2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid - San Antonio Take Over

2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid – San Antonio Take Over

When I heard that my friend Vickey would be visiting from Maryland to give our mild Texas winter a try, I was super excited, but I also knew I’d be doing a lot of driving. That’s when the 2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Limited became the vessel of choice for our voyage around the San Antonio area.

The very first thing I noticed when the beautiful Graphite Blue Pearl Sonata arrived, was that it didn’t look like your average, run of the mill hybrid. The sporty front end featured an aggressive full face grille and the sculpted projector headlamps were a welcomed surprise.

On the outside, the Sonata doesn’t look watered down or boring in anyway, but it doesn’t stop there. The gray interior compliments the cabin well, and was trimmed out nicely with heated and ventilated front seats, an 8 inch color touch screen for your media and navigation needs, and a huge panoramic sunroof! After giving the car a quick glance and getting acclimated, it was time to give this sleek hybrid a whirl!

When in Texas, do as Texans do

I knew that in order to give my friend, Vickey a proper idea of what being a Texan is about, I’d need to take her to ride some horses.

That meant taking advantage of the Sonata’s spacious trunk (13.3 cubic feet), so we packed up my tack and headed to my parent’s house. Hyundai did an excellent job of placing the Hybrid cell where it didn’t severely impact cargo space, which tends to be compromised in most other hybrids. No SUV needed here, the Sonata Hybrid fit all of my horse tack with ease and with room to spare. Even my horse Bogie was impressed!

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Coming from her hectic life in the busy city of Baltimore, I was determined to show her the wide open spaces that Texas is known for, so we headed out to to the country.

Enchanted Rock is located in the Texas Hill Country in a town called Fredericksburg. Having driven my mother’s Prius C through these hills before, I know the Hybrid struggle is real, and I was curious to see how this much larger Sonata would perform. I was not disappointed.

At 193 horsepower this car had no issues tackling these twisty roads and seesawing hills. This is definitely not a car that sacrifices power for fuel efficiency.

A Whale of a Time

In a typical Texas winter, we woke up to a breezy mid 70’s Sunday, and what better to do on such a day than to head to SeaWorld and sit in the splash zone!

Using the navigation system I simply used the POI finder and typed in my destination. I loved that when the map was displayed on the screen, it’d advice me of my right or wrong decisions by displaying the speed limit on the upper right hand corner. It made it extra-easy to not get in trouble in areas I wasn’t familiar with.

The route guidance lady had a clear and pleasant voice, and the Smart Cruise Control with start/stop capability also made this 35 minute, all highway journey quite relaxing. Luckily traffic was pretty mild, but had it not been, it was nice to know the Sonata would have stopped completely in the case of a sudden traffic halt!

That’s all Folks!

Before I knew it our time together had come to a close, and I was dropping Vickey off at the airport so she could head back to a frigid Baltimore.

I have to admit that the 2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid was the perfect fit to show her the great state of Texas (or part of it). It provided a comfortable ride, luxurious features, and amazing fuel efficiency.

What more could one want in a car?

2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Limited

Base Price: $26,835
Price as Tested: $35,765

Likes

Loaded with technology
Heated rear seats
Infinity Sound System
Real life gas mileage of 37 MPG.

Dislikes

A front view camera would come in handy for parking due to its long hood.

Kari. “When not tinkering on my car, I’m endlessly rambling about auto-news to my very patient husband who tolerates it for hours on end. I’ve owned everything from a Tacoma to a Benz, and I now have a 2014 Scion FR-S to play with, which you may spot at The Circuit of Americas parking lot while I’m yelling at the top of my lungs.”