2000 Hyundai Santa Fe Review

The stylish wagon - courtesy of its California design source - came in GL and GLS trim levels and offers two drivetrains - V6 with tiptronic automatic and four cylinder with manual transmission.

At 4.5 metres length, the Santa Fe was bigger and more roomier than its main five-door market segment rivals CR-V, RAV-4, Forester, Freelander and Mazda Tribute/Ford Escape.

Santa Fe V6 launched in late November 2000 as a $33,990 GL or in GLS trim for $36,990. Powered by Hyundai's 132 kW all-alloy quad-cam 2.7-litre V6 engine, it was mated to a Sportmatic automatic transmission with manual tiptronic control. Santa Fe featured full-time all-wheel-drive, with 60/40 front/rear drive split on normal paved roads matching the car's approximate kerb weight distribution. This ratio could vary either way according to load and/or changes in wheel grip conditions via a viscous-coupling of its front and rear drives and was further helped by the standard limited-slip rear differential.

All-independent suspension, 16" alloy wheels and car-style monocoque body construction completed Santa Fe's town and country savvy underpinnings.

Styling

The Santa Fe was designed at Hyundai's California design studio and is named after the US western city.
Santa Fe's two tone body colour scheme and distinctively styled front end provide a strong and unmistakable first impression: the stance is wide and solid, a perception further enhanced by the arching, flared fenders and the aggressive looking but pedestrian-friendly front bumper.

Santa Fe's side profile displays a muscular shoulder line with upswept hind section, lower bodyside cladding, 16" chunky-spoke alloy wheels and standard roof rails completing the sporty look.

The rear end styling is spared the obstruction of a spare wheel and features a unique trigger type release handle for the top-hinged tailgate. The rear glass could be separately opened, a boon for quick loading of smaller items like shopping bags without having to open the whole tailgate.

Powertrain

Santa Fe's premium V6 engine was the same Hyundai-designed and built 'Delta' 2.7-litre all-aluminium alloy, quad cam, 24-valve engine as fitted to the Trajet 7-seat people mover. Developing maximum power of 132kW at 6000 rpm and maximum torque of 247Nm at 4000 rpm, it endowed Santa Fe V6 with the kind of effortless, gutsy yet smooth response Australians generally prefer over small four cylinder engines.

Indicative performance figures for Santa Fe V6 were 11.7 seconds 0-100 km/h and 17.8 seconds 0-400 metres.

Mated to Santa Fe's V6 engine was a four-speed automatic transmission equipped with Hyundai's Sportmatic tiptronic clutchless manual shifter, co-developed with Porsche, which operated through a parallel slot in the floor shift quadrant in a simple nudge-forward-upshift, nudge-rearwards-downshift mode, with a gear-selected indicator light in the dash. Shift and key interlock systems ensure safe starts.

A 2.4-litre, twin cam, 16-valve four-cylinder engine, which developed up to 106kW at 5500 rpm and 201Nm at 4000 rpm, powered the manual Santa Fe. Its fuel consumption figures were 6.6-litres/100km highway cycle and 11.5- l/100km city cycle.

The manual transmission had clutch interlock, again for safe starts and double cone synchronizers to ensure smooth first and second gear shifting.

Drive from the engine/transmission travels through a DDU (Double Differential Unit) and a mechanical viscous coupling unit to the rear limited slip differential.

The 60/40 front/rear drive split on normal roads of Santa Fe's full-time all-wheel-drive is unusual, 50/50 being the norm for such systems, and it matches the car's approximate kerb weight distribution. This 60/40 ratio can vary either way according to load and/or changes in wheel grip conditions.
Santa Fe is a capable light duty off-roader, with its 207mm minimum ground clearance, 16 inch wheels shod with 225/70 tyres, and approach/departure angles of 28 and 26 degrees respectively - all complementing its full-time all-wheel-drive and limited-slip rear differential.

Traction advantage

On wet made roads or when encountering an unexpected slippery patch, Santa Fe's all-the-time all-wheel drive provided additional on-demand traction. This differed from the front-drive-only normal road setup of the Honda CR-V and Mazda Tribute/Ford Escape respectively, which, when slicker surfaces present, divert some drive to their rear wheels. Significantly, this occurs only after their front wheels have already lost some or all grip, and the time taken for their drive systems to divert the drive means valuable time may be lost in the transition.

As well, this traction advantage of Santa Fe was completely passive, requiring no driver input fiddling with any extra lock-in-4WD controls as fitted in some other vehicles.

Topping off Santa Fe were standard roof rails, while underneath, a robust guard plate protected the engine and transmission during more adventurous off-road driving.

Stepping inside at a skirt-friendly height, Santa Fe's stylish dash, sculptured and sizeable seats and spacious cabin offered plenty of room, storage areas and great all-round vision.

All models came well equipped, with standard features and equipment including air-conditioning with pollen filter and ducting to rear footwells, CD player, cruise control (V6), electric windows (with auto-down driver's glass) and mirrors, DC power outlets front and rear, remote keyless central locking with alarm, driver airbag, pre-tensioning and load-limiting front seatbelts, engine immobiliser, rear fog lights and overhead console.

The driver's seat was height-adjustable and 60/40 split-fold rear seats offered 1.6 metres of floor load length with the rear seats double-folded flat forward.

Santa Fe GLS added ABS anti-lock function and rear discs to the brakes, front passenger airbag, leather steering wheel rim and gearshift knob, front fog lights, driver seat lumbar adjustment, lit ignition switch, door step lamps and body coloured door handles and rear garnish.

All Australian Santa Fe's were equipped with a driver's airbag and front seatbelts incorporating pre-tensioners, load-limiters and sash height adjustment to better control occupant restraint through the various stages of impact, should such happen.

The GLS was further fitted with a front passenger airbag and ABS anti-lock function and EBF (electronic brake force distribution) plus rear discs to its brakes. These features were separately available as an optional Extra Safety Pack on GL models.