Hyundai makes another
bold attempt at cracking the luxury SUV segment. Does the new Santa Fe have
what it takes to make the Indian consumers accept a luxury SUV from the Korean
manufacturer? Read on to find out.
The luxury vehicle segment in India has been a hard nut to crack
for Hyundai. Having tasted massive success in the small and medium car
segments, the Korean carmaker is slowly and steadily making a similar impact in
the premium segment. Of late, there have been some very good reasons to have
hope – the Elantra, has definitely caught the fancy of the Indian consumer, and
has been posting solid sales numbers for a while now. So, it makes perfect
sense for the company to re-launch its most premium product for the Indian
market – the Santa Fe.
The Santa Fe, then, introduces a new dimension to this
three-pronged contest in the world of premium SUV’s. While it offers a
different take on the styling front, its Fluidic Design inspired styling
maintains Hyundai’s design direction but still manages to give the Santa Fe an
excellent road presence. With its large 18-inch wheels, taut design, bold face,
with that massive chrome grille, the Santa Fe mixes aggression and soft-roader
looks in a well-styled combo. The net result is a handsome looking machine,
which still retains enough visual appeal to give it a unique identity. The
rear-end is much more svelte and cuts into the rear quarter panelThe interiors,
though, is where the Santa Fe truly makes its mark. On the inside, it’s far
superior to any of its competitors. There is enormous amount of space, both in
the front and back, and with its tall design, there’s no lack of head, shoulder
or legroom – even for the largest occupants, with the middle row in particular
being a nice place to spend time in. However, despite the claims of it being a
7-seater, the legroom in the last row is only suitable for small children at
best. Of particular interest, though, is the
interior design and quality – which, on the Santa Fe, is far superior to either
of its direct competitors. The plastics and leather-covered surfaces feel
plush, well built, and premium. In fact, the design element of the doors with
its Santa Fe badging is a nice touch, and so is the center console with the
integrated touch screen and other controls. It even features a Volvo-esque
floating center console storage space. Of course, the equipment count on the
Santa Fe remains impressively high, as is expected of any Hyundai vehicle
today. So, standard fitment on the top-of-the-line 4WD Auto version we drove
includes dual-zone climate control, a 12-way adjustable driver’s seat, 6
airbags, and a host of electronic safety aids. Externally, the Santa Fe gets
bi-Xenon headlights and fog lamps with a cornering function – i.e. it turns with
the steering to illuminate curves better. It also gets good looking 18-inch
wheels that fill the wheel arches quite nicely.
On the power train front, the Santa Fe is powered by the
latest-gen 2.2-liter CRDi engine, which features, amongst other technological
advances, an e-VGT turbocharger. So, other than being variable geometry, it
also boasts of electronic control of its vanes to fine tune the spooling up of
the turbo – thereby reducing lag and improving engine response. To drive, the
engine feels powerful and doesn’t exhibit much lag – pulling the car forward at
an excellent lick when prodded. It’ll be interesting to see how the manual
transmission version of the car drives though – I suspect it could be better to
drive than the automatic.
As far as the ride and handling goes, continuing on the rapidly
improving suspension setups across the Hyundai range, the Santa Fe too feels
quite well setup. The ride is very comfortable and filters out road
imperfections very well, and the damping is well judged too – so it doesn’t
feel too bouncy, even at high speeds. All told, passengers are well insulated
from road conditions.
In conclusion, then, the Santa Fe offers quite a few desirable
qualities for a vehicle of its class and size. The space, excellent seating,
high quality interiors, and well-sorted suspension – along with a massive
standard equipment list – makes for a very appealing package. The fact of the
matter is, when you consider the overall package, the Santa Fe is superior to
both the Fortuner and the CR-V – offering a better combination of space,
equipment, comfort and looks.
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