I tried a Santa fe a few years ago (old version) and also read the recent practical caravn road test where the new version scored very low.
so expectation was very low too.
I refuse to buy another car without a test tow first (as I have just lost a whole load of cash on a new shape galaxy that will not do the job).
The Milton keynes dealer let me borrow one with a towbar.
This car tows brilliantly. I tried it with my 1550Kg Geist on the motorway with a truck on my inside and a white van on the outside. It did not move a muscle and sat their at (just a little over) 60 mph.
I expected it to be rubbish but the handling is tight. Power is excellent. And the way the auto 4x4 kicks in when you need it is amazing.
I am very very tempted to get one. The only down side is that visibility is still very poor (as I am tall) and the headrest is lower than my head. if it were not for this then my mind would be fully made up. It is a great improvement on the old (pre 2006) model but the head room and visibility is still an issue. Tows brilliantly though. And combined with excellent non towing mpg it is a sure winner in my book.
Hi, I tow with a 2.2 diesel Hyundai Santa Fe Auto ( the new 2006 model ) and the caravans it has towed were a Coachman Laser 640-4 and now an Abbey Spectrum 540. In over 2000 miles of towing I got 24 mpg. with the the Laser, and 26 mpg. with the Spectrum. Both vans were heavy, and I had no worries at all with the stability. I could easily cruise at 50 mph. and there was plenty of reserve power. The secret is that the maximum torque of the engine is attain 2000-2400 revs. because of the variable vane turbo charger and the cruising revs. are 1600 rpm. most of the time. Towing solo at 45/50 it would easily do 38 mpg. The car is very quiet and comfortable, and I am not easy to please as I have been in the motor trade for 60+ years with my own garage. This car is very under-rated !
We have a 2005 Santa Fe, we are going for a bigger van perhaps this winter and I was worried about towing 1500kg's with it. Although it now pulls our 1420KG van no problems.
Those guys towed from Norway To Gibraltar and back with a van weighing 1800kg doing 400 odd miles a day and crossing the Pyrenees they seemed happy enough with it, so I think I'll keep ours :)
We tow our van with an old shape (2006) 2lr santa fe. The van's MTPLM is 1500kgs and the car tows it brilliantly. She is quiet and steady and there is plenty of power behind her, you would hardly known the van was on the back. I agree with hmarsh about the mpg towing and solo. She is a top of the range diesel and my hubby does high mileage during his working week, picking this car over quite a few other 4x4 and estate type cars.
Hi Michael, I have used a Hyundia Santa Fe 2.2 diesel automatic towing the heaviest of caravans without any problems at all. The 2000 kg. towing limit is the same for both manual and automatic versions. The dealer knows I tow a heavy caravan and saya it still has it's 5 year warranty and doesn,t reqiure any additional oil cooler on the transmission. I get around 27 mpg towing and on my solo journey today it did 37.8 mpg over 100 miles. Excellent; considering the Santa Fe weighs over 2 tons.