The 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe Nails the Crossover Game and Looks Good Doing It
Hyundai's popular midsize crossover is striding into its 19th year and firing on all cylinders.
The Hyundai Santa Fe is now 19 years old, if you can believe it. It was new in 2019 for a fourth-generation with a better-looking and now corporate face. Hyundai’s plan was to make it feel more like an SUV, and I think they’ve succeeded. The Santa Fe XL is still on sale at Group 1 Hyundai, according to the consumer website, but this car is really bordered, sizewise, by the bigger Palisade and the smaller Tucson in the company stable.
2020 Hyundai Santa Fe Specs
Drivetrain: 2.4-liter I4, eight-speed automatic, AWD
Output: 185 hp @ 6,000 rpm; 178 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm
Curb Weight: 3,735 lb
Fuel Economy (EPA City/Highway/Combined): 21/27/24 mpg
For 2020, the Hyundai Santa Fe moved a few features around. Limited trims get standard blind-spot monitors and premium door plates; blind-spot collision-avoidance assist, rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance assist, and safe exit assists moved from standard equipment to SEL trim and above; wireless charging is standard on SEL with the convenience package, and dark chrome trim is standard on all but the Limited trim.
The 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe gets either a 2.4-liter I-4 making 185 hp and 175 lb-ft and the 2.0-liter turbo I-4 making 235 hp and 260 lb-ft.
The Hyundai Santa Fe is the right size for my current, four-person family. The big sellers in the category are the Honda Pilot, Subaru Outback and Ford Edge, but this might be the best looking of the bunch. I like the new face of the brand that’s now also on the Kona, Venue and Palisade though I can see it being polarizing.
As for
ride and handling, the 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe was fine. Bumps were well muted and control was relatively direct. I do remember driving it into some DEEP water on the first drive, like 20-some inches, and made it out.
The 2020 Santa Fe's HTRAC all-wheel-drive system, available on all trims, defaults to front-wheel drive until slip is detected. Then it can send up to 50 percent of the power rearward. In sport mode, it starts at 65 percent front, 35 percent rear and varies from there.
Hyundai Tucson too small? Palisade too big? The 2020 Santa Fe sits right in the middle.
The 2020 Santa Fe interior is as ergonomic as you can get with knobs for climate and volume and tuning, cupholders that are next to the gear shift, and not behind it, and, well there’s a tacked-on looking screen on top of the dash that I don’t love, but it is easy to sneak a look at while driving without taking your eyes too far off the road.
Our 2020 Santa Fe Limited comes standard with leather seats, dual climate control with four-way lumbar adjustment, ventilated seats along with heat and memory, the 8-inch nav screen, surround view monitor and a few other things.
Article source: https://www.autoweek.com/drives/g30317528/the-2020-hyundai-santa-fe-nails-the-crossover-game-and-looks-good-doing-it/
