Hi, Bob Aldons, The Car Guy, with Hyundai’s press release about the 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe. Hyundai’s new-generation family favourite makes style, safety and connectivity standard and raises the bar again in the large SUV category. Here’s what the company has to say about the 2019 Hyundai Sante Fe.
- 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe features progressive, elegant styling, superb comfort and driver appeal, and advanced safety and infotainment technology
- With a refined and classy interior and expanded occupant and luggage space, it perfectly complements an active family lifestyle
- Petrol and turbo-diesel engines, six- and eight-speed automatic transmissions and Hyundai’s go-anywhere HTRAC all-wheel-drive system
- Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility standard range-wide
- Active safety standard across the range, including Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist, Lane Keep Assist and a Driver Attention Warning
- Hyundai Auto Link Premium makes its debut on Highlander model with vehicle remote control functions via mobile phone
Hyundai’s new fourth-generation Santa Fe SUV flagship breaks ground for standard active safety features, interior space and functionality, and family-friendly style.
Hyundai’s new, advanced HTRAC all-wheel-drive system makes the new 2019 Santa Fe reassuringly stable on slippery roads and gives it the go-anywhere capability to underpin an active family lifestyle.
Like every Hyundai passenger car, new Santa Fe benefits from thousands of kilometres of local tuning to deliver enjoyable handling and steering and superb comfort on Australia’s uniquely challenging city and country roads.
A standard active-safety story sees Hyundai’s SmartSense™ suite included in all three Santa Fe variants.
From the Active version Santa Fe occupants are protected by Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, Smart Cruise Control with Stop and Go, Blind-Spot Collision Avoidance Assist and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Avoidance Assist systems, as well as Driver Attention Warning, High Beam Assist and Lane Keeping Assist.
A classy, spacious and technological feature-packed cabin brings greater space for occupants – including more leg and headroom – and a better view of their surroundings.
A ‘Walk-in’ switch allows effort-free folding of the second row for easy third-row access, while Elite and Highlander’s Smart Power Tailgate opens automatically when it detects the Smart Key.
The new Santa Fe is the complete package for energetic families seeking a safe, stylish and versatile seven-seater SUV. With handling and steering tuned in Australia, new Santa Fe is as enjoyable to drive as it is comfortable, and poised for adventure with the all-surface traction and security of HTRAC all-wheel drive.
“The 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe is an eye-catching and technologically advanced new generation model that has grown into a family favourite over four generations and almost two decades on the market,” said Hyundai Motor Company Australia Chief Executive Officer, Mr JW Lee.
“Santa Fe delivers a long list of cutting-edge active safety features as standard across the range, powerful and efficient petrol and turbo-diesel engines, handsome style, family-friendly versatility, and value for money, with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty and Lifetime Service Plan.”
“Santa Fe is an advanced, safe and stylish SUV to complement an active family lifestyle,” he said.
New 2019 Santa Fe combines suburban cool and immense versatility with the technology to connect and the rough-road hardware to unplug and get away while cocooning the family with an array of standard safety features.
Santa Fe model range overview
New Santa Fe wraps a spacious and versatile seven-seater SUV in a crisp, modern exterior, with a generous application of advanced technology.
Santa Fe is available in three trim levels – Active, Elite and Highlander – and Hyundai’s SmartSense™ active safety suite is standard in each.
The all-surface confidence that comes with Hyundai’s own HTRAC all-wheel-drive system is standard in every Santa Fe.
Customers can choose from two drivetrains in the Active – a powerful, 138kW 2.4-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine with a six-speed automatic transmission and a high-torque 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel engine matched to a new, eight-speed automatic transmission.
Santa Fe Elite and Highlander come standard with the 440Nm 2.2-litre turbo diesel engine and eight-speed automatic transmission.
The new Santa Fe is the complete package for energetic families seeking a safe, stylish and versatile seven-seater SUV. With handling and steering tuned in Australia, new Santa Fe is as enjoyable to drive as it is comfortable, and poised for adventure with the all-surface traction and security of HTRAC all-wheel drive.
CHASSIS AND SUSPENSION DESIGN
The 2019 Santa Fe applies high strength steel extensively and employs state of the art manufacturing techniques to deliver high impact energy absorption and a safe and rigid multiple ring-shaped occupant cell.
