Hyundai Santa Fe Review

Introduction

With the clamour for smaller SUVs over the last few years, it’s easy to forget about the bigger end of the market – the seven-seaters.

These are often the flagships of a brand's lineup - no car is more imposing than a giant 4x4.

As for Hyundai, it’s been quietly going about its business, refining its large SUV, the Santa Fe, since 2001. Back then, it wasn’t particularly memorable – neither was its successor nor the one after that.

But the last one, the fourth generation, really hit the right spot. Launched in 2018, it significantly improved practicality and offered more luxuries than ever before, so Hyundai has big shoes to fill with this new version.

When the covers came off last year, nobody could quite believe it. Despite being based on the same platform as the previous model, it bears no resemblance to the outgoing Santa Fe. In fact, this new one seemingly takes styling cues from the previous generation Land Rover Discovery.

Squint and it looks like a futuristic version of Land Rover's formerly squared-off boxy off-roader. And it’s the likes of the newer Discovery that Hyundai is now squarely (quite literally) aiming for.

But is it any good? And will a would-be Discovery owner be tempted by it?

Let’s find out.

At A Glance

As we said, at first glance, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a new version of the last-generation Land Rover Discovery.

Although the current Discovery has rounded edges, the previous one was square, boxy and angular, with flat window frames – and that’s true of the new Santa Fe.

The front features many straight lines to create the grille's shape, while the LED day-running lights are aligned in an 'H' layout.

Two thin vertical air intakes sit on either side and on the seven-seater version, at least, there are silver borders around its outer edges towards the bottom.

Very thick skirts offer maximum protection from the sides, while even the windows look nicely squared off with black surrounds.

Meaty-angled wheel arches and roof rails hint at off-road ruggedness. At the back, it's quite subtle, with a thick light bar running around the whole of the rear towards the bottom and plenty of blank space.

It is not beautiful as such, but very smart and sophisticated.

Whatever you think of it, it looks premium – and completely lacking in cheapness.

Key Features

Hyundai offers three trims on the Santa Fe.

Entry-level Premium enjoys 20-inch alloys, two 12.3-inch screens for the infotainment touchscreen and the driver’s instrument cluster, satellite navigation, Apple Car Play and Android Auto, and a separate 6.6-inch climate control touchscreen.

You also get heated and electrically adjustable leather seats, a heated steering wheel, LED headlights and taillights, rear privacy glass, acoustic-treated glass, electrically adjustable lumbar support, automatic headlights, a wireless phone charger, keyless entry, and rear door blinds.

The mid-range Ultimate trim possesses a Bose premium sound system, a digital rear-view mirror, two-way electrically adjustable lumbar support, ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a head-up display, and an electrically adjustable steering column. You also get a surround-view monitor and two wireless phone chargers.

Top-spec Calligraphy gets 20-inch black alloys, black exterior styling elements, premium relaxation front seats with Nappa leather trim, and a UV-C compartment - a storage cubby that sterilises whatever is inside by exposing it to UV light. It is a handy feature, especially if you have kids!

There are two models to choose from - a six-seater and a seven-seater. The former is only available in Calligraphy trim, which has the same specs as the seven-seater version.

There are two powertrains, both of which are based on a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine.

There is a full hybrid (HEV) with 215 PS, while the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) has 253 PS.

The HEV is available with two - or four-wheel drive, while the PHEV only has four-wheel drive.

Performance & Drive

We are testing the full hybrid Santa Fe in rather striking Terracotta Orange, which is the nicest and, happily, is the default colour, so there's no need to pay any extra.

As lovely as it is, it doesn't help the Santa Fe get to 62mph any quicker. It takes 9.6 seconds from a standing start in the two-wheel drive and 9.8 seconds in the four-wheel drive version.

That is not bad, but if you carry seven adults – more than doable in this huge beast – expect this figure to be north of ten seconds.

Even when driving solo, the vehicle's weight is noticeable, and if you need to accelerate quickly to overtake on a motorway, you may find it feels a bit strained.

That said, it's not bad - and we expected to have to work the engine harder than we did to extract decent performance.

Once you’re up to motorway speeds, though, the Santa Fe is adept as a comfortable long-distance cruiser and is relaxing to drive. Its acoustic glass soundproofing keeps wind and road noise to a minimum.

You could even call it tranquil when running in all-electric mode, although you won't get far without the HEV's engine.

If you want a little more power and a much longer all-electric driving range, the PHEV is the choice.

With an extra 38PS on hand, it will fill the slight void when the HEV feels a bit lacking, although it's only half a second quicker to 62mph than the all-wheel-drive HEV.

