Hyundai Santa Fe CRDi goes 1,100 miles on one tank of diesel
Some guys get off on rock climbing. Others sky dive, bungee jump, spend exorbitant amounts of money in the stock market and more, just to experience a thrill or two. Danish-born eco adventurer Hans Tholstrup gets his kicks from going green in ways no one has gone green before. Fans of the World Solar Car Challenge, for example, can credit the race's founding to Tholstrup, and he was originally made famous when he circled the continent of Australia in a 16-foot open boat.
This time around, the Hyundai Santa Fe CRDi (Common-Rail Direct injection) supplied Tholstrup with his thrill. After the diesel mid-size sport utility vehicle not only transported Tholstrup from Adelaide to Sydney on a single tank of gas -- with over a quarter of a tank left -- Tholstrup decided to trek a little bit farther to Port Macquarie for a total of 1,100 miles and over 50 miles per gallon. Not bad for an all-wheel drive mid-sized seven-seater weighing in at just under two tons.
In a press release yesterday, Hyundai touted the achievement in the same breath as it denounced hybrids such as the Lexus RX400h as less efficient vehicles with issues surrounding battery disposal and cost. Hyundai has rumbled here and there within the last year about creating affordable hybrid versions of its vehicles, and it and even went so far as to launch the Portico concept vehicle in Chicago, but so far, no firm plans have been announced.
[Source: Gizmag]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
$0.02 8:51AM (12/13/2006)
If Hyundai sold an SUV in the US that achieved a real world mpg near 40mpg, it would be a huge hit. Hyundai should bring this to these shores. Nevermind the 2.7 liter, keep the 3.3 and bring us this diesel. Like my opinion means anything, but I am positive it would sell big-time. It would send Honda and Toyota and everyone else scurrying to get a diesel in their SUV's. This could be the 'halo' vehicle everyone says Hyundai needs. The future success of any company is their ability respond to the changing needs of consumers and a Diesel Santa Fe that attained big mileage numbers would put Hyundai on a lot of peoples shopping lists that never would've considered them.
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Q-Bert 8:56AM (12/13/2006)
Got that right #1. I know I'd be looking at 'em. It still aggrevates me though that I can't drive my current diesel in the HOV lanes here in Virginia while several hybrid SUV fly by me that are getting half or less the gas mileage I'm pulling in my Jetta.
Well maybe cars like these can fix that problem.
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M. 9:23AM (12/13/2006)
#1: Yes, VMs Diesels are nice engines. They were already built at Detroit Diesel, but now Hyundai has decided to built 'em themselves. VM has a nice 3.0l V6 that can be transversally mounted (and of course longitudally) which gives it a great potential.
I really would love to see this engine in the Jeep (instead of the old 2.8l I4) or in the Dodge Dakota.
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Bochi 10:41AM (12/13/2006)
Can someone please clarify a couple of things? This article speaks of this guy as though he is doing something unique even now. At the same time this article seems to say that this is a production line vehicle which would just make him another driver who happened to be the one to drive a car off of the lot 1100 miles.
Is this a production line vehicle? What availability does it have if so? Aussie only?
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Greg 10:51AM (12/13/2006)
I wonder how noisy the diesel in this Santa Fe is?
As a current owner of a 2002 Santa Fe with the 2.7 with AWD, I am completely satisfied with the overall performance, but the gas mileage is never better than 20 mpg. I'd be interested in the diesel if it wasn't too noisy.
Just for the record, I am totally amazed at my current Hyundai Santa Fe's 2.7 engine. Just turned 60k, and it has yet to burn a drop of oil. I've been using the original Mobil 1 Synthetic Oil every 5000 miles, but this trip I am pushing it to maybe 7000 miles. It's daily use is a 90 mile highway drive round trip.
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wetstuff 11:08AM (12/13/2006)
#1 is right on. This would be a real breakthru: elbowing a seat at the big market table for them .. all the while gaining tons of great press ink.
Greg: Diesels are not noisy any more. You might hear a little rattle at low idle in cold weather but certainly not going down the road. Besides, the sound of saving $$ is attractive.
.....and I don't think cars burn oil much anymore - maybe HIPO engines are the expected exceptions. My cheepo, V6, Ford Escape has 122,000 on it and has only gotten regular crude at Sears ev. 3k ...does not burn any between changes.
j i m
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Rene Curry 11:34AM (12/13/2006)
It must have a hugh gas tank! 1100 miles @ 50 mpg is 22 gallons. Then add the 1/4 tank leftover = 27.5 gallon tank.
My stock 73 Pinto 1600 stickshift with a gear ratio change and electric fan gets close to 40 mpg highway on petrol! Just think if I had a diesel!
