Hyundai Santa Cruz vs Lexus RC

What's the difference?

We need the Santa Cruz and its ilk in Australia. It’s great to be in a dual-cab ute that is compact enough to fit in a regular car-parking space and light enough to be efficient.

In ways, the Hyundai is reminiscent of the better Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore utes of yore, especially in its performance, dynamics and civility. And why wouldn’t it be a good fit here? Back in 1932, Australia invented the coupe utility, after all.

Bring it on, Hyundai.

If you’re a buyer that thinks with their head, the RC 350 F Sport is the obvious choice when compared to its direct rivals.

After all, it looks great (at least to these eyes), feels luxurious in more ways than one, and is unrivalled when considering value-for-money.

But, if you think with your heart instead, it’s clear it is isn’t on the same level dynamically and therefore doesn’t feel as sporty to drive as its name suggests.

So, don’t let its sports car classification fool you, the RC 350 F Sport is more of a grand tourer, or a comfortable cruiser, to be precise, and an underrated one at that.

Nose-on, the Tucson SUV’s futuristic nose treatment looks a little out of place on the Santa Cruz. It needs to be blunter and more aggressive.

Hyundai knows this and has attempted to square-off the lights, grille and bumpers as part of the MY25 facelift, but it still seems too sophisticated against more truck-like utes. No doubt the next-gen redesign will be bolder.

Profile and rear appearances, on the other hand, are pitch-perfect, imbuing the Santa Cruz with confidence and class. No other dual-cab can boast such a sleek, coupe-utility-esque silhouette. A drag coefficient figure of 0.37 is notable for this shape of vehicle.

Deftly executed, the Hyundai’s design is both contemporary yet reminiscent of ‘70s and ‘80s two-door utes, from Japan’s Subaru Brumby and Ford’s XA-XC Falcon, to America’s iconic Chevrolet El Camino and Ford Ranchero.

With all that in mind, it’s no surprise to learn that the Santa Cruz was designed in California, with the brief stating it combine car, SUV and ute, for urbanites seeking a workhorse that can also be a family-friendly weekend getaway machine.

While it is obviously smaller than a typical body-on-frame ute, in the flesh, the Hyundai seems almost as large. Some might even say right-sized for lighter-duty requirements, which seem to be the majority of urban-based vehicles in this segment.

Length, width, height, wheelbase and ground clearance measurements are 4970mm, 1905mm, 1695mm, 3005mm and 218mm respectively. Putting these figures in perspective, a Ranger’s corresponding dimensions are 5370mm, 1918mm, 1886mm, 3270mm and 234mm.

Not too big, then, and not too small. And much, much easier to manoeuvre and park in a big city like Toronto. It’s a bit of a Goldilocks zone inside the Santa Cruz as well.

Looking at the RC 350 F Sport, it’s hard to imagine how it became so anonymous on the road, whether you love it or hate it.

Up front, its striking design simply cannot be ignored, with its unique mesh 'Spindle' grille insert demanding attention.

Either side of it are the LED headlights and boomerang-style daytime running lights, which, again, cannot be missed.

Around the side, the RC 350 F Sport has all the hallmarks of a classic coupe, including a swoopy roofline, and looks all the better for it.

The 19-inch alloy wheels wrapped in a mixed set of Bridgestone Potenza tyres are particularly arresting thanks to their sporty 10-spoke design.

That said, the rear end is arguably the RC 350 F Sport’s best angle, at least universally, thanks to its crisp LED tail-lights and chunky bootlid.

The bumper below is also a looker, even with its fake side air intakes, while its diffuser insert is flanked by a pair of chrome exhaust tailpipes.

Inside, the RC 350 F Sport isn’t quite as good, with most of our criticism directed at the 10.3-inch central display, which is powered by an average multimedia system made worse by an incredibly fiddly touchpad controller. The physical shortcut buttons on hand are but small mercies.

Thankfully, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support is now standard, so a better user interface is literally in your pocket… but you still don’t have a touchscreen to work with.

The RC 350 F Sport’s button-controlled 8.0-inch digital instrument cluster is much better, even if it’s more like a multi-function display due to its limited functionality.

While the centre stack and console designs are undoubtedly showing their age, there’s no doubting this is a premium model thanks to the selection of high-quality materials used throughout the cabin.

In our test vehicle, black leather-accented upholstery with (very cool) 'Tuscan Sun' yellow accents, piping and stitching covers the sports steering wheel, gear selector, sports seats, armrests, door inserts, knee rests and the instrument cluster. So, almost every touch-point.

Pleasingly, soft-touch plastics are used for the upper and middle dashboard as well as the door shoulders, with hard plastics only found on the lower dashboard, door bins and rear seat divider.

As per other Lexus models, the RC 350 F Sport has nice rose-gold accents on its steering wheel, gear selector, front air vents and centre console, while specific Naguri aluminium trim adorns its dashboard and door inserts. And there are also steel pedals.

