Hyundai Santa Fe 2006 test drive - 2009 SUV

The incomparable Santa Faus

The leading instructions of the all -knowing American Uncle Sam annoy many, but it is worth recognizing that are often correct. This time, a serious lesson on how to live and work in American was presented to the South Koreans. It was the overseas dictate that led to the birth of a new Sensational Hyundai Santa Fe SUV. Recall that this combination of the highest consumer qualities at a minimum price was created and launched exclusively on the initiative and at the expense of the Hyundai dealers association in the USA (No. 2, 3, 1999, No. 2, 2000). A completely non -standard act, when, in fact, the community of independent sellers decides to order a model to a giant manufacturer to their taste. Indeed, in America, where SUVs are sold more than cars, Hyundai dealers looked white crows when they were not able to offer 4x4 in the Galloper segment. In addition, deciding to invent their pro -American Hyundai, the Americans were not satisfied with just giving the Koreans a task and calm down. The Yankees demanded that their SUV be designed and made at the highest level, without looking back at the traditional status of Hyundai as a manufacturer of modest inexpensive cars. Therefore, we immediately warn at least Santa Fe and carries the emblem of the Korean manufacturer, it is simply ridiculous to attribute this model to the category of cheap, nonsense Koreans. Having experienced a car one of the first in the world, we were very discouraged: to decorate this car with their own nameplate would be considered not only Japanese pros in the area of \u200b\u200bSUVs (Toyota, Mitsubishi), but also any European brand!
 
And not surprising. After all, the creation of Santa Fe, as they say, did not trust the Koreans themselves. The design of the machine was fully developed in America by the specialists of the independent studio HCD (Hy-NDAI California Design), the internals were prepared by the Hyundai branches in Japan and the UK, and technological miracles when staging the best Hyundai from the Hyundai department in Frankfurt showed! Such a curious scheme was also necessary because just during the period of creation of Santa Fe in the Hyundai company in South Korea, life was far from sweet due to the Asian crisis, and all its foreign departments are considered formally independent companies. And since the Yankees gave money to Superjip, the branches were engaged in creating it one hundred percent, despite the fact that the head company almost went bankrupt. Actually, the Hyundai company took the stage of the final assembly: yes, it was relatively inexpensive labor to be required that this amazing American-Japanese-German SUV still cost as a Korean, and not like Mercedes. And everything worked out! After long delay this summer in South Korea, the production of Santa Fe finally began.
Cosmopolitanism in the Korean mask
The marketing strategy itself is already interesting for the technical task for designing Santa Fe. It was decided to position the car as a golden mean between the class of compact parquet jeeps and the crooking class higher. Of course, priority was given to the behavior of the model on asphalt roads. The model is built on the chassis of the full -size Sedan Hyundai Sonata, of course, has a carrier body and Independent suspension of all wheels: classic McPherson in front and a very complex multi -link design of the rear axle. In terms of dimensions, the car just gets to the border between compact and full -size 4x4. So, the length of the machine is 4500 mm, that is, it is longer than the new 5-door Toyota RAV4 for more than 250 mm, and the 5-door Suzuki Grand Vitara is 300 mm. No wonder Hyundai confidently states that Santa Fe will be able to compete with high light without problems, for example, with Lexus RX300 or Nissan Terrano II. And to strengthen their positions, the creators of the car adhered to the principle: the dimensions do not determine the car class, but the engine! And in this sense, Santa Fe is very high. Unlike compact Honda CR-V, RAV4, Subaru Forester and other models having typical 2-liter engines, even a basic engine for Santa Fe, a solid 2.4-liter in-line four with a capacity of 150 hp. He was left for the base, only front -wheel drive modification. The model of models is equipped with magnificent and absolutely unknown 2.7-liter V6. At its core, this is the last generation of a 2.5 liter of a 2.5 liter of the Sonata sedan, but for the SUV it was completely redone. There is evidence that, as in the case of the Hyundai Coupe/Tiburon sports coupe, the Porsche consulting cabinet engineers participated in the V6 settings for Santa Fe! As a result, the unit increased in volume, the torque curve became more gentle, and the power increased to 185 hp. Not a single SUV in the class of parquet babies, even the future Land Rover Freelander V6, cannot boast such arsenal yet! The German engineering path Santa Fe was not limited to Porsche participation: the new all -wheel drive system for the V6 motor was created by specialists in the world in the integral transmission of the Austrian company Steyr Daimler Puch. In principle, the scheme with the central viscousate established here is similar to competitors, but it has a huge difference. The rear axle drive is not automatically connected (that is, temporary), but permanent. Anyone who traveled on compact SUVs, for example, on Honda, will understand how much this solution is more profitable than an independent, spontaneous connection of the rear -wheel drive. Under normal conditions, Santa Fe has 60% of torque on the front axle, 40% on the rear. When changing the road environment, the WISKOFT can redistribute the effort, but only in favor of the front axle. Neither the lowering series of transmissions, nor the differential locks are provided. Finally, it was Santa Fe Fe made a new automatic 4-band gearbox with manual control of SHIFTTronic, created under the Volkswagen license based on the famous Tiptronic. It is impossible not to notice how much effort was applied to achieve the title of best Korean car for Santa Fe. At least it seemed to us that the car was simply born with this title!
Breakthrough!
It's funny, but today, when the style of the latest cars from Hyundai, whether it be new Accent, XG 2.5 (No. 2, 2000) or Elantra (No. 9, 2000), not to mention the appearance of Coupe/Tiburon (No. 7, 1999), It causes a friendly misunderstanding in the ranks of the automobile community, the design of Santa Fe received exclusively approving, perhaps even enthusiastic reviews. For a year and a half that have passed since the presentation, Hyundai received tens of thousands of approving letters from customers about the Santa Fe style. The reason is simple: the Hyundai California Design design studio, located in the city of Fauntin-Valley near Los Angeles, has a very serious reputation among automobile stylists of the world. She not only relies on the potential of her team, but also invariably collects offers on a given topic from dozens of independent design bureaus, which are many in California! As a result, very interesting offers are born. Unfortunately, since its founding in 1990, the HCD studio has allowed only interesting concepts for car dealerships, and even the first generation style Co-Upe/Tiburon was developed in California, while the rest of the Hyundai models are drawn in South Korea. But if Santa Fe was funded by the Americans, its birth in California was inevitable. By a happy coincidence, it was our friends from the Hyundai California Design who provided us with one of the first Santa Fe collected.
 
