Hyundai Sonata (2015)

[teomingern]

Ventus Evo series has different types like prime etc but itâs around 120 and above for 16 inch. From memory should be less than 200. So for 18 inches most probably high 200 also. Then one thing is you go Hankook they will sell you the membership. $100+ a year, 10% off tyres and free tyre fix etc. As long as you spend above 1k then technically the membership is free ma... why donât join haha because of this I join the damn membership twice lol

Can join twice one meh? You mean each time you changed tires? 10% off quite significant actually... ha ha... but offset by the membership? I rather have lower prices...

[Alfc]

Ventus Evo series has different types like prime etc but it’s around 120 and above for 16 inch. From memory should be less than 200. So for 18 inches most probably high 200 also. Then one thing is you go Hankook they will sell you the membership. $100+ a year, 10% off tyres and free tyre fix etc. As long as you spend above 1k then technically the membership is free ma... why don’t join haha because of this I join the damn membership twice lol

 

I remember joining that when I bought my first Hankook tyres more than 10 years back haha... after that never really bother. Think it is the Optimo series....

 

Now my tyres cost almost twice what I spent on my previous 1.6L cars. But already prepared as it is part and puzzle of the upgrade to a bigger car and the nice 18* rim (fuel, road tax, maintenance etc) to enjoy a better drive. Anyway if the tyres are good for use over 3 years, I think the incremental annual cost is reasonable since already sunk in $10k per year (depre). If not, I would have stuck to 1.6L or compromise the rim which defeat the whole purpose of upgrading. 

[Josephling]

Can join twice one meh? You mean each time you changed tires? 10% off quite significant actually... ha ha... but offset by the membership? I rather have lower prices...

Yeah I changed rims and tyres with Hankook twice throughout my Avante’s 10 years. Other times I changed other brands likes Bridgestone and never change rims. Hankook has package with rims and tyres. Each time you become member the 10% is immediate so anything above 1k, it’s considered ‘free’. Lol then they give freebies like umbrella all that. No discounts or lower prices until u become member haha so they really hard sell that!

I remember joining that when I bought my first Hankook tyres more than 10 years back haha... after that never really bother. Think it is the Optimo series....

 

Now my tyres cost almost twice what I spent on my previous 1.6L cars. But already prepared as it is part and puzzle of the upgrade to a bigger car and the nice 18* rim (fuel, road tax, maintenance etc) to enjoy a better drive. Anyway if the tyres are good for use over 3 years, I think the incremental annual cost is reasonable since already sunk in $10k per year (depre). If not, I would have stuck to 1.6L or compromise the rim which defeat the whole purpose of upgrading.

Yeah it’s part and parcel of an upgrade. Just spend some more money and enjoy the ride. But let’s share info so that we spend in an informed way lol

[Alfc]

Might be a bit more... cos ours 18 inches... that $200 might be for standard 16 inches... I don't really know cos the ad put $200 and gave 3 sizes from 16-18 inches with various profiles... you know ads, right? Sometimes deliberately misleading... heh...

I see. Keep us posted when you eventually change and chance upon some good deals.

Right now, cant really see the general prices of better tyres falling much for our profile/size despite it getting more common.

 

More models are using this size now, I kinda suspect this profile is a better compromise between handling (235 wide width) and comfort (45 not too low profile).

Edited April 13, 2019 by Alfc

[teomingern]

I see. Keep us posted when you eventually change and chance upon some good deals.

Right now, cant really see the general prices of better tyres falling much for our profile/size despite it getting more common.

 

More models are using this size now, I kinda suspect this profile is a better compromise between handling (235 wide width) and comfort (45 not too low profile).

Definitely will post here...

 

The commonest size for 18 inch rims are 245/45/18... ours are kind of odd size actually... but I like that the width is slightly narrower cos save some fuel lar... ha ha... I think also helps to reduce aquaplaning...

