Recently Cars.com held the $25,000 Family Sedan Shootout in order to determine which car was most likely to be purchased by the avergae American family. The all new 2011 Hyundai Sonata took first place by a long shot! The new Sonata easily beat out eight other competing cars from a variety of other car manufacturers. Cars.com was looking for the best family-sized sedan for $25,000 and under.
The search for the best family sedan included 8 other car competitors, 6 automotive journalists, a family of 4, and the event took 3 days to conclude a winner.
Two days were used to conduct a 149-mile mileage challenge for all the participating eight cars. They drove through a four-part test loop from Pasadena to west of Los Angeles. Four cars took the run in the morning and the other four in the afternoon, mostly over state and interstate highways. At the end of the test, the trip-computer mpg readouts and how much gas was used were checked.
The analysists that were part of the competition accounted for 60% of how the cars were graded. The other 40% came from the actual family involved with the test. All the cars were scored on a 1-10 point system in ten different categories for a total of 1,000 points.
The family that was used for this was Jill and Ben Tiernan, and their two daughters. The Tiernans were dubbed as “dream buyers.” The parents are young, college-educated, upwardly mobile, and intending to buy a new car in about six months.
For the shootout, more than just a test drive was used. They checked out the entire car including the USB inputs, iPod auxillary jacks, and backseat cubbies for their 2 daughters for their crayons, toys, and other little details. The Hyundai Sonata was the clear winner in this shootout. With a total of 794 points out of 1,000, the Hyundai beat the second place winner by 42 points! “Sonata’s striking design won over most, but it was the whole package that grabbed the title. None of the competitors came close,” reported the Cars.com editors.
The 2011 Hyundai Sonata is an amazing machine. The appearance is beautiful with an elegant and luxurious look to the body. Inside, it is powered by the new Theta II 2.4L gasoline direct injection engine and in-house, six-speed automatic gearbox. It is so powerful and yet fuel-efficient as it features class-leading fuel economy of 22 mpg city and35 mpg highway and 198 horsepower standard.
By winning the shootout the 2011 Hyundai Sonata has really shown why this is such a great vehicle to have. The new Sonata Sedan was built to raise the bar in the mid-size sedan category by integrating modern design and tremendous fuel economy into Hyundai’s value equation.
Other seven vehicles competing to new Sonata were:
Eight: Ford Fusion (669 points)
Seventh: Chevrolet Malibu (697 points)
Sixth: Nissan Altima (711 points)
Fifth: Honda Accord (723 points)
Fourth: Mazda6 (724 points)
Third: Suzuki Kizashi (731 points)
Second: Toyota Camry (752 points)
First: Hyundai Sonata (794 points)
David Thomas, one of the reviewers, described the Sonata: “Value, value, value. $22,745 for navigation and all the other goodies in such an attractive wrapper. None of the competitors came close.”
