As a fan of German cars, I find this weirdly offensive. It's not because I don't like Hyundai, just that the Golf GTI shouldn't be touched by a regular sedan like the Sonata.
This isn't your dad's car though, as the race was organized in Korea and uses the very best version available. The Sonata Turbo is equipped with a 2-liter turbocharged engine, just like the Golf, only it delivers 245 PS.
As I suggested in the title, this race is a really weird one. The Golf GTI is said to have 211 PS, which is wrong – it's supposed to have 220 PS or 230 PS with an optional feature. Yet we checked, the Korean importer website and they're right, it really does have 211 PS. The torque number is correct, 35.7 kgf-m, equivalent to exactly 350 Nm.
We shouldn't forget the fact that Sonata sedans are much larger, competing for size with the Passat. In this test, the Golf is a massive 150 kilograms lighter and it has the superior gearbox as well: DSG versus simple 6-speed automatic. And yet…
As you're about to see, the Sonata Turbo leaves the Golf GTI and an Audi A4 for dead off the line. Here comes the conspiracy theory: the Koreans "forgot" to use launch control, which would have give the GTI and advantage.
Of course, there could be something wrong with the ECO map of the Korean-spec Golf. However, this video does prove that the Sonata Turbo is seriously fast for a big sedan. It might be worth your money, considering the size of the boot and how cool the body kit makes it look.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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