Transformed visually with a new squared-off looking design, the latest Santa Fe stands out to a point that could almost be termed a rebirth. Spotting one coming towards you is easy thanks to those impressive H shaped lights .
If you’re on the trail for SUV serendipity you just might want to consider this bigger and bolder Santa Fe which has consistently received a multitude of well deserved accolades throughout 2024 and 2025 as one of the best large SUVs. It’s a purposeful looking and appealing ‘whip crack away’ seven seater from Korea with an indomitable presence that’s practical, classy, top quality and well equipped inside and outside. A proper five year, unlimited mileage, warranty, therefore, reflects manufacturers confidence. It seems that reliability is a given with this make.
Since its entry into this highly competitive market, competitors have quaked. And with good reason, for you’d be hard-pressed to match the ‘bangs for bucks’ that Hyundai delivers. At £49,650, this top spec. Calligraphy 7 seat 1.6 petrol hybrid with the new six speed automatic transmission and with ‘on demand’ four-wheel drive, is up there with the best for much less..
We all know that the appeal of the SUV is dependent on ultra practicality and versatility. You can go anywhere with anyone in any weather and virtually on any highway short of the Rocky Mountains in one of these because it is no ‘soft-roader’. It has different drive modes for different challenging conditions.
There’s acres of room for five and their luggage and if you flip up the other two seats from the boot floor, there’s still room for luggage. Put all seats down and you have a veritable pantechnicon.
The name given to this model is redolent of adventurous treks ‘Out West’ but for the British market Hyundai have made subtle and clever adaptations. UK models are chassis tuned to the unique demands of our great British roads.
A cynic might claim, therefore, that this SUV is ‘pothole perfect’ and capable of undertaking journeys without terminal damage to the chassis. A positive thinking person like your correspondent relishes the good roadholding, the tautness behind the wheel and the effortless ‘red-carpeting’ of rough highways. In a Santa Fe you might be forgiven for thinking that the Minister of Transport had – in a fit of the vapours – lavished untold fortunes on our roads. Unfortunately this is not so: merely a consequence of the Santa Fe’s impressive road manners. The chassis certainly betrays no load carrying imperfections. Driving along it feels as smooth as silk with a ride as supple as a Spanish señorita. For a big car it’s so easy to drive. It even has Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) so that when you are towing a trailer with your mother-in-law in, she wont get car sick.
The torquey 1.6 petrol engine combines with the 58 bhp electric motor to give lovely smooth and linear performance, taking you to ‘certainly fast enough’ mph (112mph) – and, surprisingly, I got about 48 mpg in eco mode on a long run.
Inside, comfort is….er…as comfy as comfy can be, on heated and cooled seats that are power operated. There are so many bells and whistles to make your life complete. So many permutations of this and that… you can even choose from sixty four colours for the interior ambience. There’s every adjunct to sybaritic living and hedonism and you and yours are kept safe by safety systems galore. The flight deck displays an array of instruments and controls that are the ultimate in digital ‘digitalness’ and you are soothed by a Bose (the best) sound system of sonic excellence. To put it in a nutshell (and a very big one at that) it has as much going for it as rivals that are over half as much again. Would I buy a Land Rover when I could have a Santa Fe that is unlikely to breakdown.?
With indomitable presence and purposefulness, the Santa Fe delivers like a galloping Pony Express. If you’re in the market for a big-hearted hunk of a car that won’t take a massive chunk out of your earnings, here is utility value that’s worth flagging up: and never has practicality felt so luxurious.
You could carry the Queen of Sheba and guarantee not to spill her sherbet in one of these – and it’s also a fairway to carry a gaggle of golfers on their way to the eighteenth.
