#2022 HYUNDAI SANTA CRUZ PICKUP TRUCK DRIVERS#

Hyundai equips the Santa Cruz with more potent but less efficient powertrain choices. The Maverick’s smart suspension tuning and hefty steering are carlike both in feel and in technical description, since most of its running gear’s on loan from the Bronco Sport and Escape. It can tow up to 4,000 lb, but its 8-speed automatic doesn’t shift as smoothly as we’d like. It doesn’t strain to pull a trailer with a riding lawn mower, but a full load of mulch and a driver tax its moderate acceleration-and no doubt its estimated 40 mpg city and 37 mpg combined gas mileage.įor more power and available all-wheel drive, Ford offers a 250-hp 2.0-liter turbo-4 on the Maverick. The 2.5-liter inline-4 hybrid makes 191 hp and 155 lb-ft of torque and has a towing capacity of 2,000 lb. The Maverick comes standard with a hybrid powertrain but only with front-wheel drive. And in a first for truck compares, it comes down to fuel economy. But which one wins here? It’s close, but not that close.

#2022 HYUNDAI SANTA CRUZ PICKUP TRUCK DRIVERS#

Those positions check out, as we’ve found after our initial back to back drives with both.īoth are exceedingly clever tricks to get drivers out of mammoth trucks and into fuel-saving trucklets-it’s like putting the dog’s medication in a chunk of cheese.

Hyundai positions the Santa Cruz as more of a sport utility vehicle with a bed. As the maker of the bestselling F-150, Ford knows what truck shoppers want. Both of these crossover-based vehicles give shoppers an open bed and a more adventurous edge than compact crossover SUVs that fill roads like construction zones in summertime.ĭespite their similarities-seating for five, compact crossover platforms, available all-wheel drive, turbo-4 engine options, towing capacity of at least 4,000 lb-the Santa Cruz and Maverick appeal as urban getaway vehicles in completely different ways. The 2022 Ford Maverick and 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz resurrect a small truck segment that had been dormant for more than a decade.

2022 hyundai santa cruz pickup truck