomb mesh for the added sportiness. The bumper features a subtle splitter, and with the lower hood, the new Sonata is a much better-looking car than before. While not official, new colors, wheels and possibly a sportier package might also be in store.

Interior

Here the 2018 Hyundai Sonata received a lot of attention to the materials the interior components are made of. For starters, the buttons are brand new, and Hyundai also said that they added a brand new steering wheel. Unfortunately, they haven’t released any pictures with these claims, but it is safe to assume the new Sonata’s interior likely shares a lot of design traits with the revised Elantra.