Aggressive, but at the same time, smooth elliptical forms, a successful body profile, hypertrophied front wings are captivated immediately. And having been on board, you understand that, perhaps, for the first time, the talented ideas of designers from California received their embodiment in a serial car with decent quality assembly. The warm atmosphere of the salon, decorated in pastel beige colors, makes an extremely positive impression against the background of traditional salons of SUVs, usually aged in dark shades. Great elastic plastic panel of the instrument panel, metal inserts for aluminum on the toggle switches and the back of the automatic lever, magnificent skin who would have thought that this is a Korean car! Of course, this is not a competitor in the level of interior decoration BMW models, but, without any doubt, one of the best salons in the SUV segment. And, of course, its level is much higher than the faceless interiors of compact jeeps drawn without any imagination! A leather finish by car of this class is generally an exception, the steering wheel and the gearbox lever are sheathed, and the ergonomics of the salon is also beyond praise. The next surprise is open in the cabin. Thanks to a very solid base (more than 2.6 m), the designers managed to provide exclusively a lot of space for the legs of the rear passengers: the distance from the back of the rear seats to the front seats is an impressive 935 mm. This means that a 190 cm passenger can conveniently sit at the back even with the front seats shifted back. I was also pleased with the trunk volume: it is more than that of the 5-door RAV4, Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester, moreover, that the rear door glass opens separately separately. It is good that the Yankees did not impose a typically American design of the rear door (out of two halves that are leaning up and down), here the classic scheme opens upward, which is very convenient to use. In a word, as is laid down in the concept of the machine, the quality and size of the cabin is comparable to the upper class SUVs. The only thing that still does not allow you to forget about the compactness of the Santa Fe width. Of course, this is not the Range Rover, and the driver and the passenger in front will regularly touch each other with the elbows, and in the rear seat comfortable placement is guaranteed only to two adults and one child. However, this is characteristic of all jeeps-little jeeps.
 
