2018 Hyundai Sonata vs Toyota Camry

What's the difference?

The Sonata's new look is unlikely to send it rocketing up the sales charts, but that's not what  it's all about here in Australia. Having said that, it comes with some useful improvements, especially in Active trim, with a few spec additions that make the Premium's almost 50 percent... er... premium on price look a bit stiff.

A Camry that is fun to drive - and a hybrid, no less? You'd better believe it. The changes to this 2018 Camry have made it a genuine contender in its (admittedly shrinking) segment. Whether that translates to sales remains to be seen, but if you are considering a mid-size sedan, the addition of EV Mode to the Hybrid Ascent Sport must surely make it among the best of the Camry bunch. 

Hyundai has given the Sonata a good old fashioned facelift, with a new front and rear end to liven things up a bit. The old car was sleek but not at all sporty, so the new look is designed to match the dynamism that is steadily creeping into the Hyundai line-up. The big new grille, angrier headlights and kicked up bootlid with new taillights combine to make the Sonata look sportier, saucier and, oddly enough, shorter.

The grille is different between the entry-level Active and top-spec Premium, with the latter scoring a more interesting 3D look, while our Active made do with a slightly more conventional one. The effect is a bit trout-lippy, but it grew on me.

The cabin didn't need much work, with just a few materials swapped out and made to look and feel a bit more upmarket. The dash is a very conventional design - clean and clear with big dials and a small digital screen for extra information. The general fit and finish is good and my newly re-discovered fandom of cloth trim was given a boost by a rather fetching textured interior.

It looks…. interesting. And this might be the first time that description has ever been used as a compliment. 

You’ll remember the old Camry, I’m sure. The one that mean people said looked like something that should be sold in Harvey Norman and used to keep drinks cold? Well, this one doesn’t.

For one, the grille has been reimagined. There’s still a family resemblance, but it’s now a two-tier design that pinches in the middle before stretching out to each corner of the front-end. The headlights are thin and sharply angled, sweeping back into the bodywork, and a network of raised contours now lines the bonnet. 

Side-on, new body skirting links the simple alloy wheels, while the rear view is all fancy tail-lights, integrated boot spoiler and dual exhaust tips mounted on the lower left. It’s a genuinely nice, genuinely premium-feeling exterior treatment from Toyota.

There are more changes inside, too, where a new, swirling, modern-feeling dash houses the key screen and controls, and where the cheaper hard plastics are mostly disguised by soft-touch materials to give an impression that's approaching premium.

The Sonata is one of the roomiest cars I've ever been in, save for properly big cars like the Audi A8 or BMW 7 Series. Rear-seat passengers cheerfully loll about with tonnes of leg and headroom. The bench seat is comfortably padded and it's probably the best spot in the house for long journeys. If you were a ride-sharing driver who specialised in basketballer transport, this would be the car for you.

Storage isn't bad either, with four cupholders, pockets and slots scattered about and a bottle holder in each door. The boot is a solid 510 litres - drop the 60/40 split-fold rears and you'll have a seriously large load area.

At 4905mm long and 1840mm wide, this new Camry is bigger than the car it replaces, and it sits on a 50mm longer wheelbase. And while that doesn’t sound like much, there is plenty of room in the cabin of this 2018 model.

The front seats aren't cramped, but the space is most noticeable in the back seat, where there’s plenty of legroom on offer behind all but the most NBA-ready of drivers.

Up front, there are two cupholders in the central storage area, along with the usual USB and power connections. Backseat riders get their own air vents, and they share another two cupholders hidden in a pull-down divider that separates the rear seat.

There's room in every door for bottles, and two ISOFIX attachment points - one in each window seat in the back. 

The hybrid batteries have been moved from the boot to a new position under the rear seat, where they no longer cut into storage space. The result is a 30-litre jump in boot space, to 524 litres with the rear seats in place.

The Ascent Sport Hybrid is a crisp $31,990, which would also buy you an entry-level Mazda6 or a Hyundai Sonata Active.

In the Toyota, that investment earns you 17-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights and DRLs, auto high-beam lights and keyless entry. Inside, expect cloth seats, standard navigation, dual-zone climate, a better steering wheel and gear shift than in the cheaper models, and a powered driver’s seat.

Your technology is handled by a 7.0-inch touchscreen that pairs with a six-speaker stereo. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are not available, unfortunately, but you do get Bluetooth and the Toyota Link mirroring system, as well as a second, smaller screen in the driver's binnacle.

