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Santa Fe
Hyundai Santa Fe information and reviews
All Santa Fe Trim Levels
The official factory page for the Hyundai Santa Fe
The official factory page for the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid
The official factory page for the Hyundai Santa Fe Plug-In Hybrid
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) awarded the Santa Fe a Top Safety Pick+, their highest rating.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has safety rated the Santa Fe 5 Stars, their highest rating.
According to the JD Power 2022 Vehicle Dependability Study, the Hyundai Santa Fe placed best in class, outperforming cars like the Toyota 4Runner and Ford Flex.
The Santa Fe receives kudos from Kelly Blue Book. In fact, they say that the secret to its award-winning success is "general excellence". They praise the quality of the ride, good looks, the fact that it is rich in technology, and is high in quality. In this article they explain how the Santa Fe remains a Kelly Blue Book Best Buy in the 2-row Midsize SUV segment. Actually, they say the impressive powertrains, technology, and more make it Best in Class.
While this is a review about the naturally aspirated 4-cylinder, as well as the tubo 4-cylinder, engines, I'm glad that MotorTrend brought this up about the Santa Fe turbo. The turbo is mated to a dual-clutch transmission. It is a wet-type, which tend to drive more refined than the dry-type. But a dual-clutch transmission is not as refined as a torque-converter automatic transmission. Then why even use a dual-clutch transmission? (A dual-clutch transmission is kind-of an automated manual transmission - you still put it in drive and it does its thing - but it has the mechanical idiosyncrasies of a manual transmission, since it is kind-of a robotically shifted manual transmission.) They use a dual-clutch because there are benefits to doing so - better fuel economy and more of the power that the engine creates makes it to the drive wheels. One of the downsides to the torque-converter automatic is that it sucks away more of the power than the engine creates as a trade-off for thar more refined operation. The lower efficiency of the torque converter also causes lower fuel economy. Personally I am happy to give up a little refinement to get better power and fuel economy. MotorTrend, while liking the improved acceleration, would prefer to sacrifice some of that for better refinement.... The rest of the article is very positive about the Santa Fe: it provides sportier handling than its competition while still being a comfortable drive, has better braking than just about all of its competition, is loaded with value, and has a near luxury trim level available.
Santa Fe Calligraphy
In this Savage Geese review, let's get what they didn't like out of the way: 1) there is some hard plastic on the interior which by his own admission is just nit-picking. 2) He isn't crazy about the 2.5 Turbo model with the front wheel drive on other Hyundais since the power can get away from you (really meaning the Sonata N-Line as that was the front wheel drive model with this engine that he drove). Now that those 2 nits are picked, they rave about literally everything else: it is powerful yet with a comfortable and refined ride, the technology is all easy to use and there are buttons for most features as opposed to having to use a touch-screen, the whole experience feels like a premium car (they even pointed out that it has a much better ride than the Kia Sorento, its corporate cousin), and they like the design both inside and out.
In this instrumented test review of the Santa Fe Calligraphy trim level, Car and Driver has a lot of good to say about it. Remember the review above that didn't care for the dual-clutch transmission? Well, others apparently feel the way I do as Car and Driver says the "new turbo-four and the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission work together seamlessly." They point out that it is quick, handles well, and gets decent fuel economy, making it very competitive in its class of stronger-engine-optioned midsize crossovers.
Cars.com sums up their review of the Santa Fe Calligraphy by calling it the best mainstream 2-row SUV on the market. They praise the strong power that the 2.5T produces and are impressed with the quick-shifting 8-speed wet-type dual-clutch automatic transmission that is paired with it. Nappa leather and an generous suite of safety and technology also earn high marks.
Santa Fe vs the Competition
The Santa Fe and its corporate sibling Kia Sorento are very similar in many ways. But this article from AutoGuide does a good job in explaining the differences and sums up why they would pick the Santa Fe. It primarily comes down to the Santa Fe offering more equipment earlier in the product range and the better pricing of the Santa Fe.
Santa Fe Hybrid
The official walk-around video of the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid:
This is an AutoGuide review of the Santa Fe Hybrid. The Hybrid is pretty much just a Santa Fe with a different powertrain, so comments on everything else can be seen above. What AutoGuide said Hyundai got right in this Hybrid is that they weren't seeking the compromises that come with chasing the best fuel economy in class - there is no lack of power and no CVT transmission. Instead, Hyundai pairs the battery and the electric motor it powers with a 1.6L turbo and pairs all that with a 6-speed automatic transmission (my note: the 6-speed is specifically designed for use with Hybrids, which is why it does not use the 8-speed found in the standard engines). AutoGuide says this transforms the driving experience compared to many hybrids in its class. So it may not provide the best fuel economy, but it does provide the best driving experience. That is not to say the the fuel economy is underwhelming - it isn't - just that Hyundai prirotized driving experience.
Car and Driver says to think of the Santa Fe Hybrid as a performance benefit over the base engine, since it puts out over 40 more HP, that also happens to get better fuel efficiency. They also call its cabin premium and its road handling confident. They like the vast array of standard and available features that come at an appealing price.