The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe is available in two versions — a six-seat Limited with a two-seat second row and a seven-seat-GLS with a second-row bench seat for three.


By Susan Carpenter

 
Parents who vacuum fossilised french fries and scrub — vainly — to remove grape juice spills from their cars’ seat cushions are likely to appreciate the stain-resistant interior of Hyundai’s new seven-passenger Santa Fe.
Those who unwittingly commit these childhood crimes, meanwhile, could very well appreciate the duplication of front-row amenities in the seats just behind their parents, most notably heated and reclinable captain’s chairs.
It’s all part of Hyundai’s bid for price-minded families who yearn for a midsize crossover to haul the boogie boards, the bicycles and the suitcases without cramping their or their wee ones’ style. The larger Santa Fe, which went on sale in March, starts at $29,195, including freight and handling.
A replacement for Hyundai’s Veracruz, which is being put out to pasture because of the difficulty of marketing a separate crossover nameplate, the longer Santa Fe is available in two versions — a six-seat Limited with a two-seat second row and a seven-seat GLS with a second-row bench seat for three. Both vehicles scavenge their front halves from the recently updated five-passenger Santa Fe Sport but stretch its wheelbase to accommodate more seats and an additional 38.6cu ft of passenger volume.
There’s a good amount of leg room in the second row, even with a tall driver in front. But the third row will only be comfortable for children who haven’t reached puberty. The floor of the longer Santa Fe is taller in the third row, which brings the seats lower to the ground and, as a result, makes adult knees angle upward.
Chances are the third row will spend most of its time collapsed. That, at least, is done easily with the tug of a strap on the back of each seat that flips the head rest forward and nestles the seat into a flat and spacious cargo area.
To help move this larger load, there’s a new direct-injection 3.3-litre V-6 tweaked for greater efficiency and fuel economy with chromium nitrate coatings on its sliding surfaces. The longer Santa Fe is the only V-6 midsize crossover to weigh less than two tons. Still, its EPA estimated fuel economy is just 20 mpg combined for the all-wheel drive version I tested during a daylong Hyundai drive event in San Diego last week. The front-wheel drive version gets an additional 1 mpg in highway or combined driving.
Manoeuvring the Limited, it didn’t feel like a car that could carry an entyre peewee football team. It angled into parking spaces without the drama of a five-point turn. It had good power off the line, and its six-speed automatic transmission was unobtrusive.
More impressive was its customisable electronic power steering. At the press of a button, the steering effort can be softened or hardened by 10% with distinctly different comfort and sport modes that, according to Hyundai, appeal to women and men, respectively.
Other steering wheel controls include Bluetooth and audio, which can also be operated with the Santa Fe’s standard 4.3-inch touch screen. An optional technology package included in the Limited that I tested upgrades the car with a larger 8-inch touch screen, 12-speaker surround sound, built-in sun shades for the rear side windows and a panoramic sunroof, which elevated the price to $38,730.
For that kind of money, Hyundai lacks some of the safety technologies that are now standard on less-expensive vehicles, such as blind-spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control that keeps the car at a safe following distance. Both technologies are no-brainers for parent drivers who may be distracted while negotiating backseat battles, but Hyundai opted against including them, even as options. — The Orange County Register/MCT

Technical specifications may vary in locally available models.

In a nutshell
Powertrain: Direct-injection, 3.3-liter, V-6, six-speed automatic transmission
Maximum horsepower: 290 at 6,400 rpm
Maximum torque: 252 pound-feet at 5,200 rpm
US base price: $29,195