A comfy and inviting five-seater, the Santa Cruz only really feels like a ute rather than a mid-size SUV if you look behind the (fixed) rear backrest or underneath the back cushion (where the jack and additional storage lay).

Spacious and quite airy up front, this one’s based on the pre-2024 Tucson facelift, so it’s completely car-like in its design and execution. The update also adopts the SUV’s vast touchscreen layout. Typical Hyundai features include digitalised instrumentation, pleasingly simple displays and thoughtful placement of all controls. There’s nothing even remotely alien about this ute’s presentation.

Quite bracing bucket seats up front offer decent support, while SUV standards of practical storage, ventilation and – surprise – noise suppression further impress, especially considering that our ute rides on 20-inch wheels and all-weather tyres. Maybe Canadian bitumen is just quieter.

If you’re used to smaller body-on-frame utes like the HiLux or previous Mitsubishi Triton, you might also be pleasantly surprised by how accommodating the Santa Cruz’s rear bench is.

The typical ute foibles of a too-upright backrest and flat, unsupportive seats do not apply here, revealing how spacious that shapely silhouette allows the cabin to be. Instead, you can enjoy SUV-levels of cushy comfort, as well as associated amenities like rear air vents, USB outlets and cupholders, though you’ll need to stick larger water bottles beneath the rear-hinged cushion, where extra storage is provided.

Better still, if you want some additional ventilation, just slide back the rear-window partition. This might mess with your mind, as the Santa Cruz then really begins to muddy the waters between SUV and ute.

Which leads us to the elephant in, or rather on, the Hyundai: the open bed.

Among other items, you’ll find side as well as rear steps for easier load bed access and a simple yet effective sliding tonneau operation, revealing a ridged floor and sizeable compartment storage compartment underneath. It comes with drainage holes for ice. Bed lighting, tie down hooks, and sliding cleats further boost useability and versatility. Just like in utes you’re probably used to.

Note that in this 20-inch wheel grade, there’s a space-saver spare underneath.

Bed length is 1323mm, width 1368/1085mm between the arches and height 488mm. For perspective, Ranger’s equivalents are 1464mm, 1520/1217mm and 525mm respectively. Bed volume is 764 litres, versus 1232L in the Ford.

Finally, towing capacity in the AWD version is 2260kg (Ranger: 3500kg) and payload is 730kg (Ranger Wildtrak: 901kg).

In summary then, compared to utes like the Ford above, the Hyundai’s OB is clearly shorter, narrower and shallower, yet is still usefully large for getting many jobs done.

Again, this is a new, more compact ute experiment, with no direct rivals, designed to be lighter, more efficient and fun to drive.

Hope you’re not expecting the RC350 F Sport to be the first word in practicality, because it’s not.

Measuring 4700mm long (with a 2730mm wheelbase), 1840mm wide and 1395mm tall, the RC350 F Sport is a decently sized coupe, but that doesn’t mean it’s spacious. Hell, it’s hard to get into it the first place, let alone out.

We are of course referencing the token second row, which is cramped at best. In fact, behind my 184cm (6.0ft) driving position, there is no toe-room nor headroom. Yep, if you’re around my height or taller, get used to burying your chin into your chest.

Thankfully, legroom is better but still limited to less than two centimetres, while foot space is compromised by the unusually tall transmission tunnel. And in case you were wondering, even the first row is on the tighter side.

Beyond the central air vents, you’d think rear occupants would be cheered up with cupholders, a fold-down armrest and USB ports at the very least. Well, they don’t get any of that, with a couple of coat hooks the only amenities on offer.

And don’t forget that being a four-seater, there are only two seats in the second row, so this is definitely not a ‘family car.' That said, there are two ISOFIX and two top-tether anchorage points for child seats, so you can theoretically take a couple of younglings with you on a trip.

In-cabin storage options are very limited, with the glove box small in size and mostly taken up by the manual, while the central bin is useable but somewhat occupied by two USB-A ports, a 12V power outlet, and an auxiliary input.

And whatever you do, only bring up to two drinks with you, as beside the pair of cupholders next to the gear selector, there is no other place to officially store extras. Yep, the front door bins are only good for storing very short and narrow items.

The boot is a different story, with a decent 374L of cargo capacity, and it can be expanded by stowing the 60/40 split-fold rear bench, an action that can annoyingly only be performed in-cabin via the manual release latches.

That said, the boot’s tall load lip makes unloading bulkier items a little trickier, while getting them onboard in the first place is complicated by its wide but short aperture. At least there are four tie-down points on hand to secure loose loads?

Priced from $78,636 plus on-road costs, the RC 350 F Sport commands $3000 and $8000 premiums over its lower-output RC300 and lower-spec Luxury siblings.

