irishcar.com - Hyundai Santa Fe Commercial

Taking the long commercial road with Santa fe

It happened that I had to go to Ballina and back last week in the one day, doing a 10-hour stint at the computer while I was there. In all, the trip was about 320 miles in the two blocks of driving, and seven or so hours in the driving seat.

I had a choice of two vehicles to do the trip in, both by coincidence commercial motors. A Hyundai Santa Fe and a quad-cab Nissan Pathfinder. I took the former, and maybe I was right. Because for all the good points of the Nissan - about which I will write again - fast cross-country driving might not be its best use.

The commercial version of the Santa Fe is a typical Irish CDV situation, a conversion from the plush of the 4WD SUV which has been doing very well indeed in Ireland since its introduction. The commercial is probably going to do equally well, if not even better.

The run also gave me the chance to drive the diesel engine now available in all Santa Fes: when I last drove the normal vehicle it had the 2-litre petrol, which was fine but rather thirstier than an oil burner in similar applications.

So I was well surprised on a couple of counts. The first was the quality and the quietness of the diesel, not necessarily what most Pacific Rim manufacturers produce as well as European makers.

But it’s a really pleasant motor, adequately powerful, good in the mid-revs overtake, and, as I said, beautifully quiet. For the tecchies, it’s a direct injection, 2-litres capacity, and outputs 110bhp. And there’s a very satisfying torque boost with full pulling power at 2000rpm. From paper, this translates into as good as I’ve driven in recent years.

So, to the rest of the car. Well, the steroidic bulges of the Santa Fe are something we’ve had to get used to. And when you think about it, there must be something in the Korean psyche that likes accentuated curves. You could analogise the Santa Fe and its sibling Hyundai Coupe as Muscle Man and Beach Babe performing by the Californian Pacific.

You could do that if you were a Californian obsessed with the psychological meanings of sculpted metal ... but we’re not, so let me just say you DO get used to what the Hyundai blurm calls the ‘athletic’ outline of the Santa Fe.

In the cabin area, curves continue across a dashboard that’s made of really decent quality plastics, and finished and fitted to standards which even the makers of the Best Built Car in the World would have it hard to fault.

The ergonomics are also well thought out, comfortable steering wheel, big control buttons for the heating and ventilation, switches that don’t require a GPS targeting system to find and push, and lots of footroom between and under the pedals.

Instruments are instruments in most cars, and the Santa Fe’s are much the same as most. The one I’d crib about is the clock, set high in the roofline and requiring the driver to really look away from the road to check the time. While I’m at it, and it’s not Hyundai’s fault because radios are installed in vehicles here in Ireland, the one that comes with the vehicle is fiddly and finnicky to operate. Should be a law against it.

So, though, let’s deal with the conversion that makes the commercial. The two back doors are retained, but glass replaced with black-painted metal padded inside. The rear seats are gone too, and a flat floor extension comes forward to the back of the front seats, boxing in also the footwells where the back seat passengers would have been.

(Here’s a really good idea, guys, for free: why not provide a lid at the front of the floor so that valuable items could be stored in that wasted footwell area? It could even be lockable. There’s great room down there for briefcases, computers, cameras, whatever.)

The rollerblind which formerly covered the luggage space behind the rear seats is also left in, so there is the possibility of covering things from view through the rear door glass. The thing has to be lifted out of the weay, though, if you’re using this commercial Santa Fe for doing what it’s supposed to do, filling it with freight.

Enough with the boring bits, though (OK, OK, I’ll email you the cargo dimensions if you really want them!). What is the vehicle for? Well, for anybody in business who needs to carry a reasonable amount of cargo goods, like a corner shopkeeper who lifts supplies from the local cash ‘n’ carry, and because it is also the owner’s main transport (no kids yet, mind) he or she wants to be able to travel socially in some kind of comfort and with a little style.

That last is where the car’s Muscle Beach pectorals and biceps work: the Santa Fe is NOT a van, it’s just dragging as one and doesn’t really hide its semi-luxurious pedigree. But it is a practical freight-hauler just the same.

In terms of driving, the vehicle is a little soft in the suspension department, aiming as it does to give good comfort in normal use. And if pushed under pressure, that translates into a certain amount of roll on the kind of twisty roads beyond the Shannon. But most people wouldn’t be needing to push it (I wanted to get within walking distance of home before the pub closed, and did.)

So, not really having anticipated the test I subseuquetly gave it, what’s the final judgement? A real nice commercial 4WD, actually. And a real good workhorse. And one that truly has the good manners of a comfortable car.

Do we really need any more? Just £21,995.