Forrest Gump, in all of his wisdom, once told us that life was like a box chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get. And he’s right about that, especially when it comes to a literal box of chocolates. The problem, of course, is that not knowing can be pretty anxiety-producing sometimes. Will you get the delicious raspberry-filled chocolate, or the one filled with toothpaste? They all look the same from the outside.

And that’s the problem with Gump’s analogy—you might not know what you’re going to get, but in most cases we can see what life is throwing at us. A car crash looks like a car crash. A winning lottery ticket looks like a winning lottery ticket. Those two things don’t look anything like each other, and that’s a good thing. But on the outside, those stupid chocolates are identical. Things aren’t always quite so mysterious.

So why, then, should both the hybrid and non-hybrid versions of the Hyundai Sonata 2011 look exactly the same? If you went to a Delray Beach Hyundai dealership in the coming months and tried to decide between the two, you might have issues because literally the only difference between them is what’s under the hood.

Or is it?

For most makes and models that would be the case, but not for the new Sonata. Unlike the others, this hybrid has been given special design elements to distinguish it from its gas-guzzling brother. For one, the front end is almost entirely different. It’s more aerodynamic (better for gas mileage, too), but also has unique headlights and taillights. Also, there are a number of paint options you can only get with the hybrid Sonata, no matter how much the drivers of all-gas Sonatas may whine and beg. It’s even got a different grille and wheel spokes.

What makes this particular hybrid even more interesting is the fact that it’s designed to optimize energy efficiency on the highway instead of in town, ulike all the other hybrids. This car can go up to 62mph on battery power alone. Others recharge batteries during starts and stops, but this car can go for long stretches and high speeds and still get the most money for drivers’ gas dollars.

So was Gump full of baloney, or was there a nugget of truth in his “chocolate” remarks? I think it’s probably a little of both.

Labels: Delray Beach Hyundai dealership, Hyundai Sonata 2011