2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz 2.5T shuns convention
Breaking into the lucrative truck market isn’t for the faint of heart. Subaru’s Baja lasted four short years, Honda had to butch up the looks of its Ridgeline to secure a seat at the table, and even Toyota’s T100 stumbled until it became the V-8-powered Tundra. And who can forget the Ford Explorer Sport Trac? It would seem that to succeed in this segment, your truck had
2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Limited AWD
Base price: $40,945
Zero to 60 mph: 6.0 sec
Top speed: 133 mph
EPA fuel economy: Combined/city/highway: 22/19/27 mpg
better look and perform like, well, a truck.
In what may be an attempt to manage expectations, Hyundai isn’t using the “t” word to describe its new entry, instead referring to it as a “Sport Ad
venture Vehicle.” Hyundai even goes so far as to claim the Santa Cruz wasn’t designed as a midsize truck competitor, but one look at the package and it’s hard to classify it as anything else.
Drive it and you’re not so quick to use the “t” word. The Santa Cruz rides on an extended version of the Tucson crossover’s platform, with struts up front and a multilink suspension with self-leveling dampers out back. Its 118.3-inch wheelbase (nearly 10 inches longer than the Tucson) contributes to a calm and composed ride, with none of the rear-end skittishness sometimes present in a full-size pickup with an empty bed. Maneuverability around town is carlike. At 195.7 inches long and 75.0 inches wide, the Santa Cruz easily slots into parking spots. Driven with haste along two-lane back roads, the Santa Cruz is agile, remaining relatively flat through the corners.
The top-range Limited example we tested had plenty of punch to go along with its moves. Borrowed from the larger Santa Fe, its turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-four kicks out a meaningful 281