Despite its enormous size, the Hyundai is surprisingly easy to drive. It handles low-speed driving well and feels settled and assured, helped by a responsive transmission and very light steering.

In terms of handling, it’s about what we’d expect. No large SUV can handle like a sports car, but there’s plenty of grip. Body roll in the bends is as limited as possible but still noticeable.

The Santa Fe is certainly manoeuvrable at higher speeds around corners, helped by accurate steering. However, the wheel doesn't weight up all that much in faster bends, and there isn't a tremendous amount of feedback. That said, the wheel does weight up a little more if you put it in Sport mode.

Due to its sheer size, we found it better to take things at a more leisurely pace. That will be especially true of the PHEV, which weighs up to 2,145kg depending on the trim. Mind you, even the full hybrid isn’t far behind at around two tonnes.

The Santa Fe is very comfortable to drive along in, with the suspension setup tuned to the softer side. However, although it’s good at absorbing the effects of potholes and imperfections in the road surface, it can bounce around a bit, especially if you’re driving quickly. Meanwhile, the 20-inch alloys feel a step too big for our liking.

Thankfully, you can downgrade to 18-inch alloys if you wish, but you can only do this on the full hybrid.

Overall, though, it's a big step forward in the refinement of the outgoing model, which itself was impressive.

Running Costs & Emissions

The Santa Fe full-hybrid returns 41.5mpg and emits 155g/km of CO2 in the two-wheel drive version, and 38.6mpg and 165g/km of CO2 in the four-wheel drive version.

The plug-in hybrid, on the other hand, trumps that considerably, returning 166mpg and 38g/km of CO2. It can charge its batteries from 0 to 100% in under five hours using a 7kW home wall box at a maximum rate of 3.6kW.

It has a 13.7kWh battery, which is good enough for an all-electric range of 34 miles. But that's disappointing as it's two miles less than the predecessor could manage. While mid-20s is more realistic in practice, the official range figure partly dictates what Benefit in Kind tax band it’s in, and 34 miles is only enough to get it into the 12% band. It would be 8% if the figure was over 40 miles.

Nevertheless, the PHEV is the one to lease if you're after a company car. The HEV two-wheel drive only gets into the 36% band, while the four-wheel drive version is in the 37% band (both will be 37% from April 2025).

The new Santa Fe is too new to know its reliability yet, but there’s little concern. Hyundai is one of the most dependable brands in the business, with an excellent reliability record.

Interior & Technology

If you think the downside to a Hyundai is its basic interior, the Santa Fe will make you think twice.

Stepping inside, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were sat inside any premium brand car. There are lots of smart, soft-to-the-touch surfaces on offer, plus piano black and silver décor.

You could easily think you were in a Range Rover.

Among the first features your eyes will be drawn to upon climbing in are the 12.3-inch dual screens housed within one unit to look like one ultra-wide screen. These are the digital instrument display and the infotainment system. A smaller third 6.6-inch touchscreen adjusts the climate controls.

Although this smaller screen still isn't as easy to use on the move as physical dials, it's nice to have everything in one place. The settings are always at your fingertips rather than having to jab your way through sub-menus on the infotainment screen.

The infotainment system itself is impressive. It offers an easy-to-use, intuitive layout with crisp graphics - and it’s reasonably responsive to inputs. Likewise, the digital instrument display is sharp and provides lots of useful information.

Elsewhere, the steering wheel looks bold and inviting to hold, while the air vents are next to each other and span horizontally across the entire dashboard.

Even the area that would ordinarily house the gear lever has a reassuringly bold design. It is sunken into the centre console in the form of a tray with large borders around the edge, providing space for the wireless phone charger.

If the exterior looks put you off, you might be tempted back by the interior – it doesn’t disappoint.

Practicality & Boot Space

One of the best things about large SUVs is the high driving position - and that’s certainly offered here.

Being high up means you get a great view of the road. Additionally, although we've been in cars with thinner front pillars, the Hyundai’s are swept back, so given the high position of your head, they don’t obstruct your view.

Rearward visibility isn’t as successful - the rear pillars are among the thickest we've encountered. But at least the vehicle's shape means they're vertical rather than diagonal, so you can usually look around them.

If you still can’t get a clear view, front and rear parking sensors are standard on all models, along with a surround-view camera on our range-topping Calligraphy. However, you only get a rear-view camera on entry-level Premium.

In all but the entry-level version, the cameras can be viewed on the rear-view mirror, and the rear camera image is beamed onto the digital driver’s display when you indicate.

Finding a comfortable driving position is easy, too, thanks to electric adjustment in the front seats across the range. Plus, there's plenty of travel in the seats and steering wheel.

