The passenger compartment of the Hyundai Santa Fe remained stable in the frontal offset test. Dummy readings indicated good protection of the knees and femurs for the driver and front passenger. Hyundai demonstrated that a similar level of protection would be provided to occupants of different sizes and to those sitting in different positions. Protection of the driver’s chest was rated as marginal, based on dummy readings of compression. Analysis of the deceleration of the impact trolley during the test, and analysis of the deformable barrier after the test, revealed that the Hyundai Santa Fe would be a moderately benign impact partner in a frontal collision. In the full-width rigid barrier test, protection was good for all critical body regions of the driver and good or adequate for the rear passenger. In the side barrier test, full points were scored. In the more severe side pole impact, protection of the chest was marginal but that of other body areas was good or adequate. Control of excursion (the extent to which a body is thrown to the other side of the vehicle when it is hit from the far side) was found to be adequate. The Hyundai Santa Fe has a countermeasure to mitigate against occupant-to-occupant injuries in such impacts. The airbag performed well in Euro NCAP’s tests with dummy readings indicating good protection for both the driver and passenger. Tests on the front seats and head restraints demonstrated good protection against whiplash injuries in the event of a rear-end collision. A geometric analysis of the rear seats indicated marginal whiplash protection. The car has an advanced eCall system which alerts the emergency services in the event of a crash, and a system to prevent secondary impacts after the car has been in a collision. Hyundai demonstrated that the doors and windows would be openable to allow occupants to escape in the event of vehicle submergence.
In both the frontal offset test and the side barrier impact, protection of all critical parts of the body was good for the 6 and 10 year dummy, and the Hyundai Santa Fe scored maximum points in this part of the assessment. The front passenger airbag can be disabled to allow a rearward-facing child restraint to be used in that seating position. Clear information is provided to the driver regarding the status of the airbag, and the system was rewarded. The Santa Fe is equipped with an indirect ‘child presence detection’ system, which issues a warning when it recognises that a child or infant may have been left in the car. All of the child restraint types for which the Hyundai Santa Fe is designed could be properly installed and accommodated in the car.
Protection of the head of a struck pedestrian or cyclist was predominantly good or adequate, with poor results recorded on the stiff windscreen pillars and at the edges of the bonnet. Protection of the pelvis was mixed. Protection of the femur was good at all test locations while that of the knee and tibia ranged from good to poor. The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system of the Hyundai can respond to vulnerable road users as well as to other vehicles. The system’s response both to pedestrians was adequate but, with standard equipment, there was no protection of pedestrians to the rear of the car. The system’s performance in tests of its reaction to cyclists was also adequate, but lacked protection against ‘dooring’, where a door is suddenly opened in the path of a cyclist approaching from behind. Performance of the AEB system was good in tests of its response to motorcyclists.
Overall, the performance of the autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system was adequate in tests of its reaction to other vehicles, with impacts being avoided in many tests. A seatbelt reminder system is fitted as standard to the front and rear seats. The car has a direct driver status monitoring system as standard, detecting driver fatigue and several types of distraction. The lane support system gently corrects the vehicle’s path if it is drifting out of lane and also intervenes in some more critical situations. The speed assistance system identifies the local speed limit. The driver can choose to allow the limiter to be set automatically by the system.