2010 Hyundai Santa Fe, Sonata to get direct-inject four-cylinder engines
by Sam Abuelsamid on Jun 18th 2009 at 5:31PM 
2010 Hyundai Sonata being evaluated on a Detroit area freeway
Hyundai's Montgomery, AL factory added production of four-cylinder engines last year, but recently the engine line has been getting some upgrades. Evidently, Hyundai is getting ready to add direct injection to its 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. Like other DI engines, the revised version gets increased power along with lower fuel consumption. The DI four cylinder will debut in the refreshed 2010 Santa Fe this fall. Next year, when the completely redesigned Sonata goes into production, it will also get the DI engine.
Power from the DI four cylinder gets bumped from 176 to 200 hp, and it will likely get around 5-10% better gas mileage. The all-new Sonata will be unveiled at the LA Auto Show in November. Next year a hybrid model will join the lineup, as well.
[Source: Montgomery Advertiser]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
MemphisNET 5:38PM (6/18/2009)
What are with the wheels on this mule?
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Rob 5:41PM (6/18/2009)
Regular 5 spokes. iPhones and other smartphones take weird pictures of stuff moving at high speed.
pio!pio! 5:58PM (6/18/2009)
LOL it's like a starfish getting whipped around
ugg.tryptophan 6:04PM (6/18/2009)
those are really disturbing
Farmboy 6:10PM (6/18/2009)
iPhone no doubt. Or they were stolen from Chrysler or a Chinese gov't owned maker. :D
MemphisNET 6:09PM (6/18/2009)
Wow, I'm tired... I thought the car was standing still for some reason. *laughs*
efmvii 6:29PM (6/18/2009)
imagine trying to balance those wheels if they were actually like that :P
John R 6:34PM (6/18/2009)
Don't you know Sonata wheels warp space-time?
BoneHeadOtto 8:28AM (6/19/2009)
I highly doubt the wheels look like that due to a cheap camera. To get a movind wheel to look like that the camera would need to take multiple images in rapid succession with an extremely fast exposure. That way multiple in focus images would be compiled into that in focus but distorted wheel. But digital cameras do not work this way. This must be the actual shape of the wheels on this mule. Just look at how the two objectionable sokes are wider than the other three, and how the lug nuts are positioned the same relative to the spokes.
It is possible to make ballanced asymetric looking wheels. (and GM proved with the camaro you can do the opposite :)
Just google "teddy bear wheels" to see an example
Mehdi Cheddadi 6:09PM (6/18/2009)
lol
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xtasi 7:28PM (6/18/2009)
I don't know what the cost per engine is to ad DI, some manufactures claim that it's too much. I hope that DI engines move down (price points) so that we all get more power and better gas mileage. Hyundai has been on a roll lately, good for them! With better cars from them, we all win... other manufacturers need to step up their game.Competition is good for the consumer.
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StickShift 8:00PM (6/18/2009)
Is it just me or are the Japanese getting left behind in the drivetrain tech race lately? GM introduces a DI Ecotec in the Equinox (which will probably migrate down to the Malibu), Ford's EcoBoost motors are coming online and double clutch manuals are on the way. and now the Koreans have stepped up to DI too.
What are Honda and Toyota going to do to keep up?
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jsjs 10:21PM (6/18/2009)
A few Hyundai/Kia models in Europe already have the ISG (stop&go) system - it probably will be a couple of years before we see that tech filter down to USDM Hyundai/Kia models (as usual).
Iwa 12:31AM (6/19/2009)
Honda has been experimenting with direct injection for ten years. Honda has stated that their i-Vtec i, their current direct inject engine, is in production but haven't stated which vehicle it'll be placed into. My guess is it will be a Civic since it's a 2.0L engine.
Psychogun 2:29AM (6/19/2009)
Mitsubishi was the first to mass-produce gasoline direct injection engines back in 1996. They built over one million GDI engines before the idiots implanted from Daimler virtually killed the R&D in 2002 (to focus on GEMA) and finally ordered production to cease in 2004.
Further, it needs to be noted that Hyundai licensed GDI technology from Mitsubishi.
http://www.sae.org/automag/globalview_03-00/04.htm
Toyota also deployed its D4 engines in 1998 and currently Lexus uses both GDI and PFI in its 3.5l V6.
Noah 9:01PM (6/18/2009)
200hp? Doubt that. I'm thinking 185, though 15 hp isn't a huge difference.
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MikeW 10:16PM (6/18/2009)
Exactly. GM 'promised' 200hp from their 2.4 DI, what did they get, 182.
How much torque, 177ft-lbs?
Holden Miecranc 11:12PM (6/18/2009)
Seeing as the standard 2.4 has 175HP, the DI 2.4 will probably wind up with 192 - 195 HP, unless the make some additional mods.
BigWill 11:27PM (6/18/2009)
The non-DI World 2.4 in the current Sonata puts out 175 hp so even a 15 hp improvement would take it to 190, which would trump the GM 2.4 and the Santa Fe's direct competitor from Toyota - the 4-cyl 2.7 Highlander.
As for the cost of DI, Hyundai is rapidly putting DI in across the line when revising engines so I'd expect they're keeping costs in check simply because of the volume of parts they're buying - this engine, the 1.6L GDI turbo in the new Tucson (overseas at least), the Genesis' Tau 5.0 variant, and possibly the upcoming 3.5 Lambda V6 that's coming in the new Kia Sorrento and will be the upgrade engine for the new Sonata.
P.V. 10:29PM (6/18/2009)
Wow. That's a lot of power for a non-turbocharged economy midsize sedan. Also, AFAIK DI is expensive, so either Hyundai is ready to move even more upscale (even with the bread-and-butter Sonata) or it has figured out how to make DI extremely cost-effective. Either way, bring them on, Hyundai!
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