Towcar of the Month: Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 Premium SE

Check out the Santa Fe’s residual values after three or four years, when prices are pleasingly low, and you’ve still got one or two years’ warranty cover left on it.

In the mid-90s, a lifetime ago, I was working as a motoring journalist. One year, I employed an ex-Michelin test driver to evaluate tyres for an awards event. This chap was a driving genius – in ‘blind testing’, he could identify 10 out of 12 tyre brands correctly just by driving the car!

He told me that the previous week, he’d been training Hyundai test drivers at the MIRA facility in the Midlands. At that point, Hyundai was a niche brand in the UK, trying to build its sales and reputation to compete with the ‘big boys’.

I remember thinking, ‘They have a major job on their hands, as they’ve got to build their skills base, before they can even think about making competitive cars’.

I was right. It was a huge, huge job; but those tenacious Koreans stuck to their guns and, 20 years later, they’re manufacturing sleek-looking cars, with decent performance, great prices and long warranties. Carswhich are perfect for the astute and canny caravanner.

Its Korean advantage

The Hyundai Santa Fe is one such motor. Like its Korean cousins (Kia and SsangYong), there’s a sense that this 4x4 benefits, paradoxically, from being one ‘development generation’ behind, say, a VW or a BMW. That advantage is its kerbweight.

As manufacturers facing the big ‘Eco challenge’ trim every spare gramme they can from their newest cars, the fast-evolving Koreans appear at a slight disadvantage… which is great news for caravanners who want to pull heavier tourers.

This test Hyundai, a posh Premium SE model, weighs in at a substantial 2003kg. That will allow you to tug pretty much any tourer that isn’t from America and made of shiny aluminium.

Power performance?

Fortunately, all that ‘timber’ doesn’t seem to affect its performance adversely. On the test track I noted down its acceleration as, ‘Good to very good, no issues with pull-away, and lots of power’. Its performance is impressive.

As Pirelli used to remind us:

‘Power is nothing without control’ and those Brit-trained, Hyundai test drivers have done the business with the handling of this SUV.

Stability was excellent at all speeds up to an inadvisable 75 mph (my top speed, not theirs) with even the odd side wind unable to shift this outfit.

Handling on the tricky and twisting Hill Circuit (imagine if Alton Towers made roads) was good, with decent control and steering accuracy, ie: you don’t have to constantly correct the steering. This easy drive was enhanced by great gear ratios, smartly selected by the transmission’s computer.

Impressive performance needs effective brakes and the Santa Fe doesn’t disappoint. It halted rapidly from 60 mph in the emergency stop test, with great feel and ‘bite’ and just a little front-end ‘dive’. Likewise, the auto-handbrake performed admirably on an extreme 1-in-6 hill-start.

Verdict

There’s no doubt you get a lot of car for your money with the Hyundai. There’s a seven-seat version (which eats into the capacious 516-litre boot space); a five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty; 10-speaker surround sound and so on.

Yes, it lacks some finesse and quality plastics of the best European and Japanese rivals, but it also costs significantly less than most similarly spec’d towcars.

The real win for the smart caravanner will be to check out the residuals after three or four years, when prices are lower, and there’s still warranty cover.

Useful information

• Road tax band H

• CO2 174g/km

• Insurance group 28

• Kerbweight 2003kg

• 85% match 1702kg

• Noseweight 100kg

• Engine 4-cylinder diesel

• Capacity 2199cc

• Power 197bhp @ 3800rpm

• Torque 325lb/ft @1750rpm

• Gears: 6-speed auto

• Towing acceleration

  • 30-60mph - 12.3sec

  • 40-60mph - 9.4sec