With so many of us traveling the highways for the holiday
season at a time of year when  the weather throws us its worse, I hope that
you and your families arrived at your destinations safely. My family got
together for Christmas at my mom’s place up in the Okanagan (see previous blog). The
Coquihalla Highway (and Connector) that we travel on takes us through some
majestic snow-laden forests, but also through precarious high mountain passes
that present treacherous driving conditions. With a feeling of anxiousness we
noted the electronic signs preceding the uphill climb warning of compact snow
and slippery sections, so we knew to drive cautiously, but as our trip
progressed, we were totally aghast to see countless accidents with cars flipped
over on their roofs, in the ditches, or piled up alongside the road (a terribly
sad way to begin or end holiday festivities), the cause, undoubtedly, black
ice. It’s in such conditions that you really appreciate having a safe and
reliable vehicle to travel in.

 

From time to time, I’ll test drive and review a car for
Modern Dog (usually when I’m thinking about getting a new vehicle myself), so,
if like me, you’re considering a new vehicle, I thought you might like to hear
about my experience test driving the 2013 Hyundai Sante Fe on the Coquihalla.
To begin with, not only was it large enough to comfortably fit our crew (four
adults and three dogs), it also provided ample room for our luggage. The folks
at Hyundai told me the 2013 Sante Fe recently won Best New SUV and I
can understand why, it not only looks sensational (it’s been totally redesigned
for 2013), it was also a real pleasure to drive. With power to spare, we could
accelerate with ease and the front wheel/four wheel drive gave us the control
we needed on snowy roads, while the 6-speed automatic transmission had us
effortlessly climbing the passes. The most treacherous part of the trip is
usually along the Connector, where just past the summit, the weather conditions
always seem perilous. As usual, it served up its usual "thick as pea
soup" fog combined with driving snow. We put on our hazard lights giving
those following us a better opportunity to see us and thanked the Hyundai
engineers for designing the Sante Fe with electronic windshield wiper de-icers,
so that we had no snow-build up on our windshield giving us excellent
visibility and one less thing to worry about.

 

It took us nearly five hours of driving  to get us to our destination
so I really appreciated the creature comforts incorporated into this vehicle,
such as power lumbar support, as well as the Bluetooth Hands-Free phone system
and the iPOD/USB/auxilliary input jacks (we had plenty of time to disagree on
what music we were going to listen to en route!). The Sante Fe has a 2.4L
engine, giving us all the power we need while still being good on gas (we didn’t
need to fill up with gas en route and when we arrived we still had well over a
quarter of a tank of gas left). Although we had the vehicle in its standard
seating positioning, I can see how the 2nd row 40/20/40 split fold-flat and recline positioning would give those of us travelling with dogs and human
passengers the greatest flexibility in seating and stowage patterns. We give it
two thumbs up, but check it out yourself. There are plenty more great features
that I’m sure you’ll love.

 

If in Canada, click here.

If in US: click here.