 

My experience on NSHW and other car rentals with wider tires is that our narrower tires also reduces tramlining at very high speeds... to be very honest, the steering feel of our car is quite crap at very high speeds... our steering wheel becomes very heavy at around 160 km/h and above but it doesn't provide much feedback so at very high speed what you don't want is a numb steering wheel that doesn't tell you what's going on at the front wheels... you yank on the steering wheel cos you need to zip through a gap between two heavy vehicles on the highway at maybe 170 km/h and what you need is subtle adjustments through gentle tugs at the helm, but... you don't really get that.. the narrower tires helps to reduce this feel... I feel subjectively that the reluctance to steer is lower compared to wider tires which I have tried - namely 245/45/18 (US Ford Focus) and 255/45/19 (I think, can't remember, it was turbo-charged Volvo S60 in Belgium/Bremen/Amsterdam tour circuit I drove)... those cars have equally numb steering lar... so I can relate to our Sonata... wah ha ha ha... an earlier trip I drove a huge Ford Falcon V8 4.0 L which had even more massive tires... but I don't recall much now how they felt but that was the first time I really knew what tramlining was... scary stuff...

[Alfc]

Definitely will post here...

 

The commonest size for 18 inch rims are 245/45/18... ours are kind of odd size actually... but I like that the width is slightly narrower cos save some fuel lar... ha ha... I think also helps to reduce aquaplaning...

 

My experience on NSHW and other car rentals with wider tires is that our narrower tires also reduces tramlining at very high speeds... to be very honest, the steering feel of our car is quite crap at very high speeds... our steering wheel becomes very heavy at around 160 km/h and above but it doesn't provide much feedback so at very high speed what you don't want is a numb steering wheel that doesn't tell you what's going on at the front wheels... you yank on the steering wheel cos you need to zip through a gap between two heavy vehicles on the highway at maybe 170 km/h and what you need is subtle adjustments through gentle tugs at the helm, but... you don't really get that.. the narrower tires helps to reduce this feel... I feel subjectively that the reluctance to steer is lower compared to wider tires which I have tried - namely 245/45/18 (US Ford Focus) and 255/45/19 (I think, can't remember, it was turbo-charged Volvo S60 in Belgium/Bremen/Amsterdam tour circuit I drove)... those cars have equally numb steering lar... so I can relate to our Sonata... wah ha ha ha... an earlier trip I drove a huge Ford Falcon V8 4.0 L which had even more massive tires... but I don't recall much now how they felt but that was the first time I really knew what tramlining was... scary stuff...

Wah seem like you have a lot of experience with big cc cars.

Most of the the rental car had tyres that are not exactly high-spec type, which also compromise the handling ability.

The difference is manifested when you go high speed or in emergency situations. That is when the "good" tyres are important.

 

The steering feel has always been a weakness of Hyundai cars, even higher up the range like the Sonata. It is only this generation that saw some marked improvement, presumingly from the import of German "talents". I drove the i45 (YF) for a while in Australia and the difference compared to the LF is very noticeable. More important to me is that the current handling is decent up to 120-130km/h which is good enough as I hardly venture any speed higher (even though the stated top speed is 200km/h haha). 

[Alfc]

Finally found the youtube that has the after market headunit installation done locally in SG. 

Wonder if it works the same for pioneer sets...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHm2DBUiSbc

Edited April 14, 2019 by Alfc

[teomingern]

Wah seem like you have a lot of experience with big cc cars.

Most of the the rental car had tyres that are not exactly high-spec type, which also compromise the handling ability.

The difference is manifested when you go high speed or in emergency situations. That is when the "good" tyres are important.

 

The steering feel has always been a weakness of Hyundai cars, even higher up the range like the Sonata. It is only this generation that saw some marked improvement, presumingly from the import of German "talents". I drove the i45 (YF) for a while in Australia and the difference compared to the LF is very noticeable. More important to me is that the current handling is decent up to 120-130km/h which is good enough as I hardly venture any speed higher (even though the stated top speed is 200km/h haha).

Nice! I never rode in the i45 before... nice to know that the steering has become better... but my Subaru Impreza was very obviously better despite being one class down...

 

Most rental cars have decent tires... I have only used Hertz and their cars are really new... and so the tires are very new as well... my family tends to rent at least a mid-sized saloon for most our trips... it's only the recent Europe trip I used economy cars like the Seat Ibiza...