The Active soldiers on with Hyundai's 2.4-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder, which is good for a reasonable 138kW and 241Nm. The front wheels are driven by the same six-speed auto as before, pushing the Active's 1587kg kerb weight along at a reasonable clip.

Towing capacity is rated at 1300kg braked and 400kg unbraked.

This is a new set-up for the Camry, with the engine, motor and battery combination a fresh design from Toyota. The 2.5-litre hybrid will produce 131kW at 5700rpm and 221Nm at 5200rpm (up by about 13kW/10Nm), and is paired with a CVT auto. The electric motor can add as much as 88KW, but maximum power from both the electric motor and petrol engine is never available together, and the engine's maximum output is listed at 160kW.

Hyundai claims 8.3L/100km on the combined cycle for the Active. I've always found Hyundai figures unusually accurate and we got 8.7L/100km in the week we had it. There is no stop-start trickery to reduce consumption, which explains the baseline figure. It's worth noting that the Sonata makes do quite happily on standard 91 RON fuel, which is a good saving.

Toyota claims an impressive 4.2L/100km on the combined cycle, with emissions pegged at 96g/km of CO2. The Camry’s 60-litre tank demands 95RON fuel.

Hyundai's Australian suspension tuning team gave the Sonata the once over first time around, so the tune hasn't changed for the facelift. That means a plush, easygoing ride that dismisses potholes and speed bumps the way polite company ignores something in your teeth.

It's an effortless thing to drive around in, with smart response from the gearbox and engine when you want a bit of go, yet both are completely unobtrusive otherwise. Passengers will enjoy that ride and while the handling is pretty tidy, it's not going to excite the keen driver. The turbo-engined car is the one to go for if you're a fan of chirping front wheels and powerful overtaking urge.

City driving is as serene as highway running, with little in the way of any wind noise. The engine is a distant drone, easily overcome with the stereo.

The only quirks are the slightly grabby brakes (which require some getting used to), the halogen headlights are still a bit ordinary and the steering is still absurdly light, but that's about it.

Much has been made of Toyota’s mission to make this the sportiest-ever Camry (though to be fair, the bar was set low enough you’d need a limbo world champion to scoot under it), so let’s jump straight to it. Short answer? It is. 

A new global platform (along with a company-wide push for more exciting cars) has given this Japan-built Camry new-found dynamics - aided by what Toyota says is a 30 per cent increase in torsional rigidity across the range.

And yes, it's even good in the hybrid version. In fact, hit the new 'EV Mode' button, which will see you running exclusively on battery power, and the hybrid-powered Sport is positively zippy, sending plenty of torque to the tyres from the moment you touch the accelerator, and genuinely pouncing away from the kerb when you plant your foot. Travel too fast or too far and the petrol engine will kick in automatically, but it’s a cool new feature, and one we found ourselves using often.

Remember, the mission here is not to make the Camry actually sporty, just sporty... for a Camry. And so while the hybrid model never feels like a performance car, its impressively balanced suspension (supple enough over all but the worst surfaces, but equally feeling connected to the road beneath the tyres) and the sorted chassis combine to give a new-found confidence to the driver. 

It's quiet (and more so in EV Mode) and comfortable, too, and you won't need to squeeze your offspring into the backseat. And so while the world has turned to SUVs of all sizes, we found ourselves more than a little bit enamoured with the perks of this mid-size sedan.

The Hybrid Ascent Sport's safety story starts with seven airbags, a reversing camera and the usual suite of braking and traction aids. You'll also find auto emergency braking (AEB), lane-departure warning (with assist) and cruise control, but it does miss out on blind-spot monitoring and rear-cross traffic alert at this trim level. 

The Camry range was awarded the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating when crash tested in 2017.

The Sonata is covered by Hyundai's impressive five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty with 12 months of roadside assist. The Active requires a trip to the dealer every 12 months or 15,000km (the turbo Premium needs a visit every 10,000km).

Hyundai also offers lifetime capped-price servicing. For the first five years, you'll pay $1425 all up - four of the five services are $265 each while the third service jumps to $365.

Toyota offers a three-year/100,000km warranty, and the Camry will require a trip to the service centre every 12 months or 15,000km. Once there, though, Toyota's capped-price servicing program will help keep the costs down, with maintenance limited to $195 per service for the first five years or 75,000km.