2006 Hyundai Santa Fe: New and Improved

Motoring Channel Staff - 16/May/2006

The second generation Santa Fe, which is Hyundai's ‘soft-road’ SUV - the Terracan being the real mud slinger - has rolled out with a clean new appearance, more interior room and seating capacity, better safety and improved refinement.

Bigger and roomier all round, all-new Santa Fe now offers a 7-seat model of class-leading comfort, a definitively more elegant interior and a handsome up-market exterior style.

Created in Hyundai’s California Design Centre, the new Santa Fe was benchmarked against Lexus RX, Honda MDX and Volvo XC90, resulting in a more exciting and upscale look Santa Fe.

With dramatic new styling that is assertive, refined and confident, new Santa Fe’s exterior showcases the evolving face of the Hyundai brand. At 4675mm long, new Santa Fe is 175mm longer than its predecessor, 45mm wider (just 8mm shy of Territory) and 55mm taller. Its front and rear tracks are 15mm and 20mm wider (40mm and 65mm wider than Kluger and the rear is 23mm wider than Territory) providing a strong stance, improved handling and increased interior room. Its 203mm minimum ground clearance gives Santa Fe 24mm and 19mm more than Territory and Kluger respectively, which is quite something.

Up front, new Santa Fe’s assertive look derives from its honeycomb and chrome-edged grille, swept around projector-style headlights underlined by dramatic neon-look strip park lights and a deep-section body-colour front bumper with oval fog lights inset low down.

Smoothly sculptured body side lines and overall sleeker styling makes new Santa Fe more aerodynamic, improving its drag coefficient from 0.39 to 0.37. Roof rails with integrated, oval-section cross bars help define its clean side profile, while adding functionality.

Santa Fe’s stern is particularly pleasing with its flush corner-wrapping taillights, signature tailgate lift-up handle, reasonably raked rear glass, neat rear bumper with integrated load step and, lending a purposeful look, dual oval chromed tailpipes and that wide-track stance.

Its enjoyable dynamics come from an all-new car-like tailored platform and reconfigured all-independent suspension that deliver a comfortable ride with responsive handling.

Remarkably, despite gaining 80mm in wheelbase and 175mm overall, new Santa Fe is easy to park and manoeuvre thanks to its turning circle shrinking to 10.9 metres—half a metre less than Territory and Kluger—and its very rounded front corners, which greatly helps in reverse parallel parking.

Santa Fe continues Hyundai’s class benchmark affordable safety feature inclusions with ESP, TCS, ABS with EBD, active front head restraints which also adjust four ways, six airbags and a full-size alloy spare wheel all standard.

Topping the range is Santa Fe Elite, identified by its power tilt/slide sunroof, striking six-blade 18-inch alloy wheels shod with 235/60 tyres, rear roof extension spoiler with integral brake strip-light and chrome inserts in door and tailgate handles.

Stepping inside over Elite’s monogrammed stainless steel sill plates, Elite’s five seats luxuriate in perforated black or mid-grey leather trim facings with burgundy piping. There’s dual zone auto-climate control with an Air Quality System and ambient temperature display, electric front seat adjustment—10-way for the driver and four-way for the front passenger, dark-sensing auto-on headlights with override switch, electrochromic mirror with a digital compass bearing readout (switchable) and a six-disc CD stacker with an extra, seventh audio speaker.

With its segment-leading standard safety technologies, all-new car-like SUV platform, bold new styling, a fuel-efficient V6 powertrain and exemplary third-row seating, new Santa Fe is a “must-drive” for consumers shopping in the crossover segment.

Included is full 24/7 Premium Roadside Assistance for the length of Hyundai’s long-established five year/130,000km new car warranty, itself assurance of the Hyundai brand build quality.

New Santa Fe is one of the most package-efficient crossover SUVs on the market and presents impressive seating and storage flexibility within the same overall length as Honda Accord Euro. Hyundai accomplished this by developing an all-new platform that avoids the compromises inherent in typical medium car/SUV platform sharing.

New Santa Fe’s first and second row seats have increased head, leg, and shoulder room with enough room left over to allow a class-leading optional third-row seat design. The centre row seats are split 60/40 and the backrests not only fold forward almost flat for long loads or sleeping within, but they have 12 rake angle adjustment positions(11 in seven-seater) from vertical—great for carting a big box behind—to quite laid-back.

Maximum in-cabin load length is 2.46m diagonal or 2.18m along the left side behind the left front seat. Maximum cargo width at 1385mm is stocked golf club bag-friendly while Santa Fe’s space between its rear wheel arches is 1160mm, 20mm wider than Territory (in-house measurement). Cargo volume aft of the front seats is a cavernous 2213 litres with 969 litres behind the second row.

To ease access to the third row in the seven-seater, the kerbside 40 percent section of the centre row seats tumble folds forward up off the floor, without requiring head restraint removal or the front seat moved forward.

Compared to 7-seat Territory and Kluger, Santa Fe’s third row seating is superior class, being markedly bigger, roomier, more flexible, more comfortably padded and angled and it doesn’t compromise legroom for second row seat occupants. It thus offers genuine long trip comfort up back for up to sub-teens—the most likely third row occupants—or full size adults for short hops.

Only Santa Fe’s third row can seat one and offer extra cargo room adjacent because it has two separate chairs which each fold flat into the floor, compared to the narrower, shorter, thinner two-place bench seat setups in Territory and Kluger. Little luxuries aft include face-level adjustable a/c air vents each side with a separate fan speed control, drink bottle and oddments storages and 12 volt power—spot-on for a pair of sweaty skateboarders!

