2019 Hyundai Santa FE SUV, Sport Redesign – When the fourth generation of the Hyundai Santa Fe goes on sale at the end of 2018, the brand will be well on its way to completely relaunching its entire SUV lineup—although this revamp comes with a little confusion. This new Santa Fe is effectively a replacement for the outgoing Santa Fe Sport. Today’s longer-wheelbase Santa Fe will continue for one more model year, rechristened the Santa Fe XL, until a new three-row SUV under a new name debuts for the 2020 model year. Along with the new Kona and fuel-cell Nexo, there will be a new Tucson and a smaller-than-Kona crossover by 2021, too. If you’re counting, that’s six new or redesigned Hyundai SUVs in half as many years.
2019 Hyundai Santa FE SUV Models
Base cars will have an instrument panel with a 3.5-inch LCD screen between a conventional tach and speedometer. In upper trim levels, an analog tachometer and fuel and coolant-temperature gauges flank an optional 7.0-inch “virtual cluster” in the instrument binnacle. Depending on the driving mode, this display changes its color theme—blue for Normal, red for Sport, green for Eco and it can display a digital readout or a facsimile of an analog speedometer. Throttle and transmission calibrations change with these modes, although we found little reason to divert from Normal.
For its first model year, the 2019 hyundai Santa Fe will come with two familiar inline-four engines the 185-hp 2.4-liter and the 235-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter found throughout Hyundai’s lineup—paired with an unfamiliar and new eight-speed automatic transaxle of Hyundai’s own design. All-wheel drive is available across the board. A hot rod the Santa Fe is not, and its zero-to-60-mph times are predicted to be in the seven-second range.
2019 Hyundai Santa FE SUV Engine
the 2019 hyundai Santa Fe will offer a 2.2-liter diesel inline-four featuring a variable-geometry turbocharger. Opting for the 190-hp and 322-lb-ft diesel also adds the third row that is optional in the rest of the world. The two additional seats subtract one cubic foot of cargo space (36 cubes to the five-seater’s 37) and 1.0 inch of second-row legroom.
Hyundai admits the diesel Santa Fe’s third row is an occasional-use thing. We didn’t get a chance to pilot any of the U.S.-spec engines, but the new transmission worked beautifully with the Korea-spec 2.0-liter diesel we drove (an engine not destined for our market), never shuffling gears awkwardly, although we did notice a few jerkies starts from a traffic light when the standard stop/start system was active. We adjusted our initial throttle input; problem resolved.
2019 Hyundai Santa FE SUV Release And Date
Official pricing and EPA fuel-economy estimates are also pending, but Hyundai has said that it expects an increase in the 3-to-4-percent range. That would put the combined EPA number at about 24 mpg for the roughly $26,000 base, front-drive, 2.4-liter model and 22 mpg for an all-wheel-drive 2.0T. When the 2019 hyundai Santa Fe hits dealers in the fourth quarter of this year, a loaded 2.0T AWD will cost nearly $40K. By that time, Hyundai’s new lineup will be less confusing, we hope.
Gallery of 2019 Hyundai Santa FE SUV, Sport Redesign
