Something for everyone
Richard Bosselman gets behind the wheel of the the new fourthgeneration Santa Fe and finds size really doesn’t matter.
WHEN the sports utility sector is broken down, it is clear every size can be a winner. Downsizing has been identified as a yeartodate trait by Hyundai New Zealand, with medium (16.5%) and small sizes (12.9%) together accounting for 28.4% of SUV sales share — yet big is good too, nabbing 11.4%.
What else? In 2008, sevenseater vehicles grabbed twothirds of large SUV market share. Now that’s up to 80%. Petrol has revived, yet diesel is still strong, allwheel drive is preferred over twowheel drive and buyer age has changed. Ten years back, over40s outnumbered under40s three to one. Now that has all but reversed.
This information has given Hyundai NZ a clear idea about how to tailor the new generation of its Santa Fe SUV.
Frontwheel drive and a fiveseat option are gone. As is the V6. Now every model is a sevenseater, fourcylinder allwheel drive. And the entry, Elite and Limited models all have more gear and technology than before.
The 2.4 litre petrol and 2.2 litre diesel engines from the previous car remain, but while the first retains a sixspeed auto, the latter upgrades to a more advanced eightspeed. Yes, there’s a premium — $6000 to $7000 — but Hyundai is convinced that despite diesel’s name being blackened by the VW Group scandal, it will still account for 95% of volume, at least until a plugin petrolelectric edition arrives in a couple of years.
The media launch was a dieselpure experience, contained to the Elite and Limited, that highlighted how a power plant already wellregarded for its torquerich smoothness can be further enhanced.
The larger, although not heavier, body has degraded neither performance nor refinement, with only some tyre roar on coarsechip breaking the serenity.
Still, every ace needs to be played when facing a challenge from a host of similar sevenseat allwheeldrive vehicles.
All Santa Fe models have a modeselectable active allwheel drive. HTRAC biases frontwheel drive on seal, but has the ability to deliver a 50/50 front/rear span and also a lock mode to enhance offroad work, although a beach excursion resulted in damage to the undertray — perhaps it’s best not to be too adventurous.
Performance on sealed roads impresses. Even though familyfirst considerations prioritise comfort, it is not bad at cornering and, although certainly large enough to fill a lane, doesn’t feel ponderous.
The drive modes have enough effect on chassis behaviour to suggest that while Eco and Comfort are fine for general touring, you might prefer Sport for tight roads. It reduces understeer and generally makes the car feel tighter and livelier. There’s also a Smart mode that learns driver behaviour and adapts throttle/transmission responses to suit.
Leg and head room in the front is generous and secondrow leg and toe room are decent. The second row slides and reclines to offer extra accommodation to the third row, which is best suited for preteens.
With all the seats folded flat, the cargo capacity is 1625 litres when the second row is moved out of the way. Beneath the floor is a fullsized spare tyre.
The exterior of the Santa Fe certainly looks good and the interior continues a more obvious premium push.
The entire range includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality, while the 8.0inch infotainment system has inbuilt satellite navigation, which offers a clear display but suffers quirky destination inputting.
The Limited has a headup display that shows navigation and speed information, plus various driver assistance and safety features. Unfortunately, even at full brightness, the display is barely legible to anyone wearing polarised sunglasses.
The fourthgeneration Santa Fe is still awaiting an Ancap safety score but safety certainly seems a big priority with a reverseview camera and rear parking sensors standard across the range, while the Elite picks up front parking sensors and the Limited gets a 360degview camera and front parking sensors.
The entire range comes with autonomous emergency braking that works at up to 90kmh for pedestrians, cyclists and motorised vehicles, and higher for just vehicles. The system also includes radar cruise control (with stop and go), blindspot collision avoidance, rear crosstraffic alert, driverattention warning, lanekeep assist and a tyre pressure monitor.