Hyundai Santa Fe 2006 test drive - 2009 SUV

Talking surname

The name Hyundai owes the name to the administrative center of New Mexico in the United States. It is logical: the car was originally created for the market of this country. But it has become popular in other regions of the planet. The national features of the most common versions were studied by Pavel Leonov. Photo: George Sadkov.
The official presentation of Santa (so often called Santa Fe Owners) took place in 2000 at the Detroit car dealership, where the concept of the same name was presented a year earlier. And in just a couple of weeks, a new model was shown to the European public in Geneva. In 2000, the car appeared on sale. First generation cars were assembled at the company's factories until the successor appeared in 2006, and then they transferred production to Russian Tagaz, where they also produced a classic in the name to this day.
Santa Fe became the first all -wheel drive car created by Hyundai engineers on their own. True, the team was international. Thus, the design of the model was developed by American specialists from Hyundai California Design, the chassis and insides of the company in the UK in the UK and Japan, the system of all-wheel drive by Austrian specialists of Steyr-Daimler-Puch, German engineers from the Frankfurt Department Hyundai were put on the conveyor of the newcomer. Korea. All these measures allowed to keep the price at a rather attractive level and win the hearts of motorists around the world.

Cars for markets of different countries (both before restyling and after it) are slightly different:
   

The geographical zone of production is easy to determine by the first symbols of the VIN code: KMH, KM8 Hyundai Motor Co., Korea; X7M Tagaz.
And ours and your
Traditionally, the equipment and configuration of machines for the European and Russian markets differ slightly mainly by the degree of anti -corrosion processing and the list of power units.
Officially, cars with a 2.4-liter four DOHC MPI (145150 hp) and the V-shaped six DOHC MPI (170179 hp) were supplied to us. In 2001, they added a diesel engine with a turbocharger and intercooler (2.0 liters, 112 hp), in which the latest technology of direct CRDI fuel injection was embodied. In recent years, its capacity has increased to 125 hp.

Salons differ not only in the level of equipment, but also with decoration materials:
   

The weakest gasoline engines with a volume of 2.0 liters (136 hp, only for the European market) and 2.4 l aggregated only with a 5-speed manual transmission, and a 2.7-liter six only with a 4-speed H-Matic automatic transmission allowing to switch the gears in manual mode. Buyers of diesel cars could freely choose between mechanics and automatic transmission. The machines with a machine gun have a highlight of a reprogrammed computer system for monitoring the HIVEC traffic conditions, which ensures the adaptation of the work of the box and the engine to the driving style.
All cars for the Russian market have a permanent all -wheel drive with a double differential node Double Differential Unit (DDU), which transfers 60% of the power to the front wheels and 40% to the rear, and when changing road conditions, it eliminates the difference in rotation of the wheels, coordinating the work of the front and back axes. In addition, a differential of high friction LSD is installed on the rear axle. The exclusion of the car assembled on Tagaz: in the poorest trim levels, the drive is only on the front wheels. The same applies to Europeans with a 2.0 liter engine: all -wheel drive is not their destiny.
 
