2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz

The popularity of crossovers is understandable. But this type of body is not always capable of solving narrow tasks such as transporting sports equipment and similar cargo. For lovers of active recreation and adventure, Hyundai came up with the Sport Adventure Vehicle segment, the first of which was the Santa Cruz pickup.

2023 Santa Cruz has a monocoque body and an HTRAC all-wheel drive connected via a clutch. You won't be able to drive through a swamp, but otherwise the cross-country ability is comparable to that of crossovers, which is enough for many people.

Exterior

Since the combinations of cross-sedan, cross-station wagon and even cross-coupe have long been in use, the Santa Cruz can easily be called a cross-pickup, especially since it is built on the N3 platform, which is used in many Hyundai and Kia crossovers, including the well-known Tucson NX4, which the Korean pickup is very similar to.

But despite similar stylistic solutions, the Santa Cruz has its own body panels. The front part of the pickup looks more harmonious than that of the Tucson crossover, probably due to slightly different proportions.

And in general, the Santa Cruz looks good: stylish, fit, moderately aggressive. Well, everything is in order with practicality: the doors protect the thresholds from dirt, the lower perimeter is covered with black matte plastic protecting the paintwork from damage.

The dimensions of the pickup are noticeably larger than those of the "long" Tucson: 4971 x 1905 x 1694 mm. The wheelbase is 3005 mm long, while the long-wheelbase crossover is 2755 mm. There is also an increase in ground clearance: 218 mm versus 181 mm. So the decrease in geometric cross-country ability due to the increased wheelbase is largely compensated by the increased ground clearance.

Interior

The interior of the Santa Cruz is almost completely identical to that of the Tucson.

The changes affected the gear selector - a regular lever is used instead of keys in the pickup. Because of this, the layout of the surrounding space and the location of certain buttons have slightly changed.

But at the same time, everything remains at hand: you can turn on the seat heating with one movement, change the driving mode, etc. – no need to resort to using the display and rack your brains.

The front seat, although fabric, is equipped with electric adjustments, including adjustment of the lumbar support roller. The cushion is long with an optimal angle of inclination; the backrest profile is good – it sits well. The steering column adjustment range for reach is large – in general, the optimal position behind the wheel is found quickly.

Under the rear sofa, the cushion of which rises in parts, there are voluminous boxes for storing all sorts of things, one of which contains a set of tools.

Another interesting solution is a small sliding window in the rear window. Apparently, it is necessary for transporting long items, because the length of the luggage platform is only 1323 mm. However, the pickup's carrying capacity is only 640 kg.

Technical characteristics

Technically, the Santa Cruz is a very ordinary crossover. Under the hood of the car, there is a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated GDI engine, producing 194 hp and 246 Nm of torque, working in combination with an eight-speed automatic transmission. There are also more powerful versions with a turbocharged T-GDI of the same volume, producing 285 hp and 423 Nm of torque. This engine is aggregated with an eight-speed "robot".

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