Hyundai Santa Fe
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The Hyundai Santa Fe has a clever design that incorporates a classy look with that of a very solid and robust vehicle. The delightfully chunky styling is uniquely packaged into what is a blend of athleticism and power.
Two motors power three specification levels. There is the common rail direct injection diesel engine and the petrol alternative that boasts V6 muscle. Both the Hyundai Santa Fe engine variants are cleverly designed to provide plenty of brisk acceleration and loads of torque on tap when required. For those of you who like to see the goods on paper, we'll start with the diesel powered Hyundai Santa Fe. Under the muscley bonnet lines of the Hyundai Santa Fe SX CRDi, the SLX CRDi and the Elite CRDi, there sits a state of the art 2.2 litre turbo diesel. The motor has a cast iron cylinder block with aluminium heads. It is an in-line 4 cylinder motor that has a single overhead camshaft with 4 valves per cylinder. The powerful compression ratio boasts a very beefy 17.3:1 and power out put is a decent 114 kW at 4000rpm. Diesel motors are known for having loads of grunt, particularly at low down engine revs. The Hyundai Santa Fe does not let the side down in this arena, boasting a superbly useful 343 Nm of torque at a flat range of 1800-2500 rpm. This is simply fantastic when tasks that require that extra bit of muscle need to be performed. Perhaps this is why I would choose the Hyundai Santa Fe diesel variants over their petrol powered brothers. However, the 2.7 litre petrol motor is smooth. The V6 engine delivers 138 kW of power at 6000 rpm, and to talk torque, the twist is 248 Nm at 4000 rpm. This V6 is fuel injected and needs to be held at higher revs to find the full heart and soul of the Hyundai Santa Fe's engine. This is necessary when the rough stuff is tackled, and when passing manoeuvres need to be quick. The petrol engine happily rises to higher revs without fuss, and sounds great in the process. The Hyundai Santa Fe SX 3.3, SLX 3.3 - 7 seater and Elite 3.3 - 7 seater have the most powerful petrol unit available to the Santa Fe range. Quite a sublime engine, the big V6 boasts plenty of smooth and refined grunt. Ample power means that in all conditions the 3.3 Santa Fe remains in command, and becauseit is being driven through the front wheels the big vehicle has good fuel consumption figures of around 10 litres per 100 km.
When in AWD packaging, what is the Hyundai Santa Fe like off the bitumen? Off road, or on a bumpy, badly rutted track, the Hyundai Santa Fe is superb and it happily romps along, soaking up the bumps and ruts, and masterfully keeping the wheels in touch with the ground. If the going gets slippery, you can select a centre diff lock that feeds power 50/50 to each axle up to 40kph, then 'on demand' to the axle with the most traction above that speed. If you like to have control of the gear change, the transmission will be a five speed manual for both diesel and petrol versions. However, the Hyundai Santa Fe diesel motor will be mated to a 5 speed automatic, whereas the petrol alternative is linked to the 4 speed automatic gearbox if you like the car to gear change for you. The five speed auto is admirably smooth and quick in its changes and is a joy to drive.
Hyundais today are a far cry from the earlier models which lacked quality. Comfortable, quiet, solid and well appointed, the cabin of a Hyundai Santa Fe is a pleasantly relaxing environment. Each model is appointed in luxury and has cruise control, a four function steering wheel that has audio control, a beautiful sprinkling of aluminium finishings on various trimmings and instruments, air conditioning and a superb quality sound system. In the Hyundai Santa Fe Elite, the sound system is upgraded with sub woofers and is increased to seven speakers from an already lovely sounding 6 speaker system. The Hyundai Santa Fe Elite also boasts a dual zone climate control system that has an air quality function. Also in the Hyundai Santa Fe Elite is the voluptuous leather upholstery. This of course adds up to the pleasant cabin environment. The Hyundai Santa Fe is a nice vehicle to eat up the miles in, whether driving dusty outback roads (where offroading may be required) or along main highways at swift legal speeds.
The Hyundai Santa Fe is superbly safe, too. Driver and front passenger airbags are standard on the SX model. The more expensive SLX and Elite also have dual side airbags in the front, and curtain airbags front and rear. Each Santa Fe has pretensioning front seat belts and 3 point seat belts all round. Let's not forget that the Hyundai Santa Fe has the ability to seat seven.
It may not yet carry the same status as a VW Touareg, Mercedes ML, Lexus RX300 or Volvo XC90, but at half the price who really cares!
Current model series include:
- Hyundai Santa Fe CRDi Elite
- Hyundai Santa Fe Elite V6
- Hyundai Santa Fe SLX CRDi
- Hyundai Santa Fe SX CRDi
- Hyundai Santa Fe V6
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