What sort of car is the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz? What does it examine to?

New for 2022, the Hyundai Santa Cruz exists within the middle of a Venn diagram of sedans, SUVs, and pickup vans. It’s extra like a Subaru Baja from 20 years in the past than something on sale now, although its open mattress and seating for 5 pit it towards mid-size pickup vans starting from the Honda Ridgeline to the Rivian R1T electrical truck. 

Is the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz a great automotive/SUV/pickup?

Evaluation continues under

It seems promising, however we gained’t know till we drive it someday earlier than its summer season on-sale date. (Learn extra about how we charge vehicles.)

What’s new for the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz?

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is all new and in contrast to something presently on sale, although it shares a platform with the Hyundai Tucson compact crossover. Hyundai markets the Santa Cruz as a sport journey car, however its proportions seem like the perfect city weekend getaway car for sport, journey, utility, and parallel parking.

At 195.7 inches lengthy, it trails the Toyota Tacoma and Honda Ridgeline by greater than a foot, and it’s about three inches shorter in peak than the competitors. From the entrance it seems like an off-roadable crossover; from the rear, a square-box pickup. Both manner, it attracts consideration as a contemporary tackle the Baja.

The entrance finish wears the stepped grille with built-in daytime working lights of the 2022 Hyundai Tucson. The DRLs solely turn into distinguishable from the grille at night time, in any other case the grille spreads its wings to the corners above the headlights. A skid plate girds the entrance bumper. 

The squat profile options tasteful and textured black cladding working over the rockers and round wheel arches that home 18-inch wheels commonplace or obtainable 20-inch wheels with a star design. 

Issues get much more attention-grabbing at that rear. Bulging taillights within the form of hatchets body a tailgate that’s stamped with giant “Santa Cruz” lettering above the bumper. The daring stamping conjures sandboxes dominated by a Tonka truck. The rear bumper options built-in nook mattress steps, just like the Chevy Colorado, with a non-slip ledge on the highest. Hyundai guarantees a number of Easter eggs all through the design to precise its American-made spirit.

The mattress doesn’t have the depth or size of different mid-size vans, but it surely has some neat tips. It’s not a field, and at 52.1 inches the underside stretches out longer than the highest at 48.4 inches. Both manner, it’s at the least a half foot shorter than the competitors, but it surely encompasses a built-in lockable tonneau cowl, hidden mattress storage about six inches deep with a drain plug, and obtainable mattress extending equipment.     

Intelligent storage areas proceed inside, with 60/40-split rear seats that flip as much as reveal a seat-length storage cubby. Mesh pockets line the entrance seat backs, however the utilitarian turns into a technocrat within the cockpit, headlined by an 8.0-inch touchscreen with wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A bigger 10.3-inch touchscreen is accessible however smartphones will have to be tethered. Non-compulsory tech upgrades embody wi-fi charging and a ten.0-inch digital instrument cluster.  

Inside house seems roomy and the wheelbase is 10 inches longer than the Tucson, however Hyundai didn’t disclose leg room. The Santa Cruz has a Subaru-like 8.6 inches of floor clearance, a breakover angle of 18.6 levels and strategy and departure angles of 17.5 and 23.2 levels, respectively. For comparability, the longer Subaru Outback has a 19.4-degree breakover angle and 18.6 and 21.7 strategy and departure angles. The quick overhangs of the Santa Cruz ought to assist when the pavement ends and the journey begins. 

Hyundai affords two powertrains to get to that time. The usual engine is a 2.5-liter inline-4 that makes 190 hp and 180 lb-ft of torque. It makes use of an 8-speed automated with front-wheel drive and might tow as much as 3,500 kilos. 

The uprated engine is a 2.5-liter turbo-4 making an estimated 275 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque. It pairs to an 8-speed dual-clutch automated utilized in Hyundai’s efficiency N variants however with totally different tuning. With obtainable all-wheel drive, it could actually tow 5,000 kilos. 

The HTrac all-wheel-drive system comes with a middle locking differential that splits the torque between the entrance and rear axles. If the driving force doesn’t press the locker for low velocity off-roading, the system robotically adjusts torque between the axles primarily based on situations and driver inputs. Sport, Regular, and Good drive mode settings shuttle energy appropriately, with Sport mode sending as much as 50% of the torque to the rear wheels. When cruising, a lot of the torque powers the entrance wheels the place it’s best. The Santa Cruz comes with 18-inch wheels, however bigger off-road tires or 20-inch wheels can be found upgrades. 

Whereas the off-road parts could also be elective, Hyundai assures Santa Cruz house owners security on the highway. Normal driver-assist options embody automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection and lively lane management, whereas choices reminiscent of blind-spot displays, blind-spot cameras, and surround-view cameras assist get your bearings on path or additionally when slipping into that parallel parking spot. 

Related automotive tech features a 3-year Blue Hyperlink subscription that lets customers distant begin and situation the automotive, in addition to lock and unlock doorways and observe its whereabouts if stolen or for those who’ve confused it for that Baja within the seashore car parking zone. 

The Santa Cruz comes with a superb guarantee, together with a 5-year/60,000-mile restricted guarantee, a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain guarantee, and three years/36,000 miles of complimentary oil adjustments and tire rotations. 

How a lot does the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz price?

Pricing, trims, and specs will probably be introduced nearer to the summer season supply date.

The place is the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz made?

In Montgomery, Alabama.