The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is the first sports adventure automobile ever made, and it deserves that name for delivering in ways other cars can’t. With the features and comfort of a crossover and the utility of a small pickup truck, the 2022 Santa Cruz brings a new choice to the crowded SUV segment.
The Santa Cruz is specially designed to open a new world of possibilities for adventure-seekers and outdoor enthusiasts on the hunt for an affordable, versatile, smaller alternative to a standard, midsize pickup truck. The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is a one-of-a-kind truck, unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.
What Is the Santa Cruz?
Image via Flickr by Zeometric
Well, it’s Hyundai’s first-ever pickup truck. However, there’s far more going on than just that. This compact truck utilizes unibody construction instead of the conventional body-on-frame pickup underpinnings. This car-like construction results in a cozier ride than you’ll find in a vehicle with body-on-frame construction.
2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Pricing
A front-wheel-drive Santa Cruz SE powered by the naturally aspirated 2.5-liter engine starts at $23,990. Santa Cruz SEL and Santa Cruz SEL Activity versions of the front-wheel-drive have a starting price of $27,190 and $30,460, respectively. For an additional $1,500, you can opt for an all-wheel-drive transmission.
The 2022 Santa Cruz, armed with the turbocharged 2.5-liter engine, comes with all-wheel drive. The two turbo models — the Santa Cruz SEL Premium and the Santa Cruz Limited — are valued at $35,680 and $39,720. The destination charge for all 2022 Santa Cruz models is approximately $1,185.
2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Performance
Combining SUV and open-bed truck elements, the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz offers impressive capabilities for our shoppers from the Dallas, Allen, Richardson, Plano, and Frisco areas. The 2022 Santa Cruz has two great engine options for consumers to choose from: the standard engine with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 191 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque, or the 2.5-liter turbocharged engine with 281 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque. Off-roading lovers will appreciate the Hyundai Traction all-wheel-drive system.
- Maximum payload of 1,748 pounds.
- Available Hyundai Traction (HTRAC) all-wheel drive.
- Two available engines.
- Towing capacity of 5,000 pounds (3,500 pounds with the non-turbo engine).
2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Exterior Styling
The new Santa Cruz combines the four-door cabin of a compact crossover SUV with the utility of a small but ingenious truck bed. The part of the exterior design that most differentiates 2022, Santa Cruz, from other pickup trucks is its unibody design. This means it has no noticeable seam between its bed and cab.
The side panels of the 2022 Santa Cruz have many sharp creases. And there are eight horizontal daytime running lights behind the grille. The Hyundai’s bed is 4 feet long, with a flexible tailgate that enables you to securely haul longer stuff. The bed also has underfloor storage, a lockable retractable tonneau cover, and tie-down points and cleats.
The block lettering “SANTA CRUZ” is branded across the width of the tailgate, while “HYUNDAI” takes up just the width of the tailgate release handle.
2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Interior Styling
The 2022 Santa Cruz cabin is an excellent place to be. The interior layout features an extensive body sealing and acoustic laminated windshield, high-quality materials, and lots of soft touchpoints for your elbows and knees to rest on. Available ambient lighting adds a pleasant glow, and lines that flow from the center of the dash and wrap around the cabin give it a premium feel.
To help you discover more of what’s contained within this truck’s cabin, we’ll review all its interior features to see what it has to offer:
Seating
The 2022 Santa Cruz has spacious seating for up to five people. The stylish front seats have good bolsters on the bottom and back seat. Seat cooling and heating control are conveniently stationed in the center console in between the seats. The rear seats fit three passengers with relative comfort with enough legroom and plenty of headroom.
Infotainment System
The 2022 Santa Cruz features a stylish-looking infotainment system with updated graphics and vibrant colors. In the SE, SEL, and SEL Premium, highlights of the system include:
- 8-inch high-definition touch-screen display.
- Wireless charging for Qi-enabled devices (except SE).
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
- Bluelink connected services (except SE).
- Dual front charge ports (one USB-A and one USB-C).
Those who opt for the Limited trim get a premium infotainment system only available with this trim. Its highlights include:
- 10.25-inch high-definition touch-screen display with split-screen functionality.
- Embedded navigation.
- Wired (via USB cable) Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
- Enhanced voice recognition.
- Bluelink.
- Four USB charge ports (two front, two rear).
- 3-month trial of SiriusXM NavTraffic, NavWeather, Sports, and Stocks.
- Wireless charging for Qi-enabled devices.
- Premium system includes a much richer-sounding eight-speaker Bose equalization and dynamic speed compensation.
2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Towing Capacity and Cargo Space
The 2022 Santa Cruz has impressive numbers considering its size. The maximum tow rating for the base four-cylinder engine on lower trims is 3,500 pounds, while the more powerful turbo-equipped version can tow 5,000 pounds.
Payload capacity is quite high considering its size, ranging from 1,568 pounds on all-wheel-drive Limited models up to 1,906 pounds on front-wheel-drive SE models. That’s more than enough to rival the capability of any midsize pickup truck.
The bed features an underfloor cargo area and side storage bins. It’s 4 feet long, measuring 48.4 inches front to back at the top, 52.1 inches at the bottom, and 53.0 inches wide except at the wheel wells, where it measures 42.7 inches across. From the top of the rails to the bed floor, the space is 19.2 inches deep.
2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz Safety
Since the all-new 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is a part of the Hyundai brand family, you can rest assured that it has great safety features. These include:
- Lane departure warning.
- Forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking.
- A rear-occupant alert system and a driver attention monitor.
- Automatic high beams.
Move up the trim levels, and you can add:
- Safe-exit warning system and rear cross-traffic alert.
- Blind-spot collision avoidance.
- A 360-degree camera system.
- Hyundai’s blind-spot view monitor.
- Adaptive cruise control with lane-centering steering.
Do you want versatility and flexibility in your next new ride? You can’t do much better than the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz at Huffines Hyundai McKinney. If you would like to get behind the wheel of the all-new 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz or explore our new inventory, don’t hesitate to contact us.