Measure seven times
Initially, Russian buyers were offered only two levels of GL and GLS equipment. The basic equipment of the GL implies the presence of a driver’s airbag, electric windows on all windows, a steering wheel, adjustable steering column, audio systems, etc., and GLS, in addition to all of the above, includes ABS, disc brakes in a circle, passenger safety pillow, pillow of passenger safety, pillow Electro -grinder, central locking lock and side decorative pads. Moreover, buyers could choose additional equipment from an impressive list. This made it possible to complete the car for itself and not overpay excess.
In 2004, they conducted restyling: a little refreshed the exterior, changing the radiator grille (transverse strips instead of honeycombs), rear lighting equipment (from that moment with a white strip below), the design of the wheel discs, the shape of the rear bumper (and the anti -tumenes integrated into it), as well as the laterals) Moldings, and offered a new color scheme. The interior also did not undergo cardinal changes: a two -color interior decoration, dials in silver frames, three -point belts of security of the second row, a safety pillow of an improved design, etc.
Now there is only one GLS equipment, which was replenished with EBD, LSD, climate control with a dust filter, the bottom of the lower part of the windshield, the on-board computer, the leather finish of the steering wheel rim and the handle of the box lever, etc. But buyers were offered as many as seven options for its performance. They are distinguished by engines, gearboxes, and velor interior or leather, the list of other equipment is the same.
Relatives from afar
In the American market, Sant began to be sold in the same year, 2000. Initially, three equipment levels were offered here: GL, GLS and LX. In 2001, the cheapest GL equipment was renamed BASE. After restyling, that is, starting from 2005 of the model year (the Americans indicate the model year, although it may not coincide with the year of release), the BASE set was removed, and in 2006 the LX version was replaced by the most sophisticated Limited.
Three types of gasoline engines installed gasoline engines: a 2.4-liter four with a capacity of 149 hp. and two V-shaped sixes 2.7 liters (173181 hp) and 3.5 l (195200 hp). The last engine was offered exclusively in the US market and aggregated only with a 5-speed automatic. Trekshn control was also attached to him. A 3.5 liter engine appeared in 2003 on cars in the GLS and LX trim levels, and starting next year it could only be found on GLS modifications. The 2.7 liter engine also worked only with a gun, but already 4-speed. Well, the weakest basic 2.4-liter collaborated with 5-speed mechanics, and the automatic transmission was supposed only as an option. This engine, by the way, is found only on the cheapest versions of GL and BASE (they have a drive only on the front axle; all other configurations can be both front and all-wheel drive).
GL (BASE) can be identified by the absence of ABS, drum brakes from the back and unpainted bumpers. More advanced GLS was equipped with four airbags (against two on GL), alarm with an immobilizer, heated mirrors, six columns (instead of four) and cruise control; The steering wheel and handle of KP was tightened with leather. In addition to everything else, cars in the LX configuration had a leather interior, climate control (since 2002) and an automatically darkened rear-view mirror. Well, the Limited equipment was distinguished by other suspension settings, gas shock absorbers, seats electric drives, compass, external temperature indicator, antenna integrated into the roof, etc. For all versions, except for the cheapest ones, you could order a tree decoration.
From brothers from other corners of the planet, local cars are distinguished by optics, bumpers (stamping for square numbers) and the testimony of the dashboard, which are exacerbated in miles and fahrenheites. Outwardly, Santa for the American market is easy to identify by additional dimensions on the front bumper and the absence of turn signals on the front wings. Inside, they are given the absence of the third headrest in the second row and a more complex algorithm for the operation of lighting equipment.
We remind you of the traditional problems with the search and order of spare parts: official dealers do not have catalogs for Americans.
Homemade delights
Information on the trim levels of cars for the domestic market Korea had to be assembled literally bit by bit, mainly resorting to the help of firms and private traders engaged in car burning to Russia, as well as studying Korean sites. As a result, it was possible to make a rather complete idea of \u200b\u200bHyundai Santa Fe coming to Russia from this region. As it turned out, these are cars in the most gorgeous trim levels Gold and Gold Premium with a 2.0 liter diesel engine and automatic transmission. The front wheel drive or full. In many ways, these configurations are similar to the European GLS and the American LX and Limited, but for themselves Koreans saved a couple of chips that are not found on cars intended for other countries. So, for example, these versions (GOLD as options, Gold Premium in the database) are equipped with a cd changer, an additional on-board computer display on the central console (it shows the readings of the compass, barometer, altimeter), 2Din magnet with navigation and even AV system. A huge selection of external elements of the decor is also proposed, so the local machines are easily identified not only by hieroglyphs in the cabin, but also by the abundance of chrome linings and deflectors on mirrors, windows, headlights, etc.

 

 

A source: The magazine "Driving"