Hyundai Santa Fe 2000 test drive - 2004 SUV

The degree of functionality

Recently, some experts have been comparing all experts with ... American models - smoothness of the suspension, luxurious configurations, a lot of car for little money - we are used to seeing all this in the Americans. In principle, Hyundai also always offered very acceptable prices for its cars, but if earlier it was mostly modest representatives of golf and middle class, now the company produces models of almost all classes, including supermood SUV, the representative of which will be discussed today. The specific weight of cars for outdoor activities in the total volume of produced models today is growing just as on yeast - almost every more or less significant car dealership takes place the premiere of another hot novelty of the SUV class. Hyundai Santa Fe can be full of hot new Novika: its debut took place recently, and AH in this case is one of the first automobile publications that conducted the test of this car.

If a couple of years ago, car snobs reproached all Korean cars for their excessively modest appearance and only the third generation of the Sonata model could be considered an exception to this rule, now even the most picky car enthusiastic will not be able to name Hyundai Santa Fe. Not everyone, of course, likes such smooth and blurred forms, but against the backdrop of their classmates, Santa Fe is not distinguished in the stream, in the literal and figurative sense of the word. I drove on many cars and I can assure you that almost everyone looked at this - both the neighbors in the stream and pedestrians. And it was worth stopping somewhere in a crowded place, as someone approached and asked: what kind of car? How much it costs? Naturally, the most interesting expression on the face was at the moment when they recognized the price of Hyundai Santa Fe. We had almost the most sophisticated equipment on the test, so her price did not cause such amazement, but the cost of the basic version can really be called shocking. Unfortunately, I can’t indicate it, the article is not advertising, but I can secretly report that the same, and sometimes more expensive are ordinary front -wheel drive sedans and a middle class hatchbacks in the poorest version. In general, the one who bought a new car, but not Hyundai Santa Fe, has a more than serious reason for the disorder.

Santa Fe salon, especially the instrument panel and the central console, can easily be confused with any of the end of the nineties of the late nineties. There is nothing indicating the presence of a full-wheel drive car, and the internal design itself brings thoughts more about the business class model than about the SUV, even to the SUV. The landing behind the wheel, of course, is slightly more vertical, but not so much as to cause inconvenience in the driver accustomed to cars. It is gratifying that having decided to design a car of increased cross -country ability, the Koreans did not make another faceless wash out of it - even if the Santa Fe dashboard does not have any purely Khundaevsky family features, but it cannot be called a faceless. And it is doubly nice that inside this car is absolutely not like other representatives of the SUV class. The style that Hyundai chose, I personally like it more than attempts by Japanese designers to create a cheap and high -quality interior at the same time. The combination of devices is very convenient, especially the icons showing the operating modes of the gearbox - all transmissions are indicated by green, and the reverse move is contrasting red.

It is also a sin to complain to passengers: in terms of interior space, as it is now fashionable in this class, Santa Fe can easily argue with the minivan of about the same dimensions. For your four and a half meters, this car is amazingly spacious, especially freely you feel yourself on the back sofa. Unless Michael Jordan will be able to get knees to the backs of the front seats, but for this you will have to drive the same giant behind the wheel. If in Santa Fe three or four people of medium complexion travel, then they will not even touch each other.

The presence of a six -cylinder engine in the range of - if not even a serious application for leadership, then at least at least a cunning move of the company's marketers. Indeed, in fact, in this class all six-cylinder models can be counted on the fingers, and sometimes they cost so much that potential buyers often choose a normal business class sedan instead. True, as if confirming the theory of similarity with American models, the V6 motor for Santa Fe can only be obtained in combination with all -wheel drive and an automatic gearbox. And the constant all -wheel drive system here is very difficult.

Electronic control with the help of viscousers distributes the torque between the axes in the following ratio: 60% on the front wheels and 40% - to the rear. What does it give? The driver of Santa Fe in emergency situations can use the same control techniques as on the front -wheel drive version, although, of course, the stability and speed of passage of turns in a car with all -wheel drive is an order of magnitude higher. In addition, the gearbox itself, for the first time in this class has a manual mode, when the transmission can be changed by swaying the lever back and forth. But the true purpose of this option and the rest for us is a mystery, because this mode does not give a noticeable win in dynamics, especially since the processor responsible for the slave of the gearbox very carefully protects the driver from the error. If, for example, you want to turn on a lower gear on the move, but the processor sees that there is a danger of twisting the engine, then it will postpone the switch until the speed drops to more acceptable values. The dispersal is even more interesting: if the checkpoint selector is in manual switching mode, then it is better not to help her. The fact is that the box itself switches the gear when the tachometer arrow reaches the red zone, but judging by the arrow itself, the switching occurs a little earlier, and it is almost impossible to predict the moment of switching. In fact, it looks something like this. If your team switch up at about the same time when the processor wanted to do it, then he will first turn on the increased gear himself, and then, obeying your team, will make another jump up. In general, it is easiest on this machine and drive, as if on a machine, without trying to accustom it to rally manners.

As for the specific configuration, even the simplest, basic GL implies the presence of a power steering, electric windows of all windows, radio training, airbags for the driver, seat belts and audio systems. Little? A small surcharge automatically turns the GLs in GLS, and the ABS, disc brakes on all wheels, optical mirrors with electric drive, central locking with remote control and the so -called foliage are added to the above -based list of bells and whistles.

And then you build your own car yourself, because dealers offer a rather voluminous list of additional equipment and there is a guarantee that you will receive exactly the car that you need without paying for absolutely unnecessary, from your point of view, bells and bogs. It is enough to say that, depending on the needs, you can choose a car with both gasoline, four- or six-cylinder, engine, and with a turbodiesel. Moreover, the buyer himself chooses the type of transmission - front or four -wheel drive, an automatic or mechanical gearbox, a self -locking differential in the rear bridge, not to mention such familiar options as air conditioning, climate control or a filter of cleaning the air entering the salon. In general, as you understand, you can build an unpretentious workhorse and a chic all -wheel drive SUV with a leather salon and automatic.

Pavel Kozlovsky
 

Source: Auto -Gazeta / N 18 (321) dated 13.06.01