The Santa Fe monocoque utilises 15 percent more high-strength steel than the preceding model – Hyundai Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) makes up 57 percent of the body structure, which brings benefits in both passive safety and chassis dynamics.
The hot stamping technique for forming structural sheet metal is applied for 15 components, compared with six for the preceding model. This, with larger weld diameters, increases crashworthiness while reducing the weight of the Body in White.
Body tensile strength is increased by 14.3 per cent to 67.0kgf/mm2 and torsional stiffness is increased by 15.4 per cent to 31.5ｘ104kgf·m2/radian.
The 2019 Santa Fe is underpinned by optimised MacPherson strut front suspension and a multi-link rear suspension.
The broad development strategy for the new Santa Fe’s suspension and steering was to optimise responsiveness and stability while enhancing comfort and refinement.
To this end the rear suspension has been stiffened compared with the preceding model, with the springs and dampers oriented vertically to give longer travel and a more absorbent ride.
External vertical shock absorbers are tuned to optimise responsiveness and stability while reducing noise, vibration and harshness. Road noise is isolated by reinforcing the floorpan and incorporating additional sound insulation material.
Multiple shock reduction dampers at the upper mounts of the front struts and rear dampers balance precision with comfort and NVH reduction, and optimised, larger diameter rear cross member bushes improve ride and road noise characteristics.
Aluminium front knuckles and rear carrier mountings reduce unsprung weight by 3.6kg and 5.6kg at each side, respectively.
A Rack-Mounted Motor-Driven Power Steering (R-MDPS) system gives direct, well-weighted feel with varied assistance depending on vehicle speed.
AUSTRALIAN TUNED SUSPENSION & STEERING
New 2019 Santa Fe benefits from suspension and steering tuned in Australia specifically for local driving conditions, as does every new Hyundai vehicle sold in Australia (except iMax and iLoad).
The Santa Fe chassis development program was a joint effort by the Hyundai Australia Chassis Development and Product Planning teams, with an engineer from damper supplier ZF SACHS, and an engineer from Hyundai Motor Company’s Namyang, South Korea R&D facility.
During the development program, the team evaluated 27 front suspension damper builds and 22 rear damper builds, as well as two front and three rear spring rates, over thousands of kilometres on a variety of surfaces, from country roads to freeways and corrugated dirt roads.
“First and foremost it had to be comfortable for families; it had to be safe with good recovery after big bumps, and we sprinkled in some fun-to-drive,” said Andrew Tuitahi, Hyundai Motor Company Australia Senior Manager Product Planning.
The positive influence of Hyundai’s Head of Vehicle Test & High-Performance Development, Albert Biermann, was obvious from HMCA’s first local Santa Fe test.
The HMCA development team arrived at a spring and damper tune each for the petrol and turbo-diesel engines, which provide for cosseting ride comfort and enjoyable handling on each of the three Santa Fe wheel and tyre packages.
Hyundai’s R-MDPS – for rack-mounted motor-driven power steering – features in new Santa Fe for the Australian market.
“Santa Fe’s rack-mounted motor-driven power steering gives the driver much better road feel [than the preceding model’s column-mounted motor],” Tuitahi said.
“The priority when tuning the steering was ease-of-use and comfort.”
The electric-motor assisted steering allows a push-button weight selection via the Drive Mode system, to let owners fine-tune the setting to their driving style.
ENGINES AND DRIVETRAINS
The 2.4 GDi petrol engine is available in Santa Fe Active. Running on regular unleaded the alloy block ‘Theta II’ engine produces 138kW at 6,000rpm and 241Nm at 4,000rpm. Teamed with a six-speed automatic transmission it uses 9.3L/100km on the official combined cycle.
The 2.2-litre CRDi turbo-diesel engine is available across all three Hyundai Santa Fe trim grades.
The common-rail, direct-injected diesel ‘R-engine’ delivers 147kW at 3,800rpm. With an electronically controlled variable geometry turbocharger, it produces 440Nm across the range 1,750 to 2,750rpm
Bob Aldons is the owner and founder of The Car Guy, reviewing cars, reporting on Car Industry Matters, Car Tech and the world at large. He’s spent the last forty years immersed in the automotive industry from salesman to the owner of a 7 brand multi-franchise dealership. Bob knows cars.
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