 

My most recent trip up north was last Nov in my Sonata... stable and very comfortable up to 170 km/h... 180 km/h was quite good... unfortunately difficult to maintain this speed for long... just too much traffic up north... even after Ipoh... I drove right up to Penang... shiok at 170 km/h... my wife kept reminding me to slow down... so my average was usually 150-160 km/h... the Solus XC are pretty good I must say...

[Josephling]

Finally found the youtube that has the after market headunit installation done locally in SG.

Wonder if it works the same for pioneer sets...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHm2DBUiSbc

Damn this is a nice HU! Also android HU but it’s big! Takes up the whole thing so probably a 10-12 inch.

[teomingern]

Yup super nice... super big... but at night super bright or not? Can be very glaring and irritating... ha ha ha... if my stock head unit die, sure find this for replacement...

[Josephling]

Yup super nice... super big... but at night super bright or not? Can be very glaring and irritating... ha ha ha... if my stock head unit die, sure find this for replacement...

Lol Android HU can adjust brightness so no worries. It’s just a matter of whether you are poisoned enough to make the change. If you really buei tahan, perfectly working also got problem. Lol.

[Josephling]

Debut of the Sonata 2020

 

[teomingern]

Lol Android HU can adjust brightness so no worries. Itâs just a matter of whether you are poisoned enough to make the change. If you really buei tahan, perfectly working also got problem. Lol.

Ha ha ha... no lar... I'm the practical sort... for your Android head unit, does it come with an ambient light sensor like for a phone? Cos I can imagine at 12 inches, if it doesn't auto dim at night, it would be super glaring and then by day, you can't see a thing... my stock head unit doesn't do this auto dim, so at night it's pretty annoying... interestingly our meter cluster has an ambient light sensor... even works in the road tunnels...

[Alfc]

Ha ha ha... no lar... I'm the practical sort... for your Android head unit, does it come with an ambient light sensor like for a phone? Cos I can imagine at 12 inches, if it doesn't auto dim at night, it would be super glaring and then by day, you can't see a thing... my stock head unit doesn't do this auto dim, so at night it's pretty annoying... interestingly our meter cluster has an ambient light sensor... even works in the road tunnels...

 

My stock head unit has a display backlight setting for daytime and nighttime separately under the display setting. Yours should be the same right?

So I set 2 settings:  brighter for day time and dimmer for night time. It works but anyway for me I will always off the display screen cause I have always preferred minimalist with a blank screen be it day or night unless I use the GPS.

[teomingern]

My stock head unit has a display backlight setting for daytime and nighttime separately under the display setting. Yours should be the same right?

So I set 2 settings:  brighter for day time and dimmer for night time. It works but anyway for me I will always off the display screen cause I have always preferred minimalist with a blank screen be it day or night unless I use the GPS.

 

Oh? I see... must explore... this day or night setting - is it time based or light based?

[Alfc]

Oh? I see... must explore... this day or night setting - is it time based or light based?

 

I think it does not have light sensor.

Not 100% sure as I never bother to verify this but it should either be time-based (based on your clock setting) or it could be linked to the car headlight switch. i.e it goes into dim mode when the headlights are turned on. I suspect the speedo lights works on this principle. The "intelligence" light sensor is actually the auto headlight function or even when you manually turn on the headlights, it also dims the speedo light and HU.

Edited April 26, 2019 by Alfc

[teomingern]

I think it does not have light sensor.

Not 100% sure as I never bother to verify this but it should either be time-based (based on your clock setting) or it could be linked to the car headlight switch. i.e it goes into dim mode when the headlights are turned on. I suspect the speedo lights works on this principle. The "intelligence" light sensor is actually the auto headlight function or even when you manually turn on the headlights, it also dims the speedo light and HU.

 

Actually no leh... even when my lights are manually off, the meter cluster lighting dims in a tunnel... I need to verify that though... it's been some time since I tested it... 3 years to be exact... hahaha...

[teomingern]

 

Left side rear light cluster leaking water after rain. Brought back to Komoco yesterday. Waited 2.5 hours for them to take the car in to inspect... result: replace under warranty... got wait between 4-6 weeks for the light to arrive from Korea.

 

Hyundai always has good warranty policies... my car is 3 years old now...