A similarly sized Nissan Frontier driven the following week, for instance, felt much more truck-like with heavy steering feedback and effort.Īnd get this, I didn’t even need a running board to climb into Santa Cruz. AWD calms it and weight seems well distributed here, no nose heaviness. Turn in to a tight curve and there’s just a touch of body lean, but no tail wagging as most trucks exhibit at higher speeds. Bumps and rough pavement are minor occurrences, not tailbone stingers or cranium rattlers. The Hyundai has a moderately long wheelbase at 118.3 inches and a smooth ride to confirm it. However it’s the ride and handling that easily communicates Santa Cruz is NOT a pickup. Engine noise was minimal and the SAV (OK, I said it) felt stout on the highway with little wind disturbance or noise. The AWD gave it good traction in the wet, tested well on roads coated with damp leaves in late fall. My Limited was a subtle Sage Green (grayish green that costs $400 extra) that was quick to highway speeds and its 8-speed duel-clutch automatic transmission shifted seamlessly. That’s available in the SEL Premium and Limited, both with standard AWD and listing in the near $40,000 range. Meanwhile the tested upper end Limited AWD model adds a turbo to that engine to crank an impressive 281 horses with a torque rating of 311. Santa Cruz offers two engine choices: a decent 190-horse 2.5-liter I4 at a great front-drive entry-level price of $23,990. Hyundai designers seem to have thought of everything. Yet Santa Cruz scores aces on power, ride, and handling with AWD also available if you plan to tow your boat or camper off the beaten path. Santa Cruz looks youthful, fun, and manageable. This is a family hauler first, a macho dirt and shrub hauler second, and with virtually no thumb on the macho scale. The lines seem modern and decidedly un-He-Man obsessed like all those truckier pickups. Santa Cruz is a delight to drive, to ride in and to look at. Designers worked hard to keep the interior roomy like a Tucson and then turned the rear from an enclosed hatch to a marvelous multi-function compact pickup bed. Hyundai based the Santa Cruz on its fine Tucson crossover, a biggish compact with unit-body construction so it behaves like a car, not a truck. All featured AWD.Īll this is a long way of saying Hyundai’s Santa Cruz is going to be an absolute monster hit. About the same time Ford peddled the Explorer Sport Trac. That lasted from 1978 through 1994 and then (sort of) returned from 2003-2006 as the Baja, a crossover SUV and pickup with a decidedly stylish exterior. Sounds like something an astronaut might trundle around the moon with. It was a cute pickup that Subaru called a Bi-drive Recreational All-Terrain Transporter. This isn’t the first time this combo has been tried, nor a funny naming scheme cropped up. Yet you can be sure that what most folks will see here is a stylish compact pickup. Meshing the two most popular forms of transport today seems as smart at Reese’s mixing chocolate and peanut butter.Īt media events Hyundai has gone out of its way to insist the Santa Cruz is not a pickup, but a Sport Adventure Vehicle. Take Hyundai’s brilliant new Santa Cruz, a crossover’s crossover, a mix of crossover comfort and convenience and a pickup’s utility. Few ideas are totally new in the auto world, but often they feel new, or simply put, the time is right.
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