In terms of rivals, the RC 350 F Sport significantly undercuts the best-selling Mercedes-Benz C 300 Coupe ($89,000) but is about on par with the Audi A5 40 TFSI Sport Coupe ($78,900).

Standard equipment not already mentioned in the RC 350 F Sport includes rain-sensing wipers, power-folding side mirrors, satellite navigation with live traffic, digital radio, an 835W Mark Levinson sound system (with 17 speakers), keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, power-adjustable front seats with heating and cooling, a power-adjustable steering column and an auto-dimming rearview mirror.

Yep, it’s loaded, which is very good news. What isn’t, though, is its foot-operated park brake. Sure, the RC is six years old, but electric park brakes were well and truly a thing in 2014, so it’s quite an annoying quirk.

The RC 350 F Sport only has two options: a $2500 power-operated sunroof and $1500 premium paintwork, both of which were fitted to our test vehicle, with the latter taking the form of 'Graphite Black.'

The Santa Cruz is fitted with Hyundai’s 2.5-litre four-cylinder direct-injection turbo-petrol engine not offered in any Australian models at this time.

In North American-spec, it delivers about 210kW of power at 5800rpm and 422Nm of torque from 1700-4000rpm, to the front or all four wheels automatically via an eight-speed wet-type dual-clutch transmission, with a manual mode.

Acceleration time from 0-100km/h is about 6.5 seconds. Impressive for an 1860kg ute, aided no doubt by a healthy 113kW/tonne power-to-weight ratio.

Like the Tucson, the Santa Cruz is fitted with MacPherson-style struts up front and a multi-link independent rear suspension set-up, though they are tuned differently given the varying nature of the duo.

The RC 350 is motivated by a lusty 3.5-litre naturally aspirated V6 petrol engine that produces 232kW of power at 6600rpm and 380Nm of torque from 4800-4900rpm.

For reference, the RC 300 uses a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder unit that develops 180kW at 5800rpm and 350Nm from 1650-4400rpm.

Either way, these outputs are exclusively sent to the rear wheels via a well-sorted eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission with paddle-shifters.

This combination helps the RC350 sprint from a standstill to 100km/h in about 6.1 seconds while on the way to its electronically limited top speed of 230km/h.

Hyundai says the Santa Cruz is tuned to run on American 87 RON unleaded petrol.

It returns a combined average of 10.6L/100km, for a carbon dioxide emissions rating of 250 grams per kilometre. Other official figures are 12.1L in the city and 8.7L on the highway.

That should mean the 67L fuel tank should give a range of about 632km.

Running on 90+ Octane unleaded petrol, our Santa Cruz averaged 10.5L, against a trip computer figure of 10.8L. Our best cycle, on mainly rural roads, was 9.1L. Again, this is SUV efficiency. The long-mooted hybrid version will smash all these figures out of the park.

The RC350’s fuel consumption on the combined-cycle test (ADR 81/02) is 9.1 litres per 100 kilometres, while its carbon-dioxide emissions are 212 grams per kilometre, but both claims are a little keen.

In our real-world testing, we averaged 12.2L/100km, which is far cry from the above, given our result came from 180km of driving that was heavily skewed towards highway stints over city traffic.

For reference, the RC 350’s 66L fuel tank takes 95 RON premium petrol at minimum.

The most remarkable thing about the Santa Cruz is how multi-faceted the driving experience is.

On one hand, compared to body-on-frame utes, it feels just like a medium-sized SUV, with none of their lumbering heaviness. That should come as no shock seeing this is an extension of the Tucson (and related Kia Sportage).

Yet if you approach the Santa Cruz from an SUV perspective, there are palpable driving and behavioural differences, setting the ute apart. Especially considering Australians are unfamiliar with this particular powertrain.

Let’s start with that.

After years of the sweet if at-times somewhat stretched 1.6-litre turbo found in most upper-spec Hyundai and Kia models, the Santa Cruz’s big 2.5L turbo is a revelation, with little to no lag moving off the line and a steady and growing tide of torque as speed builds.

Quiet, smooth and refined, it is a terrifically muscular engine application, aided by an equally smooth and responsive dual-clutch transmission. That there’s real-world economy benefits as well – we averaged just 9.1L/100km during one tankful – is icing on the cake.

You know what they used to say… there’s no substitute for cubic inches. Why can’t other Hyundais have this powertrain in Australia?

Likewise, there’s little to criticise regarding the Santa Cruz’s steering, being as light yet direct as its SUV cousin’s. The upshot is exact and controlled handling that would put even the most nervous driver at ease. With that in mind, one particular heavy late-summer storm only served to highlight the Hyundai’s AWD-enhanced stability and traction.

And a word of praise for the driver-assist tech too, with the adaptive cruise control, lane-assist and blind-spot systems providing nuanced operation and gentle intervention. Bounding along in highway traffic moving at the legal speed limit, all remained calm.