However, test trips showed that the wonderful quality of the salon is just a small fraction of the advantages of Santa Fe. Unlike compact SUVs of competitors, whose manufacturers present them as cars with a sports character, Santa Fe with a V6 motor is actually a sports model, without any stretch.
Restless refutation
Of course, nothing that could at least somehow surprise me, I did not expect, our editorial pilot Denis Moren complains on its own naivety. Although Hyundai had successful units, in general, Koreans have always resorted to the purchase of licensed power units from Europeans (for example, Hyundai diesel from Peugeot). And the experience of driving compact SUVs suggests that the engines are most often disappointed, not enough for the SUVs themselves. But Santa Fe V6 shocked me! Having installed the machine lever in manual mode, out of habit, I sharply squeeze the gas pedal sharply, and the motor immediately demonstrates its capabilities. The perch is already felt at 2000 rpm, and then the V6, showing power unprecedented for such a volume, provides an unreal acceleration, if we also consider that it weighs Santa Fe under 1700 kg. Moving the lever along the groove towards the icon +, I stick the II transmission, and the situation becomes even more unusual: you just need to give the engine the ability to choose all your reserves, spin until the electronic speed limiter is triggered (about 7000 rpm), and then you will feel, That this is an amazing engine! Surprisingly, when accelerations in high modes in the voice of the Korean V6, metal roaring notes are heard, which unequivocally resemble the aria of recently tested ... Lamborghini Diablo 6.0! No more, no less. Of course, with a working volume of 2.7 liters of a peak of the engine power is in the range of 40006000 rpm, but such a frenzied acceleration simply drives crazy!
You are probably surprising to hear such epithets from a race carrier, and even when testing an SUV, but, right, a joint Korean-German motor delights. At the starts from the traffic light, you will spoil many nerves to the owners of charged compartment and sedans! It is a pleasure to manipulate a comfortable lever of the box in manual mode, everything is in real time, while you don’t have to think about any adhesion. You can leave the transmission in automatic mode, then in urban conditions driving turns into a continuous pleasure: the transmission is made smoothly and imperceptibly, the traction motor makes a calm ride pleasant even with low engine speeds. Full peace. But it is worth adding the gas pedal properly, as in the automatic mode, the ferocious motor morals will not slow down to affect the lightning -fast acceleration, although, of course, the machine will not allow the engine to unwind at each gear up to 7000 rpm.
It is impossible not to notice another plus of the new Santa Fe motor. Almost all SUVs, even with large engines, have a very low maximum speed of 150170 km/h even urban cars with 1.4-liter units is now faster! Santa Fe, despite the only 4-speed box, is extremely dynamic on the freeway. The company was not afraid to declare a maximum speed of 225 km/h this is greater than that of the Mercedes ML 430 with the V8 engine. And Hyundai data is not a fantasy: on wide, like a football field, Kalifornia, we laid a speedometer arrow a couple of times a couple of times 130 miles per hour (about 210 km/h) neither the slightest problems or with increased noise. Class! As a result, the unobtrusive thought crept in: the best in the world with 6-cylinder engines with a volume of 2.53 liters are still considered in-line six BMWs, but, having experienced the latest V6 from Hyundai, we can probably challenge this stereotype!
 
