The Santa Fe has been inspired by the 'Fluidic Sculpture' design language seen on the i40, but Hyundai claims it has its own unique style - called 'Storm Edge'. Whatever the name, the Santa Fe looks great with its large hexagonal grill, sharp bodywork and distinctive kink in the shoulder line.
The seven-seater is longer, lower and wider than its predecessor, but shares the same 2,700mm wheelbase. Front and second-row legroom has been increased by 38mm and 45mm respectively. A deeper boot means there's 534-litres of space with the front five seats in place, and 991 litres with all seats folded.
The long-wheelbase model is 215mm longer, 10mm higher, 5mm wider and has a wheelbase that's 100mm longer than the standard car. It has maximum boot space of 1,160 litres and is available with six or seven seats. Unlike the standard car, it comes with blindspot protection and a power tailgate.
All models will use an on-demand four-wheel-drive system, which sends 100 per cent of the power to the front tyres unless it senses slip at the rear, at which point it can spilt the power 50:50. Buyers will be able to choose from a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.
Only diesel engines will be available in the UK, including a new 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel with 148bhp, 382Nm of torque and CO2 emissions of 155g/km. The 197bhp 2.2-litre diesel unit is carried over, but with tweaked emissions of just 145g/km.
To make sure the handling is up to the challenge of bumpy British roads, the steering (which has three settings to control the weight), suspension and brakes have all been tuned especially for the UK. It's a capable tow car too, with a maximum towing capacity of 2,500kg.
As we've come to expect from Hyundai, standard equipment will be generous, while top-spec cars will get high-end systems such as radar-controlled cruise control, parking assist and a lane-departure warning system.
There's no word on prices yet, but expect them to start from around £25,000 when the Santa Fe goes on sale towards the end of 2012. The decision on whether to bring the long-wheelbase version to Europe hasn't been made yet.
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looks pretty good, better than CR-V, as I said before pretty good...
Hopefully it drives as well as it looks.
Hyundai and Kia are doing a good job of making sensible cars desirable of late.
Both Hyundai and Kia are on a roll with masses on new models. All of the new cars are fantastically well made, come with loads of kit, well priced and look great. And ih Kia's case a 7 yr warranty. Anyone that buys anything else, without at least, trying one is just a badge snob. The joke is definitely on them!
...All other car makers are very scared; VW /Audi and clan, Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Peugeot/Citroen, Renault, Vauxhall/Opel etc. Not long I feel until KIa and Hyundai take over one of these brands!
I will be buying one of these when they're released. I currently drive 2007 Range Rover Sport 3.6TDV8 and, although I love it, the cost of running it is getting close to ridiculous.
I'D HAVE 1 ANYDAY !
Yes to the long wheel-base, please. I will definitely be interested at the launch and hope first-drive one pre-release.
One local dealer sells both Hyundai and Citroen from the same site. With both makes aiming straight at the moment they have just had their record ever month. "Is there supposed to be a recession" was the comment made to me.
What are you talking about, "bumpy British roads"? Do you really think that the majority of roads in the US are less bumpy, smoother? Have you driven on the continent of Europe? For heaven's sake, I know that we have a more than desirable amount of pot-holed roads but nonetheless most major raods are smooth, and quiet. What is it about British semi-intellectuals which makes them want to denigrate anything British, be it food, culture, technology, industry sport, politics or law? It's ther sort of vacuous, idle, throwaway line which makes one question the accuracy, the intellectual insight of the report which your'e reading.