2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz

With the 2023 Santa Cruz, you can choose SE, SEL, Night, SEL Premium, or Limited trim levels. The headlights blend well with the angular, metallic grille, and the Hyundai symbol is in the middle. There's also a smaller lower grille, large fog lights, a sculpted hood, sculpted sides, and a 4.3-foot bed with SANTA CRUZ lettering on the tailgate. You'll get 18-inch wheels, all-season tires, daytime running lights, and a storage space behind the rear window that can work as a cooler. Six cargo tie-down points, a storage space under the bed floor, side steps, a 115-volt power outlet, LED bed lighting, and a sliding bed divider are included as well. You can add a lockable cover for the truck bed, 20-inch wheels, heated side mirrors with turn signals, LED headlights, and a power sunroof. Available exterior colors include Hampton Gray, Blue Stone, Phantom Black, Sage Gray, and Ice White.

The 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine gives 191 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque. You can also select a turbocharged version that provides 281 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque. Both motors use an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The Santa Cruz has responsive handling and a smooth ride, especially for a pickup truck. It also comes with 8.6 inches of ground clearance to help you traverse difficult trails. The Night, SEL Premium, and Limited trim levels come with all-wheel drive, which is optional with other trim levels. There's an independent suspension, and you can select smart, normal, or sport driving modes. This truck gets 22 mpg in traffic and 26 mpg on the open road. It can haul up to 1,748 pounds and pull up to 3,500 pounds. With the turbocharged engine, you'll get 19 mpg in the city and 27 mpg on larger roads. The carrying capacity is the same, and you can tow up to 5,000 pounds.

The comfortable interior comes with many advanced features. You'll get two USB ports in the front seats, an 8-inch touchscreen, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, and a removable cargo container under the rear seats. You can select two second-row USB ports, keyless entry, push-button start, remote start, dual-zone climate control, wireless charging, and an eight-way power driver's seat with lumbar support. Other options include heated and cooled front seats, SiriusXM satellite radio, a 10.25-inch touchscreen, and voice recognition.

The Santa Cruz's advanced safety and driver assistance features can help make driving less stressful. You'll get driver attention warning, lane-keeping assistance, automatic emergency braking, electronic stability control, traction control, and forward collision avoidance with pedestrian detection. Blind spot collision avoidance, rear cross-traffic collision avoidance, safe exit warning, and braking assistance are standard as well. You can add adaptive cruise control, a surround-view monitor, and highway driving assistance.