Speaking of which, the Santa Cruz’s ride quality is shockingly cushy for something on 20-inch rubber. This never ceased to impress us.

So far, so very good.

Tighter corners and speedy off-ramp turns did reveal a couple of unexpected traits, though. That soft suspension tune and 218mm ground clearance can make the Hyundai feel roly poly, with pronounced body lean that can lead to understeer, meaning the ute can run wide mid-turn unless the driver piles in more steering angle.

In contrast, an Aussie-spec Tucson is far more composed and agile in such situations.

Still, we mentally readjusted to this, applying similar degrees of caution that drivers of even the best body-on-frame utes, dynamically speaking, should exercise (hello, Ranger). Yet even in such scenarios, the Santa Cruz is still far more SUV-like in its suspension discipline and roadholding.

Our two other beefs are a big turning circle and poor side/rear vision. Otherwise, a big thumb’s up here.

Obviously, as with all vehicles tested abroad, we need to experience the Hyundai on local roads for a more definitive assessment.

But, as our very enjoyable time behind the wheel of the 2024 Santa Cruz AWD revealed, it seems especially well-suited to Australian tastes.

As a spiritual successor to the Brumby and Falcon/Holden utes, this dual-cab seems beyond the sum of its parts.

The RC350 F Sport is actually pretty good to drive – so long as you understand what it’s about.

Think of it more as a comfortable cruiser than a sports car and you’ll forgive it for some of its shortcomings. Yep, it is that relaxing to drive.

While the F Sport’s suspension (independent double-wishbone front and multi-link rear axles with adaptive dampers) does have a sports tune, it still serves up a comfortable ride on most surfaces.

Naturally you can play with the five drive modes (Eco, Normal, S, S+ and Custom) on hand to increase its stiffness and therefore improve handling, but the difference between soft and ‘hard’ is negligible, so don’t bother.

Either way, the F Sport does have a noticeable habit of picking up sharper road edges, such as nasty potholes, and it's particularly prevalent at the rear. That said, it doesn’t detract from its luxuriousness all that much.

Where the sportiness really comes to the fore, though, is via the F Sport’s electric power steering system, which has a variable ratio.

As well-weighted as this set-up is as standard, you’ll find it hard to forget how sharp it is on turn-in. Among several factors at play, the obvious one is the F Sport’s rear-wheel steering system, which is better executed than most.

This technology turns the front wheels in the opposite direction to the rears at lower speeds but in the same orientation at higher velocities.

The result of the former? A mid-size coupe that feels like it has a short wheelbase, with the improved manoeuvrability especially noticeable in car parks. Conversely, the latter lends itself to greater stability when you need it.

And it’s a good thing it is the way it is, because the RC 350 F Sport has a kerb weight of 1740kg, which is not exactly sports-car light. This heft is a felt when cornering hard, even though body control is pretty strong overall.

Handling performance is also enhanced by the rear Torsen limited-slip differential, which helps improve grip upon corner exit, at which point the RC 350 gets to show off its straight-line abilities.

The V6 engine is buttery-smooth, but you really need to stick the boot in to fully enjoy it, with it only really starting to come alive when engine speeds are above 3000rpm.

That said, it’s easy to appreciate this character trait around town, where the RC 350 is truly unfazed. Take it onto the open road, though, and acceleration is more than pleasing.

The automatic transmission is a great dancing partner here, serving up delightfully smooth gear changes. It’s also surprisingly responsive, perhaps too responsive, as it can be quite fussy in city traffic, shuffling up and down ratios in quick succession.

Biggest gripe, however, is the digitally enhanced sound the RC 350 produces. Sitting inside, the noise being pumped in is satisfying, but you can’t help but acknowledge the aural deception at play.

Neither ANCAP nor Euro NCAP have issued a safety rating for the RC range, although the mechanically related IS line-up received the maximum five stars in 2016.

Advanced driver-assist systems in the RC 350 include autonomous emergency braking (with pedestrian detection), lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, a (low-resolution) reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors. Yep, the only major thing missing here is steering assist.

Other standard safety equipment includes eight airbags (dual front, side, curtain and knee), anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), brake assist (BA) and the usual electronic stability and traction control systems.

The Santa Cruz is not available in Australia at this time.

Hyundai’s current Australian warranty period is five years/unlimited kilometres with roadside assistance and available capped-price servicing options.

Most models also offer scheduled servicing between 10,000km and 15,000km.

As with all Lexus models in Australia, the RC 350 comes with a four-year/100,000km warranty and four years of roadside assistance. Both offers are a year behind that of fellow premium brands Mercedes-Benz and Genesis.

The RC 350’s service intervals are every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first. A three-year/45,000km capped-price servicing plan is available, costing $495 per visit, which is not too bad at all.