Usually, when a face-lift model is launched, it has a new grille and an added cup holder. But this time the Hyundai Sonata sedan has a new grille, new headlamps and lower, wider bumpers. I note the bumpers have chrome trim, a nice retro touch, and chrome elements appear on the middle and rear of the body.

On top of all that, they offer a completely new engine, a second-generation 2.4-liter CVVT with double overhead camshafts and promising 174 horsepower along with 23.5kgm torque, a 12 percent increase over the previous Sonata. We saw some of that power on Shek O Road.     

In fact, as I had not driven a Sonata for several years, the entire car was new to me.

The interior is impressive, with a big-car feeling, and unexpected luxuries, including a driver’s seat that adjusts eight ways electrically.  Add the sunroof, sunglasses holder, and other small touches for a nice interior finish.

For the driver, there is a classy steering wheel, half-leather, half-wood trim. The wood reappears on the gear shifter, across the fascia and on the front door caps.

The driver also has a new instrument cluster and streamlined console design, while everybody in the car gets the all-new (or is it face-lifted?) audio system with USB and iPod connections in addition to the usual CD player and radio tuner, with LCD screen to monitor the entertainment. 

I decided to get rolling. Soon I was gliding through Causeway Bay’s congested traffic, keeping timidly to the automatic mode of the five-speed transmission.

On the East Island Corridor the Sonata felt good at 70 kmh, again the feeling of the junior executive sedan, with room for five adults, but actually better for four.

We swung off onto Shek O Road and I switched to the “Manual” mode of the transmission. I liked it right away, and used it throughout exciting part of the test.  At first I used the Manual more for engine braking as we crawled behind a bus.

Then a stretch of road opened up without a solid white line. I floored the accelerator and overtook so decisively the other vehicle appeared to be in reverse. And I found I had also shifted up twice.

With adrenaline tingling, we passed the entrance to the road where I had taken the Hyundai Santa Fe all the way down to the old Cable & Wireless installation on the cape.

Now, I was using the Sonata’s Manual mode for engine braking as we cruised down the twisty bits to Shek O and on to Big Wave Bay. There we stopped to take photos and watch other photo-shoots. The parking lot is like an outdoor studio.

Heading back we passed the lush green of the golf course into Shek O Village. My handling test was going around the parking lot with parked cars as cones. The Sonata handles well.

Heading back past the golf course I suddenly let go the steering wheel and hit the brakes as hard as possible to see what the car itself would do. The Sonata came to a perfect stop, with no pull to right or left. Full marks!          

We had a serious burst of power going up the hill, provided by the 2.4-liter Theta II engine, which promises 174 horsepower at 6,000 rpm. It also provided me plenty of adrenaline to fuel a serious road-holding test, but we were blocked by a slow-moving car filled with kids, so we relaxed and enjoyed the deadly downhill curves at a moderate pace, testing the audio system, which is integrated with the facia and features a radio, MP3 system, CD player and a built in changer for six CDs.

We were also testing Hyundai’s active geometry control suspension. AGCS raises cornering ability to new levels. Two electronically controlled actuators automatically adjust the rear suspension control arms to aid in cornering at the limits of adhesion.

All too soon we were back in the city, back to Automatic mode of the transmission and back to the all-new Hyundai showroom on Tung Lo Wan Road.

For the family or the junior executive, I recommend a test drive of the all-face-lifted Hyundai Sonata.