By EWAN KENNEDY
6 November 2006

Diesel engines, especially turbocharged ones, have been common in large 4WDs for decades. Indeed, diesel sales outnumber petrols by quite a margin in many of the big off-roaders. It’s a different story in the compact 4WD market, where diesels have been all but unknown, Land Rover’s Freelander being the only real exception.

Now Hyundai is showing the way in the affordable market by offering a turbo-diesel engine in its Santa Fe. It goes without saying, given the Korean marque’s remarkable thrust to become a major player in the global vehicle market, that the engine is a high-tech, common-rail, intercooled unit. It displaces 2.2 litres and puts out a useful 343 Newton metres all the way from 1800 rpm to 2500 rpm. Meaning that most owners will have the engine running at its best torque virtually all the time.

Power is less important in a diesel engine due to the limited revs the engine can attain. The Santa Fe manages 114 kW at 4000 rpm.

At idle we were surprised that the engine was relatively noisy. At least from outside the vehicle, inside good noise and vibration suppression made it almost as good as a petrol engine. On the move the new Hyundai diesel is smooth, quiet and refined and we defy many passengers to pick that it’s not a four-cylinder petrol engine.

When accelerating there's some lag before the turbocharger gets up to speed, but as the driver adapts to the engine they should soon be able to anticipate the need for added torque and get the accelerator pedal down a little ahead of time.

The Santa Fe is a reasonably tough 4WD and is therefore comparatively heavy, even with just the driver on board it tips the scales at over two tonnes. You don’t get sporting performance from a vehicle with this specification, but it handles normal driving well enough.

Road holding is good for a vehicle of this type and few drivers will get anything other than a neutral feel through the steering and suspension. Should you push too hard, there's a sophisticated traction control system to help you get out of trouble.

Hyundai has worked hard to keep the turning circle of the Santa Fe nice and tight to make it handy to park in the suburban running that’s likely to be its normal lot.

The latest Santa Fe, introduced in May 2006, is significantly larger in every dimension. It is now being offered in Australia for the first time with a third row of seats. Naturally, this choice carries across to the new turbo-diesel variant.

Santa Fe has a bold look that’s almost car-like in shape and stance with a positive grille and particularly strong curves. Inside, there are sporting, yet elegant features that work well, especially in the area of the dashboard.

It’s possible to carry adults in the rearmost seat of the new Santa Fe as there's good head and legroom. However, some of the space in that seat has been created by reducing legroom in the other two rows of seats. Try for yourself to see if it suits your needs.

There's not a lot of luggage space when all three rows of seats are occupied, but Santa Fe is hardly alone in this respect. When you specify a five-seater there's a huge amount of underfloor stowage in the area not used by the extra seat.

Hyundai's new Santa Fe is an impressive vehicle that carries a lot of standard equipment at a moderate price. The addition of a turbo-diesel to the options list will do it nothing but good in the sales race.

The complete Santa Fe range with prices (excluding on-road costs) is:

SX CRDi 2.2-litre diesel: $36,990 (manual), $39,990 (automatic)

SLX CRDi 2.2-litre diesel: $43,490 (automatic)

Elite CRDi 2.2-litre diesel: $46,990 (automatic)

2.7-litre petrol five-seat five-door wagon - $35,990 (manual), $37,990 (automatic)

2.7-litre petrol seven-seat five-door wagon - $39,990 (automatic)

Elite 2.7-litre petrol five-seat five-door wagon - $42,990 (automatic)