Generation Shift: Santa Fe

Does anyone associate ‘Korean’ with ‘cheap’?

Not anymore. That title is mostly associated with ‘Made-in-China’ now. The tiny Asian country has moved out of the shadow of its illustrious arch-rival, Japan, and is ready to be counted among the technology movers and shakers of the world.

Of course, cars are a different ball game. Because apart from the tech, you also get into areas like feel, heart, character and all those other bits that are intangible but still very important. Balancing all that is tough and it took the Europeans over half a century to get there. But the Koreans are catching up fast. At least, Hyundai is, thanks to its global approach to designing and building new cars.

The Santa Fe is a fine case study. The Santa Fe sold in limited numbers in India. They were bringing it in only as a CBU. But things have changed. Business has become tougher, and every model with sales potential is now being brought to India, in a bid to increase market share and make rivals more vulnerable. The new Santa Fe is one such salvo from Hyundai’s ever-expanding arsenal of capable cars.

Compared to the model it replaces, the new car is longer and marginally narrower. More noticeably, overall height has been reduced without compromising on ground clearance. There is no dearth of road presence here. The extension of the Fluidic design theme has been used quite deftly on this reasonably large SUV. The front is totally different now, with a wide hexagonal grille and prominent chrome slats. The headlights are angular and arrow-like for a more focused and attention-seeking face. The lower half gets a dual-tone anti-skid guard to firmly establish SUV credentials. Large fog lamps housed in a bejeweled casing brings a bit of bling to the party.

   

The neat lines and smart curves get carried over to the side as well. Typically, it has a high waistline accentuated by a crease that emerges just after the front wheel arch and goes all the way to the tail lamp. A similar line runs almost parallel to it at the bottom to add some variety to the profile. The window area is a clever extension of the earlier model, and tapers upwards towards the end. This gives it a coupe look. The rear is more conventional, with horizontal wraparound tail lamps to complement the headlights, and a crease that connects both to add to the visual width.

The cabin has been designed for both functionality and visual luxury. The new Santa Fe also comes with three rows of seats. The first two are quite comfortable and roomy. The third is best for children. But make sure you give them something to stay busy because they won’t be able to see much outside, since the windowsills have moved up by the time it reaches the rear.

The seats can all be adjusted individually, which means you can choose between carrying people and luggage more efficiently. The boot is huge since the third row seats can be folded and buried into the floor. The second row can also flip forward to give you one mother of a loading bay. However, getting in and out of the third row requires a bit of gymnastic agility. Yes, best leave it to the kids.

In front is that all-too-familiar, new-age Hyundai dashboard, reeking of good quality. Some of the best materials have gone into the plastic, leather and chrome bits here.

They’re all nicely finished too, adding to the sense of luxury. For example, the waterfall-style front console layout, the twin-pod instrument cluster, and the array of buttons looks elegant and makes life easy for the occupants without confusing them. There are no baffling systems to go through to switch on the rear air-con, or to manually override to permanent 4WD. Almost everything is just a button away. The cabin is well insulated, and at cruising speeds, even the engine is just a distant hum.

Speaking of which, the power train is the only bit that’s been carried over here. It’s the same 2.2-litre common-rail diesel unit with the same power and torque figures – 194bhp and 436Nm. But overall weight is down by almost 125kg. While the earlier Santa Fe borrowed extensively from the Sonata platform, this gets a new lightweight one.

This weight loss helps propel the new Santa Fe from standstill to 100kph in just under 10 seconds. That’s not too bad for a 1.85-ton SUV.

In automatic guise, the Santa Fe needs some initial waking up before the H-matic gearbox goes up a couple of cogs, meets the torque surge – which starts from as low as 1,800rpm – and attacks the horizon with a vengeance. The ease with which the cogs move in varying traffic speeds makes you appreciate its overall effectiveness, despite the initial hesitation. Paddle shifters would have been nice here, although there is an additional stick shifter on the auto but it is too vague to use.

The new Santa Fe is surprisingly well-behaved. Body roll is impressively controlled for an SUV. But now, there’s the option of ‘simulating feel’. Flex Steer is the name of this new gimmick. It toggles between Comfort, Normal and Sport via a steering wheel-mounted switch to offer varying degrees of power assist for anything from rush-hour traffic to open highways. More importantly, the new Santa Fe doesn’t mind being rushed into a corner, or chucked in and out of traffic.

Even on the narrow and traffic-infested roads of God’s Own Country, where we tested the car, the big SUV was surprisingly easy to maneuver. Plus there’s on-demand four-wheel-drive. So, power goes to the rear only when the front starts losing traction. It’s actually quite effective. There is no low-range for enthusiastic off-roaders, although you do get a manual override switch to lock the differential and keep the vehicle in permanent four-wheel drive.

The true test of an SUV in the real world is its ability to smother road irregularities and the new Santa Fe shows the others how it’s done. Ride is supremely supple and comfortable without being too choppy. Small bumps and potholes are hardly felt. While internationally, the vehicle comes with 19-inch wheels as standard, the Indian variant has smaller 18-inchers with higher profile rubber that makes it more practical to ride on most road surfaces without many sharp jolts. And in case you’re interested, there is a full-size spare wheel under the car, which isn’t the norm with many luxury cars in this price bracket.

It is this practicality and ease of use, along with sheer overall SUV capability that makes the Santa Fe a formidable contender. It has style, finesse and road behaviour that make it one of the best SUV packages to hit Indian roads in recent memory.

There are plenty of stories of how Hyundai hasn’t had major success with any SUV it has launched in India. All that might just change with this. Expect history not to be repeated.