The fourth-generation Santa Fe will go on sale in Australia at a date yet to be announced, other than ‘around the middle of this year’. Significant details have already been released as Santa Fe will be tackling one of the hottest segments of our market.
Longer, wider and with a stretched wheelbase, the Santa Fe is a little lower and plainly aimed at those looking for a comfortable station wagon rather than a 4WD
The fourth-generation Santa Fe introduces a new iteration of Hyundai’s frontal style, called Cascading Grille. Slim headlights that are connected to one another and the overall look reminds us of Santa Fe’s smaller brother, the recently introduced Hyundai Kona.
Interior room is greater with particular emphasis on the second- and third-row seats. Second row legroom is up by 38 mm and the seat is 18 mm higher. One-touch folding seats aid access to third-row seats and headroom in the third row has also been increased by 22 mm.
An 8.0-inch infotainment system integrates all navigation, media and connectivity features, supporting both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It has a USB port and an Aux jack.
In a sign of the future, the Santa Fe provides a wireless inductive charging pad (Qi standard) for mobile phones. The phone’s charging status is shown on a small indicator lamp above the pad. When you switch of the Santa Fe’s ignition the central display in the instrument cluster will remind you the phone is still in the pad.
Hopefully this isn’t a sign of the times, but Hyundai’s SmartSense alerts the driver that there are still kids in the back seats when leaving the car. If you’ve have forgotten they’re there when you lock the Santa Fe it will blow the horn and flash the lights.
Considerable attention has been paid to lowering interior noise levels and improving ride comfort. Of course, the new Santa Fe has undergone extensive local Australian testing and suspension tuning. We’ve yet to sample this but will comment on its once we’ve attended Santa Fe’s Australian launch.
Petrol and diesel versions are being built but the importer won’t confirm that both are coming to Australia.
Hyundai has developed a multi-mode four-wheel drive system technology, tagged HTRAC. It’s aimed providing better off-road traction as well as improved handling in normal on-road use. We are advised that lower fuel consumption and emissions are also achieved.
Further details including final Australian specification and pricing will be provided later. Stay tuned.
