Hyundai Sonata vs. the Competition

The Hyundai Sonata is a midsize sedan that delivers a spacious cabin, excellent value, and a smooth ride. The midsize sedan class is very competitive, with stalwarts like the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. Let’s look at how the Hyundai Sonata stacks up against its competitors in key areas like value, space, and performance.

Value

The starting MSRP of the 2021 Hyundai Sonata is $23,950. Higher trims may get more luxury trimmings, but all trims of the Sonata come with excellent safety features and Hyundai’s impressive powertrain warranty of 10 years or 100,000 miles. In comparison, the Honda Accord starts at $24,270, and the Toyota Camry starts at $24,425. Neither one offer as long of a warranty as the Sonata.
The closest competitor for value is the Kia K5, which starts at $23,590 and offers the same length of warranty as the Sonata. However, the K5 only gets 38 MPG on the highway while the Sonata gets 54 MPG, thus providing you more value at the gas pump.

Space

The Hyundai Sonata offers the most leg and headroom compared to its competition. Total interior space is 122.4 cubic feet, which is the leading number for its class. Passenger volume is 106.1 inches, which is more than both the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Head height and legroom are also more than these two competitors.
When it comes to space, you might find yourself mostly thinking about cargo room and passenger space. But, what about your fuel tank? The Sonata offers an 18.5-gallon fuel tank vs. 14.5 and 14.8 for the Camry and Accord, respectively. More fuel capacity combined with the Sonata’s excellent fuel economy means you can travel quite a bit further without fueling up.

Performance

Next up is performance. How does the Sonata stack up against the competition? The base Sonata engine is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder with 191 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque. A turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder with 290 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque is also available. Both engines perform adequately for the Sonata and offer excellent gas mileage as well. When it comes to the competition, the other midsize cars also offer four-cylinder engines, with the exception of the Toyota Camry, which offers a V6 as an option.
The Kia K5, the Honda Accord, and the four-cylinder Toyota Camry all put out similar horsepower numbers to the Sonata. One could also argue that performance is generally less important to family sedan buyers vs. more practical things like value and room, and the Sonata delivers both in spades.
It’s clear that the Hyundai Sonata is one of the most balanced offerings in the midsize sedan class. It offers a lot for the price, leads its class on space, and delivers plenty of performance while still economical.