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10 Things You Need To Know About The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport

Benjamin Hunting
by Benjamin Hunting
May 25, 2012
5 min. Reading Time
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Hyundai's product refresh continues with vim and vigor with the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport mid-size crossover set to come online in the very near future.  The Hyundai Santa Fe Sport is an update on the popular people mover that has helped the Korean brand gain an important foot hold in the affordable crossover segment.  The vehicle has been given substantial improvements in almost every category, and its model lineup has expanded to include something for drivers who need a little bit more room than the what the base model has to offer.

Let's take a look at 10 things you need to know about the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport

 

01. The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Offers A Fresh Design

The previous generation Hyundai Santa Fe was certainly no slouch in the looks department, but the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport dials things up a notch through the adoption of the same "Fluidic Sculpture" design language that dominates the automaker's current offerings.  The Hyundai Santa Fe Sport's front fascia is an aggressive yet not overpowering mix of trapezoids and chrome, with the lower bumper covered by plastic body cladding that extends to each of the vehicle's four fender lips as well as its rocker panels. 

The Santa Fe Sport also displays a greenhouse that kinks up towards the rear where it meets the vehicle's sloped roofline, just before the vehicle's large back window and gently scalloped hatchback.  The overall effect is very modern and just eye-catching enough to stand up strong against the fresh crop of crossovers pouring onto the market.

 

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02. The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Rides On A Lighter Platform

The improvements made to the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport are more than just skin deep.  The crossover rides on a platform that weights 266 lbs less than the departing Santa Fe, which helps it improve on fuel efficiency as well as feel lighter on its feet when turning into a corner.  The Santa Fe Sport is 184.6 inches long - barely half an inch more than the model it replaces - and the vehicle is just a smidgen lower and narrower than the 2012 edition of the Santa Fe.  This means that Hyundai hasn't sacrificed interior room in the pursuit of its low-mass philosophy.

 

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03. The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Seats Five Passengers

The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport is a two-row crossover that can seat up to five passengers.  Hyundai is claiming that the mid-size vehicle offers better interior room than several of its competitors, a boast that it backs up with nearly 40 inches of leg room and 59.4 inches of shoulder room for those riding behind the front two positions, as well as 108 cubic feet of total passenger volume - figures that are on par with or better than the 2012 Toyota RAV4 and the 2012 Ford Edge.  This makes the Santa Fe Sport a legitimate contender for mid-size crossover dollars, even for families who have to deal with the realities imposed by lanky teenage frames crowding the back seats.

 

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04. The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Offers Generous Cargo Space

The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport adds to its practical nature by way of plenty of usable space for carting around luggage, camping supplies, groceries, or other gear.  The crossover's 'trunk' is capable of swallowing 35.4 cubic feet of cargo, which is almost double that which can be crammed into the rear of a full-size family sedan.  Folding down the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport's second row of seating - which features a 40/20/40 split and offers a completely flat load floor - increases the vehicle's internal storage capacity to a hefty 71.5 cubic feet.  This is somewhat smaller than last years Santa Fe model, but the crossover remains competitive with popular offerings from Honda and General Motors, boosting past the 63.5 cubic feet offered in the Chevrolet Equinox.

 

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05. The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Provides Two Engine Choices

The entry-level edition of the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport is outfitted with a 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine that generate a healthy 190 horsepower and 181 lb-ft of torque.  For those who are looking for more robust acceleration, the Santa Fe Sport offers an optional 2.0-liter, turbocharged engine that has been tuned to provide 264 ponies and 269 lb-ft of twist.  The latter's twin-scroll turbocharger helps to improve engine efficiency while at the same time reducing lag.  Both versions of the Santa Fe Sport are shifted via a six-speed automatic gearbox, and each has been rated to tow up to 3,500 lbs.

 

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06. The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Features Solid Fuel Economy

The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport does a good job of balancing fuel mileage with power in order to help families save a few dollars at the pump each week.  Sticking with the 2.4-liter base motor in the Santa Fe Sport returns fuel efficiency of 23-mpg in stop and go driving and an impressive 33-mpg on the highway.  Moving up to the turbocharged 2.0-liter unit doesn't ask for too many sacrifices with a city rating that shows as 20-mpg and highway cruising coming in at 29-mpg, figures that are in very much the same ballpark as its less powerful sibling. 

 

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07. The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Is Available With Intelligent All-Wheel Drive

Front-wheel drive is standard with the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, but like most mid-size crossovers the vehicle can also be ordered with all-wheel drive in order to give it additional traction in a wide range of different driving conditions.  The Santa Fe Sport's intelligent all-wheel drive system features "Torque Vectoring Cornering Control," which allows the system to monitor traction conditions and use the crossover's brakes in order to individually slow each of the Hyundai's four wheels and improve stability through a corner.  This type of high-tech all-wheel drive system is rarely found outside of the premium segment.

 

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08. The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Is Driver-Focused

In addition to the availability of Torque Vectoring Cornering Control, the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe also comes with a few other goodies to help charm drivers looking for better-than-average handling from a mid-size crossover.  The Hyundai suv debuts the brand's Driver Selectable Steering Mode, which is intended to vary the responsiveness of the automobile to steering inputs depending on the driving situation. 

The Comfort setting dials back the direct feel of the Santa Fe Sport's wheel for cruising or parking situations, while Normal acts like any other crossover steering system in the Hyundai lineup.  Sport turns up the effort required to move the wheel, and the added weight helps to provide additional feedback during faster driving.  A combination of hollow and solid front and rear stabilizer bars and a multi-link independent rear suspension system are also on hand underneath the crossover vehicle, and turbo editions of the Santa Fe Sport receive more aggressive shock tuning to go with its increased power output.

 

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09. The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Has A Long-Wheelbase Cousin

The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport is part of a one-two crossover punch that includes the long-wheelbase Hyundai Santa Fe.  Re-imagined as a three-row SUV, the Hyundai Santa Fe (or LWB Santa Fe) comes with its own unique engine (a 3.3-liter V-6 that provides 290 horsepower and 255 lb-ft of torque), the ability to seat up to seven passengers and a slight increase in the amount of cargo space found behind the second row.  Roughly ten inches longer than the Santa Fe Sport, the LWB Santa Fe matches its sibling in most other dimensions and makes a compelling option for drivers seeking an alternative to stalwarts like the Toyota Highlander.

 

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10. The 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport and Its Larger Sibling Replace The Hyundai Veracruz

Hyundai fans will have no doubt noticed by now that the introduction of both five and seven-passenger editions of the 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe would seem to make the current top-of-the-line Hyundai Veracruz more than a little redundant.  The Veracruz is on its way out of the Hyundai lineup, with 2012 being its final model year, in order to make room for the brand's new crossover flagship - the LWB Santa Fe.  The fresh three-row people mover will hit dealerships in early 2013, which gives shoppers plenty of time to snag a deal on an end-of-run Veracruz.

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