Hyundai Santa Fe review

The Hyundai Santa Fe is a family SUV, about as big as you could possibly want for British streets and car parks. It's got seven seats with cargo space beyond that, and it's a solid tow car. There's something about the 2004 Discovery going on with its looks, as boxy as a box of Lego.

But actually it's a slightly different proposition from an old Land Rover, quite apart from two decades of added electronic sophistication. It's only optionally 4WD, and doesn't have a low-ratio transmission or diff-locks. The Santa Fe might be all about lifestyle, but it isn't designed for extreme off-roading. For most people it's better off without that weight and complication.

Gotcha. Main rivals?

If you need a seven-seater, most obviously the not wholly unrelated Kia Sorento, and the Nissan X-Trail, Skoda Kodiaq, VW Tiguan Allspace, Peugeot 5008 and Mercedes GLB. Land Rover has two sizes of Discovery.

Hyundai points out that it sells in price against the five-seat BMW X3 and Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60, but has the space of a seven-seat X5 or Q7 or XC90.

There are various different powertrains among all the above, and they don't all have enough space for grown-ups in the third row, or luggage behind that. The Santa Fe does.

What goes on underneath?

The Santa Fe is purely petrol-electric in this generation, with a four-cylinder hybrid in FWD or 4WD, or a PHEV version of the same engine, with 4WD only. In both cases the base engine is the same: a direct injection turbocharged 1.6-litre developing 158bhp. The regular hybrid supplements this with a 64bhp electric motor and develops maximum power of 212bhp, the plug version has a bigger 93bhp motor and 250bhp. The former has a tiny 1.4kWh battery and less than a mile of claimed electric running, the latter 13.8kWh battery and 34 miles of silent running.

How does it go?

It is, shall we say, leisurely. That's not an insult. The performance metrics are like an old-school four-cylinder diesel SUV, but this petrol hybrid is quieter. Mostly. More on that in the Driving tab. No Santa Fe is fast. The PHEV completes 0-62mph in 9.3 seconds, the non-plug version is half a second slower. Claimed economy is 40.9mpg (you’ll get 37mpg) or 166.1mpg (possible if you plug in and do short trips only. But more likely you’ll get 37mpg in this one too).

The suspension is set up for comfort, with a softish ride. But that doesn't mean the Santa Fe is a galleon. Its steering is reasonably accurate and pitch and roll are buttoned down decently. Provided you guide it smoothly it'll bowl down a B-road with its dignity intact.

Likely of more concern to Santa Fe buyers is the allowable mass of a braked trailer: two-and-a-quarter tonnes. However, this is not a powertrain rich in torque.

Looks big enough to block out the sun…

The square shape stems from an attempt to enclose a cathedral of space in the back. And it's worked. The middle-row seats are a big sofa, and they slide to give extra room behind. That done, there's definitely room for seven full-size adults. Behind seats six and seven, seven airline bags fit. Just. Plenty more if you're just six-up and fold one seat.

Other cabin choices are a five-seater with huge boot, or six-seater with middle-row individual chairs. Even so, the Santa Fe isn't absurdly fat – a manageable 1.90m wide, and 4.83m long, which is a useful 12cm shorter and a bit slimmer than an XC90 or full-fat Discovery.

If you do want to block out the sun, incidentally, the middle row windows come with integrated blinds as standard. A nice touch.

Some of those rivals are pretty premium. Can it stand up?

Frankly, the Santa Fe undermines your badge snobbery. The inside, as well as the outside, is interesting in design and well-detailed and made. Ingeniously practical too. Neither does it want for usable, high-tech equipment. More details in the Interior tab of this review.

We’ve seen Hyundai reposition itself as a brand and drive upmarket, but the Santa Fe isn’t greedily priced. Prices start at £46,775 for a 2WD regular hybrid - with 4WD costing £2,055 to add - while plug-in versions are £3,055 on top of that, beginning at £51,105.

This is an admirable, well thought through and complete family SUV. It’s not just an attractive piece of design inside and out, but it’s also roomy and useful. End to end, the cabin is full of practical touches to make a journey better. It's also stylish and well-made in there, and the ride is comfortable and quiet.

It's no sports car, but the consistency of the go-stop-steer responses is nicely considered, so it's not unsatisfying to drive if you're in no mad hurry. Just be aware the engine is coarse under load.

The Santa Fe is a striking machine, not for people who want to keep a low profile. But it's not been done just to make a statement. It backs it up with well-crafted utility. As such there really aren’t many cars at all that can rival its combination of desirability, practicality, equipment and space.