Hyundai is showing its commitment to recycling, using the same name for two pretty different attempts at the crossover SUV market. 2013 sees not one but two Hyundai Santa Fe models: one – the “Santa Fe” – with seven seats and intended to replace the Veracruz, and the other – the “Santa Fe Sport” – trimming the wheelbase, dropping two of the seats and taking on the Ford Escape and other midrange crossovers. We caught up with the Santa Fe Sport, the first to hit the forecourt, to see whether the brand can handle two personalities.
Design
Some crossovers want you to think they’re really coupés. Some encourage you to feel like an urban commando. Hyundai’s strategy with the Santa Fe Sport is to dilute some of the company’s “fluidic sculpture” design language until it could come up with a mass-market pleaser. No gouged slashes or over-sculpted cladding, just a few deft creases and a striking trapezoid grille.
That’s not to say it’s an ugly car, though certain colors flatter it more than others. Silver is a good choice, helping disguise the slab-sides and diluting the over-chromed grille, and the steeply angled rear-quarter window works if only because there aren’t third-row seats to obscure. From the rear it’s the usual SUV stack of metalwork, some silver trim partially alleviating the swathe of plastic across the bottom edge.
The Santa Fe Sport comes in at 184.6-inches in length – the seven-seater will extend that by 9-inches – and has a 106.3-inch wheelbase, the same as the 2012 Santa Fe it replaces. However, it’s considerably lighter than the old model, with Hyundai’s liberal use of high-tensile steel making for a crossover that’s both torsionally stiffer but 266 pounds lighter than before.
Engines and Performance
Hyundai has a pair of engines from the outset, adding in a third powerplant when the seven-seater hits the market. The entry-level is a 2.4-liter mustering 190 HP and 181 lb-ft of torque, with direct injection and a 22 mpg city efficiency rating and 33 mpg highway rating for the front-wheel-drive (FWD) model; optional all-wheel-drive (AWD) sees knocks 1 mpg and 5 mpg off those figures respectively.
Unfortunately, Hyundai didn’t bring its base-spec engine along to our Park City, Utah test event, instead leaving us with only the 2.0-liter four cylinder turbo. That pushes out 264 HP and 269 lb-ft of torque, with 21/31 mpg city and highway economy for the FWD version and 20/27 mpg if you opt for AWD. Both engines get an Active Eco button easily accessed by the wheel, which Hyundai claims can boost economy by as much as 7-percent by adjusting acceleration and other factors.
A six-speed automatic gearbox is standard, built by Hyundai itself using a torque-converter system. It’s a capable ‘box, shifting quickly even when pushing the turbo through the rarified air of the 8,000 feet elevation Park City, and what turbo lag is present is near-imperceptible. Active Eco mode does make changes to its downshifting behavior, however, encouraging the auto to be less prone to dropping down in the interests of better economy. It’s a noticeable difference, though not one we struggled to get used to after a few miles driving.
2013 Santa Fe Sport testdrive:
Unsurprisingly it’s in a straight-line that the Santa Fe Sport is happiest. Road noise is minimal, aided by twin-layer insulation to the windshield, various suspension muffling elements, and other insulation systems, and there’s little in the way of vibration during highway driving. Happily it also avoids bouncing or wallowing, something which can often turn SUVs into boat-like experiences.
Going round corners isn’t impossible, however, even at speed. Hyundai has fitted a three-mode steering system with a straightforward control on the wheel, offering Normal, Sport, and Comfort settings. Often such systems can be near-imperceivable in what difference they bring, but the Santa Fe Sport does in fact show three altered personalities. The company claims that power-assistance varies by 20-percent going from Sport to Comfort modes, and it’s noticeable. At its firmest, you really start to feel like you’re pitching the Santa Fe Sport directly into turns, while at the other extreme the wheel is so comparatively easy to turn you can do it consistently one-handed.
Source:SlashGear
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