Trust Hyundai, Korea’s most progressive auto maker, to deliver an SUV model with a derivative for all types.
If you thought the Hyundai Santa Fe offered an inexpensive SUV with a price advantage over its opposition, then you would be right; if you thought the Hyundai Santa Fe offered a premium luxury V6-powerd SUV then you would be right there too.
Such is the diversity of the Santa Fe range - with many different engines and specification packages - you have to admire Hyundai’s local product planning team and the relationship with their Korean Head Of- fice – the mix is just right for the Australian market.
Entry to the Santa Fe lineup comes via the 2.7-litre V6 SX model priced from $33,990 while the rangetopper is diesel-powered Elite CRDi priced at $46,990.
In between is an almost bewildering variety of all-wheel-drive, two-wheel-drive, seven-seat, petrol, diesel, manual and automatic models so we just don’t have the space to go into detail about all of them. Here are a few highlights…
We particularly liked the Elite 3.3-litre V6 model with its leather seats, 18-inch alloy wheels, premium sound system, chilled centre bin, separate air-conditioning controls for the third-row passengers and convex interior mirror to enable the driver to keep an eye on the rear seat action.
The Elite is the range-topping petrol variant in the Santa Fe lineup (automatic transmission only) and at $46,490, compares very favourably when head-to-head with similar Toyota Kluger and Ford Territory models.
The 3.3-litre V6 is impressively strong (it’s a modern DOHC design also fitted to Hyundai’s Sonata sedan).
If you are not heading off-road but, like most families, appreciate these sort of vehicles for their practicality and load-carrying ability, the two-wheeldrive option makes a lot of sense. With lighter overall weight and less parts in the drivetrain, you can expect 2WD Santa Fe models to return enhanced fuel economy over their 4WD stable mates.
Santa Fe’s diesel, the CRDi is the lates common rail direct injection design and provides a very useful 114kW of power and torque of 343Nm. Hyundai says the CRDi offers class-leading fuel economy of 7.3 litre/100 kms.
In 7-seat models, the two seats in the back row can be folded flat individually for load flexibility but in terms of leg-room they are definitely best for children only (or adults for short trips). A positive for third-row passengers is the air-conditioning outlets back there.
Overall for family buyers, the Santa Fe stacks-up very impressively.