Powertrains: Available as Santa Fe and Santa Fe Elite models, both are powered by a new 'Mu' variant of Hyundai’s 2.7-litre all-alloy V6 engine, now with CVVT (Continuously Variable Valve Timing) and VIS (Variable Intake System).

Peak power is upped to 138kW @ 6000rpm with 248Nm of torque @ 4000rpm. More importantly, Santa Fe squarely addresses the issue of SUVs and high petrol prices by clearly leading the medium petrol SUV class in ADR 81/01 fuel economy. It is the only one rated at less than 11 litres/100km, the manual being 10.4 litres/100km and the automatic 10.6. It is also the only model to emit less than 260 gm/km of CO².

Towing capacity is 2000kg for a braked trailer, which is 400kg and 500kg more than the standard tow packs in Territory and Kluger respectively.

A new electronically-controlled on-demand AWD system normally drives just the front wheels to save fuel but if it senses incipient wheel spin, it automatically and immediately routes power to any of the four wheels offering best traction. It also has a switchable 4WD Lock mode for very slippery conditions when 50/50 front/rear drive is held up to 30kph but is protected by a TCB (Tight Corner Breaking) function if a hard grippy surface is encountering while turning.

Transmission in all models is an uprated four-speed automatic with a sequential manual mode. A five-speed, five-seat manual Santa Fe is also offered. Its gearbox is a new three-axis design which is smaller, stronger, lighter in mass and shift feel as well as quieter.

A common-rail, direct-injection, 2.2 litre four-cylinder, turbo-diesel engine with VGT (Variable Geometry Turbo technology), pulling a healthy 335Nm of torque across 1800-2500rpm, will also be offered in new Santa Fe in the fourth quarter of this year, further boosting fuel economy and performance.

Special features in Santa Fe include an air-conditioned cool box in the centre console, a “parents’ panoramic” interior mirror which folds down out of the roof console, slide-out shade extensions in the sun visors, reach as well as rake-adjustable steering wheel and over 30 storage places including 100kg load capacity roof carry crossbars which can be slid fore-aft with a simple one-handed action from one side only.

All outboard occupants including in the third row seats enjoy face-level cool air vents and reading lights. The middle row vents exit from halfway up the B-pillars while the rearmost vents are on the sills of the rear side windows. Heater ducts also carry warm air into the centre cabin footwells.

Santa Fe comes fully equipped with pollen-filtering air-conditioning, electric windows and door mirrors, remote entry with alarm, cruise control, four-function trip computer, split fold rear seating, an upgraded MP3/WMA/ACC-capable CD/FM/AM audio, 17” alloy wheels and dual chrome exhausts.

The steering wheel is leather trimmed—as is the gearshift lever knob—and has audio and cruise control tabs integrated into its spokes—nice tactile touches for these most-handled of all controls.

Safety: New Santa Fe continues Hyundai’s leadership in standardising the industry’s most effective safety technologies at affordable levels. All Santa Fe models are equipped with ESP (Electronic Stability Program), reckoned by experts to be the car industry’s most effective life-saving technology since ABS and especially relevant in SUVs with their taller stance and higher centre of gravity. ESP is unavailable in Kluger CV. Studies by US authorities (NHTSA) show ESP-equipped SUVs have 63 percent fewer fatalities in single-vehicle crashes.

Santa Fe joins Tucson Elite, Sonata V6 and Grandeur in Hyundai’s lineup with standard ESP while no car brand offers ESP anywhere near a Protectz Pack-equipped Getz. ESP compares the driver’s intended course with the vehicle’s actual response, then brakes individual front or rear wheels and/or reduces engine power as needed in certain driving circumstances to maximise the driver’s chances of regaining control.

Front ventilated and rear disc brakes are enlarged and are coupled with a four-channel Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) that includes Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD) to optimise brake performance even with differing vehicle loadings. Indicative braking distance from 100kph to rest is just 42.3 metres.

New Santa Fe features six standard airbags: dual front, front seat side (thorax) and side curtains which extend rearwards past the back doors so as to protect third row occupants in the seven-seater.

The combination of side and curtain airbags, which help protect the head and body during side impacts, can reduce fatalities by more than 45 percent, according to the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Curtain airbags are not offered in Kluger CV and cost $800 extra in Territory TX while neither of these models offer front seat side (thorax) airbags.

Augmenting the airbags are active front head restraints which adjust fore-aft as well as vertically, optimising neck protection against whiplash injury in a rear-end impact. Dual front seat belt pre-tensioners on each front seat floor runner (i.e. two per seat) pull the seatbelt tight just before impact and load-limiters then progressively ease it just enough to lessen belt-bruising. Near-flush design front belt upper pillar height-adjusters help minimise side-crash head injury while anti-submarining front seat steel pans help stop occupants sliding under the belts in a frontal crash. All seating positions have retractable three-point seatbelts.

An oft-overlooked plus are rear door windows which lower fully into the door, lessening the likelihood of side impact head injury from clashing with the top of glass which can’t fully retract—like in Territory. Santa Fe’s three child seat top tether strap anchor positions are mounted on the seat backrests, clear of luggage or third row legs and are nicely finished with flush flip-up covers.

Santa Fe’s strong new body incorporates innovations like tubular cross-bracing inside the firewall which intersects with central vertical bracing, a heavily ribbed floor pan pressing, extra reinforced joints at the base of the windscreen pillars, strong and large-section side sills, high-tensile steel inner pillars and side impact beams inside all doors adding to the safety-cell cage.

Pricing:

Santa Fe 5-seater $35,990 (manual)
Santa Fe 5-seater $37,990 (auto)

Santa Fe 7-seater $39,990 (auto)
Santa Fe Elite 7-seater $42,990 (auto)