The Hyundai Santa Fe has built a strong reputation in the SUV sector, and like many others in its segment, has grown in both physical as well as sales stature.
John Oxley reports on the latest version.
Hyundai is calling it the Series II, and the concentration on what is essentially a major facelift has been on improving quality while at the same time reducing noise, vibration and harshness (NVH).
“It’s like a whole new vehicle as far as driveability is concerned,” says general manager Andy Sinclair, adding that the Santa Fe also gets a whole raft of new technology designed to help the driver, including blind spot warning, lane change warning and autonomous braking.
He added that the Santa Fe continues to dominate the large SUV segment, especially when rental sales are excluded from the count.
Although there has been a raft of changes in this latest Santa Fe, the well-proven 147kW/440Nm 2.2-litre R-series turbo-diesel engines remain much as before except for slight fuel efficiency improvements; however the 2.4-litre direct injection petrol motor found in some models has got an 11 percent power boost and 7 percent torque hike to 138kW/241Nm. The 3.3-litre V6 in front-wheel drive versions is unchanged at 199kW/318Nm.
However, suspensions have been enhanced and tweaked across the range, and there’s the inclusion of ESP Plus, which makes allowances for driving on loose surfaces such as gravel or snow.
The autonomous braking system (on Elite Ltd) uses both radar and a camera to bring the car to a complete halt from 80km/h if it senses the driver isn’t going to respond to a potential crash.
Other new features include a power tailgate, which opens automatically when the proximity key (which can be kept in a pocket or purse) is a metre from the rear of the vehicle.
Satellite navigation via an eight-inch screen (with SUNA traffic warnings) is another plus, as is the smart parking aid, which will operate the steering to reverse park or parallel park while the driver merely operates the brake or accelerator.
The infotainment system, which features Bluetooth telephony and audio streaming, feeds through no fewer than 10 speakers.
There’s also active cruise control which regulates the Santa Fe’s speed to that of a vehicle in front, as well as downhill brake control, hill start assistance, and advanced cornering control, as well as the vehicle stability management system.
Although this is a minor facelift in terms of its styling, the changes do bring the Santa Fe into line with other recently launched models in the Hyundai line-up, with a new hexagonal grille, daytime running lights combined with cornering lights and front fog lights, wing mirrors with puddle lamps, and new alloy wheels.
There are also new taillights, sensors for the rear-facing radar, and new exhaust tips.
Nice-to-haves on top models include a panoramic sunroof, heated front and rear seats, heated wipers, and proximity key access and starting, while HID headlamps complete the safety curtain. There’s also glove box cooling, a premium audio system, and climate aircon front and rear.
Features we especially found useful were the seat memories on top models, as well as sliding second row seats which offer both improved access and more versatility. Leather is standard on the Elite models, with 12-way electric driver’s and four-way front passenger seat adjustment.
The four-wheel drive models all feature electronic torque-on-demand, and all models have six-speed automatic transmission.
We only drove the top 4WD versions at the vehicle launch, and we were impressed by their off-road ability on a fairly rugged farm drive, which is about as far as most people are ever going to go.
On tarmac the improvements to ride and handling were immediately apparent, and the big Santa Fe has now lost any semblance of the clumsiness which afflicts many of its ilk, especially on loose gravel roads, where it has impeccable manners.
Comfort has definitely been improved, and we felt the Santa Fe has definitely gone up a notch or two.
