Adventurer: The 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz XRT

I won't bore regular readers with my usual spiel about how "small" pickup trucks aren't that small, compared with previous generations of medium and even large pickups. The rap, flawed as it is, is out there---these compacts aren't "serious" trucks. In an effort to beef up the image, Ford is going in one direction---the street truck---with the Ford Maverick Lobo, and Hyundai in another with the Santa Cruz XRT.

XRT is Hyundai's adventure/off-road line, and Hyundai is applying it liberally in its product portfolio. In October, I reviewed the IONIQ 5 XRT, and now it's the Santa Cruz' turn.

The Santa Cruz XRT keeps the 8.6-inch ground clearance shared by all Santa Cruz trims, but gets an approach angle that is increased by three inches, standard all-wheel drive, 18-inch wheels with all-terrain tires, front tow hooks and surround-view and blind-spot view monitoring, all of which improves its off-road capability.

Under the hood, the XRT gets the more powerful of the two Santa Cruz engines, the 2.5-liter turbo, with 281 horsepower (a healthy 90 horse bump over the base non-turbo 2.5 found standard in base Santa Cruz models) and 311 pound-feet of torque. With an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, the EPA's fuel economy estimate is 18 city/26 highway.

A lockable tonneau cover for the rear bed comes standard, as does LED bed lighting, an adjustable C-channel cleat rail system, under-bed and sidewall storage compartments, rear bumper side steps and a sheet molded composite bed. The bed has 27 cubic feet of storage space. Max towing capacity with trailer brakes is 3,500 pounds.

Rear seat passengers get a decent 36.5 inches of legroom.

Up front, it's a comfortable cabin with bright, clear, easy-to-read displays, logical control layouts and (thank you, Hyundai!) a separate set of controls for climate, keeping comfort out of the touchscreen and where it can be adjusted easily while driving.

The base price of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz XRT is $40,250---$41,700 including destination (see standard equipment in the window sticker at the end of this review).

There were only two extra-cost options on our test vehicle---$500 for the Canyon Red paint and $225 for carpeted floormats, bringing the bottom line on the window sticker to $42,425. That's within 20 bucks of the Ford Maverick Lobo I reviewed in November.

To this point, Maverick has rather handily outsold the Santa Cruz. As both branch out, it'll be interesting to see which has the right idea---Ford and the street truck or Hyundai and the go-anywhere truck.

2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz XRT AWD at a Glance:

Price: $40,250 base/$42,425 as tested

Engine: 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder

Horsepower: 281

Torque: 311 lb-ft

Transmission: Eight-speed wet dual clutch with paddle shifters

Curb Weight: 4,140 lbs

0-60 Acceleration (manufacturer data): N/A

EPA Fuel Economy Estimate: 18 city/26 highway/21 combined

Fuel tank capacity: 17.7 gallons

EPA Range Estimate: 372 miles

Click in the upper right to expand window sticker to full screen.