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66 | FireFlyz
Car
Review
The Perfect Storm
The stormbrought
ZacharyHo
a diesel-powered INOKOMSanta Fe Executive Plus to
blowhismind over.
I
confess to having a liking for the
second generation Santa Fe. Its looks
might trigger a yawn or two, but
it was an eager workhorse with
a torquey, robust diesel heart.
Furthermore, it didn’t look so
upmarket that you feared taking it
into the brown stuff. It was also picked by
Consumer Reports as one of their top 10
vehicles in 2008. Quite a feat for an SUV
that looked less interesting than drying
paint. Even the first generation Santa
Fe had forgettable looks although it was
considered quite a sales success.
LOOKS
Not aiming to continue its “Plain Jane”
heritage, Hyundai (locally badged as
Inokom) went to town with the third
generation Santa Fe. Still within the
boundaries of their “Fluidic Sculpture”
design language, the Santa Fe has been
struck with “Storm Edge” which has less
“fluidic” and “sculpture”. Not a bad thing
considering how unwieldy a large fluid
barge could look. “Storm Edge” projects
an outwardly brawny demeanor. With
very distinctive lines across the trademark
hexagonal grille and body, the air of
sophistication and intensity has grown
over the previous.
Keeping it bright are the super bright
Xenon HID headlamps, flanked on the
top by LED lamps. The fog lamps are
housed with cornering lamps which
increase lateral vision when turning.
The rear too is filled with LED lamps
from the rear spoiler to the rear light
cluster. Aerodynamics is a class-leading
0.34cd using deflectors, spoiler and a flat
underbody providing better stability and
improved fuel economy.
POWER
So good was the 2.2-liter R series diesel
engine in the previous that Hyundai has
decided to keep it for the new Santa Fe
albeit slightly tweaked. It sports third
generation common rail injectors, high
efficiency electronic turbocharger and
variable geometry turbo. This storm
has been slightly subdued with a small
reduction of torque to 436Nm (from
442Nm) making power delivery less
aggressive and more user-friendly than
before.
Despite the downgraded power, the
lighter kerb weight due to the use of new
production methods and materials eases
the Santa Fe past the speed limit a little
faster than before. Overtaking on the
highways is still a breeze thanks to the
variable geometry turbo, which changes
the angle of the turbine blades that helps to
reduce the dreaded turbo lag and provide
faster acceleration response. The familiar
6-speed auto transmission also helps with
a smooth drive.
If you feel like the calmbefore the storm
instead, then activate the Eco mode to
breeze along. Now that the Eco function
is out of the menu and onto a button of
its own, it’s easy to toggle in between any
time you require that extra push.
DRIVE
The improvements continue with the
drive. Although more softly sprung than
the previous, the new one gives a better