Hyundai Santa Fe 4x4 AT Ownership Experience


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Well congrats Aviral ! Nice to see A Santa Fe in a different colour,all i see are white Santa Fe's here in Bangalore,is it the same story in your area (other than your driveway [:)] )? Well i liked Tucson but not aware of its high speed manners ,i guess its modern equal would be the Captiva.

As for Pajero well no probs about it off roading but it was not great on road unless you were driving on footpaths & speed breakers(it makes you feel proud),its seriously overpriced & the whole body wobbling as you switch off the engine is annoying & Mahindra Commander style pedals are a pain if your a tall driver!
but at that price & status you wont get an offroader other than Pajero so its the only thing which ticks the status & offroading boxes.

As for the fender mounted mirror i will find out what its called & costs,but its not used for looking at the side of the car as most people assume(you have a side mirror for that)but the front end of the car while parking or in traffic etc, at-least that's what it is being used on my friends Landcruiser & other Suvs !
 
Thread Starter #32
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Thanks prads.
Even i have seen all santa fe's in white or a silver shade.
Completely agree with you on the pajero thing. The old IDI motor just does not justify that price tag.!

Yes please do find out about it.
I know it is not a substitute to the RVM, but it gives a view of the front and side front wheel area.
 
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Hi Aviral,

First of all congrats for your Santa.. Till today i have noticed very few numbers of Santa on roads..

Your santa color looks great & FE is also great..
 
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I have driven my friends Santa Fe and it's just amazing and i have also driven the Pajero but i like the Santa Fe more because of its stability i guess, you can easliy change lanes even at a higher speed. We actually went for a trip and while coming down it was so easy to handle the Santa Fe and also the AWD is very good. Makes you fall in love with the SUV.
 
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Well congrats Aviral ! Nice to see A Santa Fe in a different colour,all i see are white Santa Fe's here in Bangalore,is it the same story in your area (other than your driveway [:)] )? Well i liked Tucson but not aware of its high speed manners ,i guess its modern equal would be the Captiva.

As for Pajero well no probs about it off roading but it was not great on road unless you were driving on footpaths & speed breakers(it makes you feel proud),its seriously overpriced & the whole body wobbling as you switch off the engine is annoying & Mahindra Commander style pedals are a pain if your a tall driver!
but at that price & status you wont get an offroader other than Pajero so its the only thing which ticks the status & offroading boxes.

As for the fender mounted mirror i will find out what its called & costs,but its not used for looking at the side of the car as most people assume(you have a side mirror for that)but the front end of the car while parking or in traffic etc, at-least that's what it is being used on my friends Landcruiser & other Suvs !
Well,even I am also in love with the color Aviral has chosen,the Santa Fe is an sUV and in white or silver its aggression seems to be lost somewhere while in this color it looks like its an SUV.
About Tucson,what I know is that this car had everything but had no dynamics.
About Pajero UNCLE,what I know is that he knows how to use his complete power efficiently and knows how to tackle adverse situations from his life long experience and hence even the SUVs with power nearly double the uncle have cannot tackle him off the road.And same way he has good ride and handling too.A typical Mitsubishi he is,the one and only driver focused SUV,just needs some more boost with new technology and he can rule once again.
Well,I have driven a Pajero for about a thousand or two kilometers and I am still to find those commander type or commander type positioned pedals in Pajero.Still I praise the driveability of this old machine and its bulletproof reliability.

About the mirror on the front fenders or bonnet,its a highly convex mirror and can be used to see if there is anything in the blind spot while reversing,although you need a lot of practice to use it(I have done it)because its really tough to notice what is lying where and how far it is.
Still I have drove an Innova for about 50k kms and have already reversed the car using ORVMs only,so I'd like to advise Aviral to reverse using ORVMs+Parking sensor/reversing camera(please confirm if Santa has got camera or parking sensors as I have not noticed it in my TD) as this combo makes up for the best and safe reversing especially for SUVs.
 
Thread Starter #37
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Don't you think pajero uncle should retire now !! :biggrin:

Even i use the ORVMs to reverse my car. I dont need that mirror for reversing, i need it to check the front while parking.
The santa fe has got only the parking sensors, no camera!

and guys i am not able to upload any more pics over here. !
 
Thread Starter #38
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Couple of interior snaps.
 

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Oh, I love the blue illumiation theme, looks so niche! There are so many places for keeping stuff. Liked the double shades cabin[:)]
 
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Buddy here I mean that Santa Fe is really better than a Fortuner to drive,especially the time you descent the steep inclines.Or say coming down from flyovers.
On NH8 I have seen this,driving Fortuner at 140 kph while descending an incline means that if someone by mistake suddenly comes in front then either he is dead or we will be,but Santa Fe is better here.Fortuner seems to go quite out of control at high speeds,I really don't recommend to cross 130 kph in a Fortuner but in Santa Fe you can go 150 kph.Still,I'd never recommend over 140-150 kph in a Santa Fe.While for a Yeti or CR-V,I can say that these cars(note:I said 'Cars',not SUV's) are okay for 150+ speeds.

