Hyundai Santa Fe specifications
Model:
Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 CRTD.
Engine:
2188cc, four cylinders, 16 valves, turbodiesel.
Transmission:
Five speed, all-wheel drive.
Performance:
180km/h, 0-100km/h in 12sec, about 7.5 litres/100k official average.
Do 4x4s damage the world's terrain? In the great scheme of things, probably not: however much some complain about the concreting of the countryside by motorways, from the air they are mere lines in a mass of green. Within the world of 4x4's though, tectonic plates are moving.
How else can you explain that Hyundai considers its new Santa Fe to be a rival for the BMW X3 and the VW Touareg? It's an extraordinary notion, not least because the cheapest Santa Fe costs £20 995 in the UK while X3's start at £25 285 and Touaregs at £30 330. But stay with me, or at least the Hyundai marketing department, for a moment.
There are three Hyundai 4x4s right now. The Terracan is a square-cut, utility thing that nobody here buys. The Tucson is a compact, good-value SUV that offers a cheaper alternative to a Honda CR-V or similar. The Santa Fe, only slightly bigger than the Tucson, needed to grow in both stature and status.
This it has done, but to X3/Touareg levels? Let's find out
It looks obviously bigger than before, big enough now to sustain a seven-seater option. It looks crisper, too, not least because it has lost those pre-dented flanks that always made the old Santa Fe look as if its next stop was a body shop.
This is one of those 4x4s not really intended for life off-road but able to handle the odd outbreak of rough stuff. You can have it with a 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine or a 2.7-litre V6, the latter with an automatic transmission but only four gears.
Inside we find more hard plastic surfaces (doors, windscreen pillars) than you would expect in a car with such social-climbing ambitions and, in the higher CDX trim level, the vertically grained "wood" is clearly fake for all its rich gloss. The lower trim level is called GSI, incidentally. Bring back standard and deluxe, I say.
Other disappointing features are that the remote-control door-locking buttons live in a fob separate to that of the ignition key and not even the driver's window has an automatic one-prod-up function and that the flexible "hammock" that bridges the gap between rear shelf and second-row seat-backs does so only when those seats are reclined, reducing the very luggage capacity the hammock is designed to cover.
Otherwise, this is a quality job outside and in. The optional third-row seats have their own curtain crash-bags and air-conditioning, the sun-visors extend to fill gaps in their shading ability and there's a wide-angle interior mirror to let parents see what their children are up to in the back.
There's also a stereo system.
The "torque on demand" all-wheel drive diverts up to half of the engine's torque output to the rear wheels as the front ones lose traction. It's done through an electromagnetic, multiplate clutch triggered by computer sensors so the all-wheel drive can be in full swing as soon as the electronics sense a tractive issue rather than waiting for the front wheels to actually slither.
The clutch can be locked for maximum traction.
You would think the V6 might be more prestigious and expensive but it's the same price as the manual four-cylinder diesel (for which a five-speed automatic is another £1000 or £1025, depending on trim level). But don't go thinking the V6 is a must-have bargain, even if it does have 140kW to the diesel's 112.
Torque is the objective reason, an unexceptional 248Nm of it compared with the turbodiesel's lustier 335Nm. And the subjective reason is that driving the V6 feels as if you're wading through treacle.
But the turbodiesel is smooth, relaxed and responsive. Is it really a threat to those upmarket Germans? It's certainly better to drive than the jittery X3 but to regard it as a Touareg alternative is to live in fantasyland.
That doesn't stop it being a likeable, capable and good-value SUV, though. - The Independent, London
The rivals
BMW X3 2.0d:
It's rare for BMW to get it wrong but the X3 is an unsatisfactory car spoilt by its turbulent ride, excessive size (it's nearly as big as an X5) and high pricing. But it's a BMW, so people still buy it.
Volkswagen Touareg 2.5 TDI:
The price shows that we're in another league here. The Touareg is large, sumptuous, heavy and very capable, both on- and off-road. Under its skin it shares much with Porsche's Cayenne.
Nissan Pathfinder 2.5 dCi:
This is a proper off-roader but, in size terms, it's closer to the Santa Fe than the smaller Nissan X-Trail. The tough-guy Pathfinder feels restless on poor road surfaces but is willing and rugged.