Just the right size
HYUNDAI TARGETS NICHE MARKET WITH SANTA CRUZ ‘TRUCKLET’ — A SMOOTH RIDE WITH A SHORT BED
Not everyone wants a big truck, and for some, even a midsize may be more than what’s needed. A couple of even smaller choices are on the horizon, and I’m in one of them — the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz.
This new vehicle based on the equally new Tucson SUV, and Hyundai’s reps say they don’t consider it a truck. Rather, it’s intended to be the Tucson’s smaller-volume, niche-market sidekick.
It’s got a truck bed, it’s got a truck tonneau, it’s got a truck tailgate. But it’s also a wonderfully-smooth-driving unit, sized for the city, comfortable as all get out, and well suited for light-duty truck use.
The Santa Cruz will be sold only in North America. Designed in California, it will be built alongside the Tucson at Hyundai’s plant in Alabama. It arrives at Canadian dealers this month.
Hyundai first showed a Santa Cruz concept vehicle in 2015. Now that it’s almost here, it’s sharing the spotlight with the similarly sized and also soon-to-come Ford Maverick. But Hyundai’s reps expect them to appeal to two different crowds. I think the reps are right, and I don’t see much overlap with the Honda Ridgeline either. The Honda’s bed is a foot longer than the Santa Cruz’s four-foot-three bed. The Maverick’s is four-foot-five.
The Santa Cruz comes in three trim levels: Preferred at $38,499, Preferred Trend at $41,399, and top-line Ultimate, which I drove, at $44,799.
In Canada, the Santa Cruz will come solely with a 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, making 281 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque and mated to an automatic eightspeed dual-clutch transmission, and with all-wheel drive. It’s officially rated at 12.1 L/100 km in the city, 8.6 highway, and 10.6 combined.
In the U.S., base models use a non-turbo 2.5-L engine, making 191 horsepower, and the entry-level model has front-wheel drive. The turbo-awd combination in all of our Santa Cruz models is found only in one top-of-theline model there.
The plucky little 2.5-L turbo engine is a great fit to this trucklet. It accelerates smoothly, and it’s got plenty of steam to pass at highway speeds. Overall, it’s a very nice vehicle to drive. The ride is smooth and very comfortable. Road bumps are soaked up before they get to the quiet cabin. The steering is responsive, the turning circle is tight, and it’s confident and never feels tippy around sharp curves. Unless you see the bed in your rear-view mirror, you think SUV, not truck.
The cabin matches the Tucson’s simple but handsome design, except for a real shifter in place of the Tucson’s push-button version. The base trim includes heated seats and steering wheel, an eight-inch infotainment screen, wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto, blind-spot monitoring, and emergency front braking.
The Preferred Trend adds such items as leather upholstery, power driver’s seat, adaptive cruise control, power sunroof, and dual-zone automatic climate control. At the Ultimate level, my tester also added a 10.25-inch touch screen, navigation, surround-view camera, 20-inch wheels, ventilated seats, rain-sensing wipers, and LED headlights, along with Blind View Monitor — a video display in the instrument cluster of what’s alongside, once you activate the turn signal.
The drive modes, seat heat and some other functions use hard buttons, but you tap the centre screen for climate and infotainment functions. I much prefer buttons, but can live with most of it, except there’s no volume dial for the stereo, and you have to tap it up or down. You can also control it from the steering wheel, but it’s easier for driver or passenger to spin a dial.
The big deal, of course, is the bed. It’s a composite material, so no need for a bedliner. Like the Honda Ridgeline, it has a hidden trunk under the bed floor, with a drain plug for washing it out or using it as a cooler. A roll-up hard tonneau cover is standard equipment, and when you close the tailgate against it and lock the truck up, your load is secure.
There will be some 50 accessories available when the Santa Cruz launches, including bike and kayak carriers, and an in-bed tent. If you have too much stuff to fit, the Santa Cruz can also tow up to 5,000 lbs.
The Santa Cruz is pricey for the tiny-truck segment, but offers a lot of features. It’s also great to drive. For a lot of people, it’s this “not-a-truck” will be exactly the right truck.