Climb rocket dynamics and chassis. The sports-light scheme of suspensions determines the absence of negative features of the body swing, goat, shudder of suspension on bumps. Nevertheless, the supporting body is much more pleasant for life than the frame chassis! But Santa Fe suspension is not just modern, it is wonderful. The minimum rolls in corners are combined with excellent comfort, any irregularities are filtered so efficiently and at all speeds that you again want to remember BMW! Of course, some inclinations in corners provoke highly profile off -road tires (height 70), which are easily folded when turning turns in a sports manner. This is the minimum hint of the ginger image of Santa Fe. But if the owner puts sports low-profile tires, then the stability of the car will be no worse than that of a good sport sedan. The same situation with the passage of turns. There is an obvious orientation on insufficient rotation, but the operation of the four-wheel drive almost completely smoothes it: the car holds the trajectory perfectly, and the engineers achieved excellent consistency in the behavior of the rear and front axis (they are usually in all different ways for SUVs). Good brakes, a clear steering wheel decisively all the qualities of Santa Fe can be evaluated perfectly not only from the position of the jeep, but also when comparing with passenger models. By the way, only now it became clear how dynamic the car turned out. And the Hy-Undai experts, realizing that many dashing drivers will try to lay in virabs very much in a horn, now decided to adapt the ETC electronic stabilization system for the V6 model, which will brake the wheels and strangle the motor. The system will appear next year. In a word, driving a car, even fast, extreme, on asphalt guarantees a unique combination of safety, sports emotions and comfort! In addition, the Korean V6 for its efforts does not require gratitude in especially large sizes: even with vigorous driving, it is quite realistic to meet 15 l/100 km ... Inspired by Santa Fe talents in a civilian life, we considered it necessary to check its possibilities on a crossed area. We did not expect much from this sports car 4x4, but still ...
Does not want, but maybe
Finding a suitable construction site in the vicinity of Los Angeles was not difficult. Yes, this is a real off -road training ground! First, in a very sparing mode, and then we’ll all boldly storm the parapeters from the soil, pit, ruts, hills. And everything succeeds. The suspension moves, it turns out, is not at all as small as one might think with a sports passage of turns. On most slopes, it is not possible to hang the wheel. Other constructive features enter the alliance with us: a fairly large road clearance (207 mm) and compact overhangs (entry angle 28, Congress 26, ventral 21). Of course, the lack of locks requires very careful gas dosing when crawling, in the case of a bust, both bridges easily break into the slip, and then Wyskoft seeks to transfer the entire moment to the front wheels, but the painful motor and the manual mode of the box help. In general, albeit not always on the first attempt, we defeated all obstacles and came to the conclusion that Santa Fe, although not a competitor to Mitsubishi Pajero on the Parisemakar highway, but still may well be called an SUV. At least among compact SUVs, only the frame Grand Vitara crawls on the road better! In Russian conditions, Santa Fe will be able to provide its owner with enough opportunities for existence in rural areas ...
 
Now it remains to find out whether the Hyundai production lines with the load under the yoke of orders will withstand. Initially, rational American customers considered that for the US market 50 thousand Santa Fe per year will be enough. Then Koreans from Hyundai decided that this magnificent product should be sold all over the world: in their homeland, and in Europe, and, of course, in Russia. But now it is clear that demand will clearly exceed the volume of issue. And even the minimum amount of assembly by Koreans is not easy to establish. After all, the level of technology and materials of this machine is significantly higher than Hyundai standards, and Korean techno is in no hurry to sacrifice quality for the shaft. So the release is developing slowly, and the car is already everywhere.
 
But it would be strange if something happened differently. Indeed, initially at the price of Santa Fe was positioned at the very bottom of the segment of compact SUVs. So, in most markets, the base 2.4-liter front-wheel drive modification costs 17 thousand dollars. At the same time, even she has a decent package of equipment, for example, air conditioning, four airbags, cast wheels ... The price of the maximum equipped option with a 2.7-liter V6 supermotor, all-wheel drive, an automatic and a leather decoration box is even more impressive. thousand dollars. Unfortunately, official dealers in Russia will be able to offer prices at least 50% higher, but even then, believe me, this is the most worthy offer for that kind of money. On sale in our market, Santa Fe will appear no earlier than December, but official dealers are already accepting orders. You can try to order a car through gray importers in America, but the supply of the model in the United States has just begun, and dealers are fighting for each car, the creation of which they also initiated. So you have to wait
Of course, it is not easy to believe in this, but today one of the best SUVs of the world is produced at Hyundai factories, and, possibly, the best quality/dynamics/price ratio. Of course, this is not a competitor to off-road vehicles from Mercedes or BMW, but Santa Fe, recall, is offered 3 times cheaper than the simplest versions of M-class or X5. In addition, Hyundai is almost ... Mercedes. Indeed, in the summer, the Daimlerchrysler concern bought 9% of Hyundai shares and further does not exclude the acquisition of a more solid share of shares of the largest Korean manufacturer.
 
Probably, Santa Fe was born under a happy star, and even her name from Spanish wants to translate, without adhesion to slyly, like a holy fairy!
Ivan Vesnin
Photo by the author
Los Angelesmoskva

 
 
 

A source: Avtopanorama magazine