2019 Hyundai Santa Fe Prototype Puts on a Decent Performance on the Nurburgring

That means the usual aural ambiance of the famous German track of V8 and flat-six revving engines is occasionally interrupted by the loud tire squeals of large vehicles that, given the segment they sit in, would have made more sense if they were tested on the green hills around the track.

With performance SUVs becoming a thing, this tradition lost some of its gratuitousness, but that's clearly not the case with this 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe we have here. Not that the Koreans don't have performance models - they're actually in the midst of promoting the N Series, and they've started doing so with a freaky commercial that will give you nightmares.

Back to the SUV, it's hard to tell based on the sound alone whether it has a four-cylinder or a six-cylinder engine, but judging from its exhaust layout we tend to believe it's the same vehicle as the one spotted last month, which clearly had a four-banger.

Since it sounded like a gasoline engine, that leaves us with the 2.0-liter T-GDI, with the only other option being the 2.2-liter CRDi diesel unit. The U.S. will not get this option for the Santa Fe, relying instead on the 3.3-liter V6 with 290 hp - an engine that should get some slight performance and efficiency bumps.

Another novelty for the 2019 model that will cut the SUV's consumption and emissions is the eight-speed automatic transmission replacing the six-speed one. However, its probably the exterior design that will help sell the new Santa Fe most of all, with the Kona crossover providing a good preview of what we should expect.

The clip below also seems to reveal quite a well sorted out chassis, at least for an SUV this size. The 2019 Santa Fe is no Porsche beater, but it appears to handle decently and only tilt to an adequate angle in corners. If anything, that shows Hyundai is taking the SUV's behavior on the road very seriously, and not necessarily that it's preparing a performance version as well.