Hyundai Santa Fe 2019
Santa fairy tales really exist! This is one of the lessons learned from our little face to face with the fourth generation of Hyundai’s great SUV …!
For the big national debut of the fourth generation of the Santa Fe, Global Engines, the exclusive representative of Hyundai in Morocco, organized a day discovery during which, after a quick press briefing, we were able to spend a few hours with the most powerful SUVs from the South Korean brand.
The new flagship of the Moroccan Hyundai range should act as a « polish shot » on the brand’s coat of arms.
How’s that Santa Fe (without taffer)? Impossible ! Wherever you look at the new opus of Hyundai’s large SUV, you can easily read the efforts made to ensure that the intergenerational evolution is clear and straightforward! Joking aside, the name of this iconic South Korean builder is a toponym referring to the state capital of New Mexico (USA) and literally meaning « holy faith » in Spanish.
That’s good because you need faith, and it’s better to be steadfast, to get into the arena of the sub-segment of the big SUV segment C, where more and more « gladiators » New « players » like the Peugeot 5008 have big ambitions and where the sure values have fired their weapons.
Armed as it is, strong of a template revised upwards (+ 8 cm in length) and racy lines, dominated by a front as statutory as elegant, theater of the happy union of a cascade grille and Kona two-stage lighting system, the Santa Fe should easily hold the shock against its rivals most formidable.
Especially if they are wiser than the front, profile and rear part remain nonetheless more dynamic than before.
In any case, an SUV has already quite a lot: it’s the outgoing generation of Santa Fe. Incredible, the terrible blow of old that she took since the revelation of her replacement at the Geneva show in March latest ! It looks like the grandma rather than the mother … We were able to realize it while stationing, in a rest area of Bouznika, near a third Santa Fe of the name.
The new generation has also made its predecessor in terms of interior presentation obsolete. The slider of modernity has been moved a few notches.
This contributes to the general rise in the passenger compartment. Perceived quality does not lend itself to criticism and the technological content has nothing to envy to that displayed by the competitors.
Of course, as is often the case, it’s all the more true on board the high-end Luxury 4 × 4 that, in addition to benefiting exclusively from an all-wheel drive and sharing its 19-inch wheels with the finish Luxury 4 × 2 (the rest of the smala is entitled to 18 inches), another prerogative digital instrumentation, which is displayed on a 7-inch TFT screen and can be configured at will.
That said, genome Hyundai requires, the Santa Fe has the heart on the hand whatever the chosen finish. Attests to the presence of a central touch screen of 7 inches from the basic version, interface of an up-to-date multimedia system, compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Baptized Elegance, with only 5 seats and a two-wheel drive transmission, the Santa Fe first price also has the elegance of offering an automatic 8-speed transmission, a wireless smartphones charger …
A little more opulent, the Prestige finish can also benefit from a « combo » hands-free access / keyless start, or electrically folding mirrors, while the finish of our test car, the good named Premium, gives access to a leather-covered dashboard and upholstery, power-adjustable front seats, a panoramic sunroof …
a real cocoon! Certainly, other sophistications reserved for Santa Fe Luxe 4 × 2 and 4 × 4 such as the electric trunk or the heated and ventilated front seats – and even offering a memory function for the one who faces the steering wheel – can push some demanding customers to line up more bongs.
Big brother Tucson, Creta and Kona are also generous in terms of habitability. The wheelbase is growing 6.5 cm from one generation to the next and this is clearly felt in the second and third row of seats, much more habitable than before.
This is also the case of the trunk, which goes from 585 dm3 to 625 dm3 for the 5-seater version (547 dm3 for versions that embark the retractable seats in the trunk).
Without transition, the engine is not lacking, trunk! Developing a power of 200 hp and a maximum torque of 440 Nm, the four-cylinder turbodiesel 2.2 l has the respondent at all speeds, although second that it is by the car box.
The covers are convincing, allow to double with ease on small single-lane roads, while the top speed is honorable (203 km / h). At the satisfaction radius always, the direction is consistent and the suspension is « cervical and lumbar friendly », while reducing to its portion the roll.
Do not take this elevated vehicle and display, depending on the version chosen (4 × 2 or 4 × 4, 5 or 7 seats), between 1 765 kg and 1870 kg, for what it is not.
It is not capable of the feats of a Hyundai i30 N on some country road, but is otherwise more endowed for traveling far and long, being as considerate with regard to the ears as lumbar of its occupants.
To avoid the false start, Hyundai Morocco has concocted launch offers frankly attractive. The Santa Fe thus appears from 359 000 DH, 40 000 DH less than the « regular » rate, and culminates at 475 000 DH, which represents a discount of 52 000 DH.
Finally, to drive our test car, we must align419 000 DH for the moment and 465 000 DH once the introductory offer has expired.
Automobile 