Let’s start with a quick quiz: Which vehicle has close to 300 horsepower, outstanding handling, a cozy ride, distinguished design, and an expansive interior with seating capacity for five? One would easily think of Audi A4 S-Line or Alfa Romeo Giulia. But when you further narrow your choice to vehicles with an estimated cost of less than $33,300*. Then, and only then you won’t find any vehicle that perfectly fits the brief than the 2021 Hyundai Sonata N Line. The Sonata N Line could comfortably stand toe-to-toe with brands like the Toyota Camry TRD and Honda Accord 2.0T Sport. Mechanically, it’s very identical with Kia K5 GT, but knowledgeable car freaks know better which luxury car to compare with it. There are so much good qualities to talk about in 2021 Sonata N-Line. Starting with the turbocharged 2.5L straight-four with 290 hp and 311 pound-feet, 27 MPG, and a whole lot of luxury feature in. It also shines in qualitative measures, with its elegant behavior, impressive design, and fast driving-personality providing that required excitement for everyone on board.
Styling is personal to taste and fashion, but I categorically have an unbroken love for the Hyundai Sonata’s simple shape. The slanted front end, elliptical side window opening, and big tail lights reminds me of the car I had driven much earlier, a 1996 Ford Taurus, which makes me drawn to the Korean sedan family. Although the Sonata offers better experience I had. Its front end showcasing a check-shaped headlight, LED lighting that fades into a rare chrome hood reflection. A huge grille openings and aero ducts sporting N Line–moniker v-shaped inflections. Since the Sonata debuted in 2020 its modern, aggressive side profile has made many enthusiasts comes to love that arching shoulder line, which has been begging for more attractive rolling stock and the N Line has obliged. Just take a close look at the 19 inch wheels and you’ll notice a well-finished whirling decoration linked with some gloss dark Y-spoke webbing, a design that is in contestably elaborate. A subtle boot spoiler, and N-specific exhaust vents contained in a glossy dark diffuser round out the exterior changes, turning the already individual Sonata into a lively sport sedan.
The interior of the Sonata N Line is equipped with the same 10.3-inch touchscreen and a 12.3-inch digital gauge as the limited model. Unique to the sporty trim are a pair of reassuring, well-reinforced interior container seats and a rear seat covered with good quality Nappa leather work with Dinamica insertions. The seats, armrests, and steering wheel get subtle red accent embroidery, which helps to underscore the vehicle’s stimulating intents. The front-row passengers enjoy the best treatment, with those trim-specific stacks providing the best poise of long-haul luxury and twisty-road support of anything in the Hyundai lineup. Heated seats are standard too – perfect for an early Sunday gorge blast. Space up front is near the top of the class, with 46.1 inches of legroom with outlasts that of its major competitions like the Camry TRD and others. Also the 40.0 inches of front headroom are the best compared to its competitions like the Camry TRD.
The back seat exudes of such pleasantness, with that Nappa/Dinamica combination, the legroom for the rear seat passenger is only 34.8 inches. We must give it to those big wheels and a sport-tuned suspension, although ride comfort is visibly conceded in comparison with other vehicles within the Sonata family. Aside from that the N Line does a great job of overpowering little impacts like rough paving and expansion joints, and it transmits more bumps with a distinctly Teutonic thump. That is not a terrible surprise though. The 2021 Hyundai Sonata ranks as one of the best in relation to tech for midsize vehicles. Especially on trims, as mentioned earlier the N Line is equipped with a 10.3-inch visibly positioned infotainment display touchscreen and a 12.3-inch gauge device, which delivers good looking graphics, decently fast processing, and good response to touch inputs. This makes Hyundai’s infotainment system superior to that of its competitors, Although Hyundai requires a cord for connection compared with Mazda’s wireless Apple CarPlay, which is snag with the 2021 Hyundai Sonata N-Line under review.
Though, the Sonata’s digital gauge device look brittle and sleek (especially when switching from regular to sport modes, which causes that explosive sign of caution signal on the tachometer and speedometer), it would have been better if they provided more variety in design. The analog-style instruments themselves remain the same, except the mode detailed color fluctuations. If Hyundai wants to replace analog gauges with a screen, it would have been better done properly what it is presently? As capable in daily-driving circumstances as it is, the 2021 Hyundai Sonata N Line shows an unbelievable fondness for meandering roads. The mini sedan is a front-wheel-drive, a rather unusual oversight given the segmented AWD flexibility on vehicles like the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia K5 GT-Line, but then, Hyundai went to a long way to hide the Sonata’s product frames in quest for a backroad excellence. Hyundai production team didn’t stop after they managed to squeeze more power out of the Sonata N Line’s engine. Surely, the Sonata N Line is one of those initial models that feature the novel dual-clutch auto transmission (DCT) to aid the funneling of all the extra power to the vehicle’s front wheels. After all, an engine is only as powerful as the transmission to which it is matched.
Not only is the N Line’s DCT exclusive to the Sonata lineup, but it is also distinct because it is a “wet” design. Different from a dry setup, a wet design uses oil to increase lubrication and cooling performance in high-torque functions. Hyundai makes a statement with this wet DCT resulting in better thermal strength and compact direct dependent drag on the powertrain, which can be put in simple words as having the ability to run warmer without power losses. In some way, the not too perfect suspension setup is even more imposing than the powertrain. firmer suspension bushings and a bracket-positioned power steering mechanism improves turn-in response, which is just as reliable as any front-wheel vehicle. Turning grip from the optional summer tires is astonishing, with a 245-millimeter section size front and rear. The N Line–specific mono-tube bumpers, bigger front and rear sway barriers, and solid back springs makes the Sonata come alive with a much more neutral handling behavior, even allowing some gentle lift-throttle oversteer when desired.
In tight bends, the inside front tire lightens up like a flint fire starter with the slightest acceleration, which produces some unfortunate post-apex understeer. Hyundai’s brake-based system could provide the solution here. The Sonata N Line is an absolute delight on a meandering road, mainly one with full turns that help hide its tractive deficiencies. All Sonata vehicles are well equipped with automatic emergency braking system, adaptive cruise control, lane maintenance assist, lane departure assist, and brilliant LED headlamps with auto-high beams. In additional, the N Line also features blind spot monitoring (a mirror-positioned caution signal and a camera display in the digital gauge collection). The N-Line is also equipped with highway drive assist, which combines both lane positioning and adaptive cruise in one bundle. It also has the ability to cause the car to slowdown gently before making its way into an expressway curve.
The N-Line estimated fuel economy rating is put at 23 city, 33 highway, and 27 combined MPG. It’s more efficient than the Honda Accord 2.0T Sport and Mazda6 Grand Touring 2.5 Turbo (26 mpg combined).