You would have to be seven feet tall to experience any problems with leg and headroom - it's plentiful, and you can sprawl out. You might even feel you've got to shout to be heard in the third row of seats; it's that far away.

Likewise, the second row has lots of headroom and legroom. You will be in the right car if you need to transport three adults next to each other – and you can really spread yourself out without feeling hemmed in. It is almost limo-like.

The second row of seats can slide forward to provide access to the back, whereas even the third row offers an impressive amount of headroom and legroom.

The levels of splendour aren’t quite on a par with the rows in front, but it’ll create a raised eyebrow and a nod of approval, nonetheless.

Boot space measures 985 litres with the third row of seats folded down.

The second row of seats only folds in a 60/40 configuration, rather than the more versatile 40/20/40 offered by some competitors. Nevertheless, folding them practically turns the Santa Fe into a van, offering a vast 1,949 litres of cargo space. Of course, the car’s naturally box-like shape provides optimal access to that enormous capacity. There is no underfloor storage, however.

Interior storage is plentiful, with big bins in all four doors, a large cubby in the centre console, an accommodating glove box, large cupholders, the two wireless phone chargers we mentioned earlier, and USB-C chargers in all rows.

The full hybrid's towing limit is 1,110kg, and the PHEV's is 1,010kg. This may disappoint some, as it's lower than we expected.

Safety

Although the new Hyundai Santa Fe has yet to be crash-tested by the boffins at Euro NCAP, there should be few concerns.

The previous Santa Fe was tested in 2018 and comfortably earned a five-star rating. It scored a mighty 94% for adult occupants, 88% for children, and 76% for safety assists.

This new model includes a glut of safety technology to move things up a level.

Automatic emergency braking, lane follow assist, intelligent speed limit assist, tyre pressure monitoring system, and lane keep assist are all standard across the range.

Blind spot collision avoidance assist is also available on all full hybrid models, while it's only included in the PHEV's Ultimate and Calligraphy models.

On both hybrids, Ultimate and Calligraphy versions get a blind spot view monitor, parking collision avoidance assist, remote smart park assist, upgraded forward collision avoidance assist, and highway drive assist systems.

Options

The Hyundai Santa Fe comes with a range of optional extras to choose from.

The default colour, as with our test car, is Terracotta Orange, a dark red-ish orange shade that looks quite striking.

Alternatively, you can pay a few hundred pounds extra for solid black, dark grey, silver or white, even more for metallic pearl grey-ish blue, olive green or sage, and more still for the matte colours of creamy white or brass.

There are also many accessories on offer, from tailgate trim lines to Hyundai logo door projectors, sporty side steps, bike and snowboard carriers, tow bars, roof boxes, dash cams, mats and liners, and mudguards.

You can downgrade to smaller (and likely more comfortable) 18-inch alloys or choose from a range of alternative 20-inch rims instead of the standard ones.

If you want a sunroof, you’ll have to have the full hybrid, as it’s not available on the PHEV.

Rival Cars

While big, seven-seater SUVs aren’t common to all that many manufacturers, the competition is about as fierce as it gets.

Land Rover has both the Discovery and Defender, while the (admittedly expensive) Range Rover is nowadays available as a seven-seater.

Audi has the superb Q7, and, of course, BMW has the X5 and even larger X7. Mercedes-Benz offers the GLE, and Volvo has the XC90.

Hyundai will be hoping to tempt drivers away from these premium brands. It will also want to challenge the Nissan X-Trail, Kia Sorento, Skoda Kodiaq, and Peugeot 5008.

Verdict & Next Steps

The Hyundai Santa Fe is the real deal.

It boasts a superbly plush interior, is brilliantly practical, and is surprisingly economical. Furthermore, its looks take a big step forward in sophistication, even if some folk may dislike the new aesthetic.

Add that to Hyundai’s reliability and you’ve got yourself a winner.

We would go with the entry-level Premium trim, which has just about everything that’s important. Mid-range Ultimate trim gets some decent upgrades, while the Calligraphy we tested mainly adds black styling and little else of significance.

The HEV significantly undercuts the PHEV, so unless you regularly drive long distances or drive a company car, we'd opt for the former, as we tested.

Yes, the large alloys are too big, the full hybrid feels a tad underpowered, the all-electric range is disappointingly low, and the towing capacities aren’t great, but these are mere blotches.

Make no mistake, this is quite an excellent car from Hyundai, which really sets the bar as high as can be.

Where to next?

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the Hyundai Santa Fe.

**Correct as of 14/10/2024. Based on 9 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 24 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 9 monthly payments, or £4,201.20 (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.