Hyundai Takes Two Paths for Restyled Santa Fe

When Hyundai Motor Co. redesigned its Santa Fe crossover for 2013, it added a seven-passenger variant that features its own powertrain, unique exterior styling and separate production facility.

The smaller five-passenger model, similar in size to last year's Santa Fe, debuted last August as the Santa Fe Sport with a base price of $24,500. It sits on a 106.3-inch wheelbase and is powered by a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter four that makes 190 hp or a turbocharged 2.0-liter four rated at 264 hp.

Hyundai assembles the Sport at its plant in West Point, Ga. The factory also makes the short-wheelbase Kia Sorrento on the same platform.

The company makes the new stretched model simply called Santa Fe in Ulsan, Korea. Base-priced at $28,400, the longer vehicle joined the lineup in January. Compared with the Sport, the larger model gains 3.9 inches of wheelbase, 11 inches in overall length and a third row of seating (a bench with three seats or captain's chairs for two).

The long-wheelbase Santa Fe comes with Hyundai's new 3.3-liter V-6 that produces 290 hp and 252 lb-ft of torque. Both sizes use a six-speed automatic transmission driving the front wheels. An all-wheel drive system is optional.

The larger model features a more conservative, vanlike profile. The beltline, for example, eschews the Sport's more dramatic upward swoop behind the C-pillar. Both versions share the same headlamps, but the Sport's bolder three-bar grille is replaced with a more subdued four-bar design and simpler lower fascia in the stretched model. In the rear, the larger vehicle gets its own tail lamps and unique lower bumper treatment with a large exhaust port on each side.

Hyundai says fuel economy ratings for both Santa Fe models range from a high of 24 mpg city/29 mpg highway for a front-drive Sport with 2.4-liter engine to 18 mpg/24 mpg for the long-wheelbase model with AWD.