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Don Ruehle 2:59PM (12/14/2006)
I bought a o3 DC Sprinter van and now have 38k miles on it with a mpg ave. of 24 per mile running at about 8ooo gross wt. I can,t find words to express how happy I am with this clean, quite, powerful, and fun to drive machine. This is my first diesel and I will buy nothing but diesel in the future. The pundits of corn power and hybreds are nuts!!!!!
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Tal D 1:38PM (12/13/2006)
If this article is factual and production will be possible at a fair price then I say:
Build them and I will buy.
Why would they not build the rather nice sedans with as similar diesel engine also?
Hey, I'm pro endurance and economy too. I just cannot justify 55K for a Mercedes diesel that supposedly averages 37mpg hwy...which is very good considering the size and wt of the vehicle. Vw has quality issues.
I would hope most auto manufacturers will consider diesel power.I believe there is some "jockeying"(sp?) for position taking place with several now.
Time will tell.
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Tony C 5:51PM (12/13/2006)
Yes, the article lists the fuel tank's "actual capacity" at 21.9 gallons after conversion from metric -- note that the factory's figure is listed as 19.8 gallons.
In a way, though, the driver took the antiquated EPA approach to driving -- cruising on level ground at around 50mph and traveling no more than 62mph, downhill at that. I'd say he likely rolled with a very light foot on the accelerator pedal, but I suppose most people performing this sort of "maximum mileage" feat would be doing the same.
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John H Cressy Jr 6:47PM (12/13/2006)
Let's get used to calling it Fuel. You guys keep talking about gas tanks and diesel. You put diesel fuel in a fuel tank. The vehicle runs on diesel fuel not gasoline.
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Daniel 7:09PM (12/13/2006)
First company that offers a Full Plug-In BioDiesel Series Electric drive hybrid that gets 80 MPG to 100 MPG is going to make a lot of money.
This technology is available today. Which company will be first to dominate this vast market?
If we had these available in the U. S. today we would not need a single drop of foreing oil.
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David 8:27PM (12/13/2006)
awesome, its been done before though, but not in an suv.
tdiclub.com
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sp 9:54PM (12/13/2006)
Santa Fe's diesel is pretty refined, but nothing special at all. It might be good for Hyundai, but compared to top European and Japanese diesels it is just ok. It is not bad, but it is not most advanced either.
I dont think it gets anywhere close to top 5 best mpg's in SUV segment in Europe.
They dont even have any kind of basic particulate filter at all.
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Paul Smith 7:39AM (12/14/2006)
No wonder the USA has a downer on diesels!
By the way, your blog feed no longer works into the Fizzle extension in Firefox. It used to work fine, now it shows a tantalising glimpse, then blanks the page and shows a never-ending "downloading" message. Autoblog Green still works OK, so go figure.
I have seven feeds into Fizzle - yours is the only one that doesn't work, and I'll be d*mned if I'll load another piece of feed software, much as I like Autoblog.
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nags 9:44PM (1/24/2007)
Bought a Santa Fe CDI auto last month - now done 3000km. Getting 9 ltres/1000 km for mixed city/country (mostly).
Saw that Overlander 4wd mag. (Australia) had it 4th its 4WD of the Year (out yesterday). A surprise package off-road considering it had no low range!!!
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nags 10:52PM (1/24/2007)
Ops - should read 9 l/100 km (31 mpg)
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Werner 3:42PM (10/22/2007)
Calculate using the USA gallon at 3.785 litres and your milage becomes 26 MPG. My 2003 Santa Fe 5 speed manual tranny with the 2.4 litre engine gives me 32 USA miles per gallon driving at 97 KPH (60 MPH).
That is 90% freeway and 10% stop and go traffic. When I encounter 50% stop and go traffic the milage drops to 27MPG. In California, 200 miles north of Los Angeles we have a straight 6% mountain grade that runs for several miles. When I put the Santa Fe tranny in neutral the speed will increase to 161 KPH. You could never do this with an automatic tranny. I love the 2.4 litre engine as it has twice the HP that I have ever needed. I just turned 40,000 miles on the odometer and the engine oil is one pint low after 4000 miles when I change the oil. Unfortunately the 4 cyl is no longer offered in the Santa Fe in the USA. We have a surplus of horse power crazies that think they want to drag race in a family suv vehicle. I love this reader comment link and above all I love you guys from the down under continent. I also admire the contribution you folks are making to the Sport Aviation Industry. The 6 Cyl Jabiru engine used in the light sport aircraft is good.
Werner
John Lyons 6:36AM (2/01/2007)
I have this SUV and like nags average 31mpg or 600 miles per tank.
The diesel is very refined and quiet.
Vested interests in the US have prevented diesel moving into the mainstream.
Hybrids like the Prius are just Hollywood bullshit - The VW golf diesel can double their gas milage.
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