First of all, I am not referring to the Sonata Steering recall here. I checked and my vehicle is not affected.

Personally I find that the steering is quite heavy with my vehicle. While it doesn't tend to drift abnormally from the center-line, once the wheel is turned I find it takes quite an effort to hold it in the turn. The worst situation occurs when my drive lane banks to the right or left. It takes considerable effort, I feel, to retain the vehicle in a straight line while it is leaning right or left. It wants to veer strongly in the direction of the lean. I also feel that minor steering corrections require excessive effort. This could be quite tiring over a long drive. Perhaps the problem could be stemming from the electronic power steering system or from my Korean tires with nitrogen. I have not discovered a similar report of heavy steering on the Web. I would be interested in knowing if anyone has any similar instances.

I find the headlight beam to be inadequate, expecially on dark county roads. I understand HID bulbs are not recommended for this vehicle. Does anyone know of an alternative?

I'm comparing the steering and headlight characteristics with my recent car of 10 years. Has something changed over that period of time that I should be aware of?

I would like to have a Hyundai engineer or local representative contact me concerning these issues since i consider them both to be safety-related.

PS: I have had a Hyundai dealer check the steering and headlights and they were reported as "within specifications".

 

Things are kind of slow here in this forum aren't they?

It sounds to me like your power steering may not be adjusting itself the way it should.
At low, parking lot speeds, ours is too easy --- you can almost spin the steering wheel with one finger. No "feel" at all.
I happen to like the way the steering firms way up at higher speeds and feels more like manual steering. To me, this generates a connection to the front wheels that is simply NOT there at lower speeds.
Yours may be making too much of an adjustment and lowering the pressure to the steering gears too much, generating more resistance.
I can assure you though that there IS a vast difference between the steering feel at low and highway speeds --- again, I like ours to do that.

The headlights? I expected better in a new car like this. Hyundai, I guess put their development $$'s elsewhere at first. I'd look for HID's on next year's model, and maybe the headlights won't cost an arm and 1/2 a leg.
On my previous car, the projector beam HID headlights cost over $1,000 ---- EACH!

 

Thanks for the advice, Ice Blue.

That steering problem really perplexes me. I drove a Sonata demo model at a dealer recently and it reacted the same way. I've been 'around the block' a few times and have never experienced steering that heavy before. When I try to hold the wheel on a long turn at highway speeds the wheel exerts, what I feel to be, excessive pressure to turn the wheel in the opposite direction. I've got to keep both hands with a tight grip on the wheel. It feels similar to the resistance you feel as you substantially pull apart opposite ends of a rubber band. The more you pull the greater the resistance. I realize steering is set heavier at higher speeds, but really! Do you think there is any way the steering boost can be adjusted to lighten it? Maybe it's a software issue. Or maybe my nitrogen-filled Korean tires may have something to do with the situation. Another confusing issue with me is the fact that I cannot find another Sonata owner on the Web who is experiencing the same problem as I am. In fact, several owners list 'light steering' as a problem.

I've been checking into the headlight problem. I hesitate to drive the car at night on dark roads. Recently at night I drove right by a familiar turn I was supposed to make. I just didn't see it. I've never missed that turn before. I've been reading about other dissastified customers regarding this issue. The way I figure it I have 3 options: 1: Wait for the 2012 models in the hope there will be a HID kit retrofit, 2: Install an HID kit now and 3: Install "new and improved" halogen bulbs.

Right now I'm considering PIAA halogen replacements that are supposed to increase output while decreasing the operating temperatures of the OEM bulbs. But I have some doubts.

I understand there may be some legal issue regarding the conversion to HID bulbs. And some kits are only recommended for off-road use.

What say ye?

 

I have also been experiencing a problem with the headlights on dark country roads. It seems as if the interior reflector or bulb housing is blocking off the top part of the beam. As a result I see a sharp horizontal shadow or black zone that begins about 2 feet off the ground. When you come to the bottom of a hill or dip your forward field of view is reduced to just a few feet. To make it even worse, your eyes adjust to the brighter, bottom part of your field of view and when you look above everything looks black. It creates the impression that a sun shade has been lowered over the top 2/3rds of the windshield. Not only can you not see street signs, but if a deer or a dog or, even worse, a pedestrian crosses in front of you, you will not be able to see them!

You can also see the problem if you pull into your darkened garage or in front of a wall on a level, dark parking lot - You can see a distinct shadow that begins about 2 feet off the ground. Everything below this line is brightly lit and everything above it is unlit.

This is a very dangerous safety problem that Hyundai needs to address immediately. I took my Sonata back to the dealer yesterday to have it checked and they reported that there is no way to adjust the headlights. They also checked another 2011 Sonata and found it was the same. They measured the light field in front of the car and found that at 140 inches forward of the centerline of the front wheel the lights only shone upward to a height of 23 inches. I've reported this problem to Hyundai Customer Affairs but so far they are just treating it as a "suggestion" for future model changes. I've asked them to check all their other 2011 models and see if the Sonata lights are consistent with the others.

 

Works as designed.

That's the way modern headlights operate. It's done to prevent other drivers from being blinded. And NO it's NOT unsafe to the driver. It's worse to blind all oncoming traffic and the car in front of you. Modern headlights do a much better job illuminating the road.

The Elantra has the same characteristics:
https://www.hyundaiforum.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=9080