Guys, by it's intrinsic design SUVs are meant for taking on bad roads & go offroading. They are not meant for charging down highways & showing great stability. If you see the design of any SUV/MUV, the last thing that they are is 'Aerodynamic'. So, what I'm basically saying is that contrary to popular belief, it is hatchbacks & sedans which are better highway travellers than SUVs mainly due to their design. Now, I know people would say that SUVs give a lot of safety but remember nowadays several hatchbacks too are Euro 5Star NCAP rated. So they are as safe as it gets with a load of goodies(i20 for example). Yes, space is a big boon in long journeys which SUVs have aplenty, but then think about it, an i20 or vento with full load will defiantely have lesser stopping distances than say a Koleos or Fortuner when fully loaded, at speed on the highway (Fortuner anyways had brake fade issues right from the begining).
But theres no taking away from SUVs the sense of occassion & magnaminity it gives whenever one takes the wheel.

Cheers

Jazzy
 
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Thanks prads.
Even i have seen all santa fe's in white or a silver shade.
Completely agree with you on the pajero thing. The old IDI motor just does not justify that price tag.!

Yes please do find out about it.
I know it is not a substitute to the RVM, but it gives a view of the front and side front wheel area.
Today i asked my friend about the mirrors which he has on his Land cruisers & Lexus(same thing [:)] ) so here is what he told me,he has the Lexus ones on all of them,i guess you can call them fender mounted mirrors but here in India its locally referred to as Cobra Mirrors,you get them for the Fortuner at the Toyota showrooms for 5000/6000 odd,but on the Sante Fe it needs to be seen if you can get the proper angle with the Fortuner ones.

And i appreciate you for taking time to take interior pics of your car & posting it ,the illuminated switches & dials look very nice,hope they dont peel off with usage,the dial reminds me of the Beat interiors they have that lovely illumination too.

As for the Pajero i use to drive my friends 2007 Pajero on many occasions,since its more an off roader most of the things are basic & pedal position is like a jeep which wont help a tall driver for energetic driving,still nothing against the car its just the price that is a turn off,i myself am hunting for a used Pajero since last week(wanted Getaway but unreliable 4WD made me cancel) but maintenance bills stories are making me think twice(friends are suggesting the Thar).
 
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Hi aviral, one query... In the 9th pic, you have shown the key inserted in the slot in the centre console. Now what if the key is not inserted in the slot & kept in your pocket instead? Will the car start with the start-stop button?

Secondly, does the doors auto lock-unlock when you near the car with the key in your pocket?
 
Thread Starter #43
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Today i asked my friend about the mirrors which he has on his Land cruisers & Lexus(same thing [:)] ) so here is what he told me,he has the Lexus ones on all of them,i guess you can call them fender mounted mirrors but here in India its locally referred to as Cobra Mirrors,you get them for the Fortuner at the Toyota showrooms for 5000/6000 odd,but on the Sante Fe it needs to be seen if you can get the proper angle with the Fortuner ones.

And i appreciate you for taking time to take interior pics of your car & posting it ,the illuminated switches & dials look very nice,hope they dont peel off with usage,the dial reminds me of the Beat interiors they have that lovely illumination too.

As for the Pajero i use to drive my friends 2007 Pajero on many occasions,since its more an off roader most of the things are basic & pedal position is like a jeep which wont help a tall driver for energetic driving,still nothing against the car its just the price that is a turn off,i myself am hunting for a used Pajero since last week(wanted Getaway but unreliable 4WD made me cancel) but maintenance bills stories are making me think twice(friends are suggesting the Thar).
Thanks a lot prads for inquiring about the mirror. Thats a pretty nice name "Cobra mirror"[evil]!! I'll try my local accessory shops and see if they get it.
The switches have that nice quality feel on em and look very nice as well.

See, i never hated pajero! It was the first alphabet i wrote when i was 4 years old. [:)] . And it was the first SUV i ever sat in ( dad bought a pajero in 1996 ) . I love pajeros , but not what we get here now! As u mentioned the price is a turn off, i won't mind paying 7 -10 lakhs for this particular model.

Thar is a totally different sort of vehicle, though a bare boned machine it is totally desirable. I believe nice mod jobs would make it more awesome.
Why don't you try the xenon XT.?

Hi aviral, one query... In the 9th pic, you have shown the key inserted in the slot in the centre console. Now what if the key is not inserted in the slot & kept in your pocket instead? Will the car start with the start-stop button?

Secondly, does the doors auto lock-unlock when you near the car with the key in your pocket?
Hi raj, the slot in the centre console is just a key holder ( my dealer told me i have to insert the key in here to start the vehicle) . If the key is in your pocket the car would start normally with the button .

To lock or unlock the doors and the tailgate i should have the key fob in my pocket and press these little black buttons on the door handles.

It is a bit different from my cruze because instead of buttons there are touch sensors on the doors to lock the vehicle .
To unlock you just have to pull the door handle in the chevy.
 
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I have driven my friends Santa Fe and it's just amazing and i have also driven the Pajero but i like the Santa Fe more because of its stability i guess, you can easliy change lanes even at a higher speed. We actually went for a trip and while coming down it was so easy to handle the Santa Fe and also the AWD is very good. Makes you fall in love with the SUV.
actually you cant compare a pajero with a santa fe...the pajero is a hardcore offroader.its a go any where vehicle and mitsubishi is making indians fools by keeping the same 2-3 decades old car for us..but the good thing is that it still sells .people even prefer it today..
whereas santa fe is a new product ,i dont think it can offer better offroading than a pajero ,but the engine and the driving dynamics on tarmac must be better than the pajero...
 

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