An already good Hyundai Sonata gets better

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html

Sacramento, California -- I've long liked the Hyundai Sonata, considering it the darn-near perfect midsize sedan.

Affordable, stylish, smooth, agile....And since it's a Hyundai product, the typical Sonata is stuffed with numerous perks and features that you would pay a lot more for in a competitive model.  Oh, don't forget the super-generous Hyundai warranties.

For the 2018 model year, the Sonata gets an extensive reworking.  Don't worry; all of the previously mentioned positives remain, bolstered by some smart upgrades from Hyundai.

The latest-generation Sonata looks sportier with nicely done redesigns on the front and back ends of the vehicle.  New wheel designs are offered as well.

My tester was the 2018 Sonata Limited 2.0T, which means it was not only loaded but a road tamer with a 245-horsepower turbo-4 under the hood.  I wasn't used to blazing around fellow motorists in a Sonata, but I quickly adjusted to it ... and liked it a lot.

Power was dished up smoothly via an eight-speed automatic transmission, and the Sonata's familiar agility made it easy to dice around city and suburban traffic without any close calls or uncomfortable lane changes.  A very nice daily driver, this one.

Gas mileage was pretty fair at 23 miles per gallon in the city and 32 mpg on the highway.  As I'm writing this, I'm trying to think of something to dislike about the car ... Uh, I'm still thinking.  Not feeling hopeful about a snarky comment to come.

So let's move inside to the comfortable, surprisingly roomy interior.  Per usual, everything is laid out in orderly fashion, with a nicely spaced, clearly labeled center stack of controls.  Good vision is a given from the driver's seat.  Passengers who made an airport run with me praised the experience.

Said passengers had suitcases and carry-on bags in tow, and the Sonata's trunk easily swallowed them up, and still had room for plenty more.  Impressive.

With all this, the tester's bottom line came in at a still-reasonable $33,460.

Throw in outstanding federal safety ratings -- including a max five stars on the overall vehicle score -- and you know why this Sonata compares favorably with other monster-selling midsize models such as the Toyota Camry.