Crossovers are criticized correctly for looking and being the same, as if cut from the same mold, regardless of badge.
Most of them have similarly bland drivetrains and not much choice about the drivetrain. It comes as it is, and that’s all there is.
The Hyundai Santa Fe does an excellent job of not being like most of the rest. It’s another crossover, yup, but it doesn’t look so much like the rest that it’s hard to tell it apart. It’s what’s under the hood, or rather, what you can choose to be under the hood, that sets the Santa Fe apart.
What It Is
The Santa Fe is Hyundai’s next-up-in-size crossover after the compact-sized Tucson. It is a two-row, mid-sized alternative to the three-row, full-sized Palisade and can be compared with other two-row, mid-size crossovers such as the Ford Edge.
It is also related to its cousin, the Kia Sorento, which is slightly longer and offers a third row at the expense of some cargo-carrying capacity behind that row.
The Santa Fe (like its Kia-badged cousin) is available with either of two engines and your choice of AWD or not, with either engine–a rare choice among crossovers in this class, most of which offer either a single take-it-or-leave-it drivetrain or give you the option of a standard, not very powerful engine or the choice to buy a more powerful one that automatically comes with AWD.
Prices start at $27,200 for the base SE trim with a 2.5-liter engine, eight-speed automatic, and front-wheel-drive. You can opt for AWD, which increases the MSRP to $28,900.
If you want more power, a turbocharged version of the 2.5-liter engine is available in the Limited and Caligraphy trims, which sticker for $38,960 and $40,960 to start, respectively. Interestingly, you have the option to skip or buy all-wheel-drive with this engine. Generally, all-wheel-drive is bundled with the optional/stronger engines in rival crossovers forcing you to buy it even if all you wanted to buy was more power.
Also of interest–you can get the turbo version of the 2.5-liter engine in the essentially similar Kia for substantially less in the $34,990 to start EX trim of that model.
What’s New
A new XRT trim that emulates the Outback theme Subaru applies to some of its models. You get a roof rack, lower perimeter body cladding (with built-in side steps) that won’t get chipped by rocks, skid plates, an 18-inch wheel/-tire package, and various trim upgrades.
The current Sorento doesn’t offer anything directly similar.
There is also a new plug-in version of the Santa Fe hybrid that can travel about 30 miles on electricity-only but doesn’t have to be plugged in to keep on traveling, as with plug-in-only electric cars.
It stickers for $40,535 to start, topping out at $46,545.
What’s Good
- You can get the optional, more powerful engine without paying extra for AWD — unless you want.
- It has a conventional, eight-speed automatic rather than a CVT automatic.
- It is priced lower than its Kia-badged cousin (which starts at $29,390).
What’s Not So Good
- You can get the more powerful, optional engine (the same engine) in Santa Fe’s Kia-badged cousin at a much lower price point ($34,990 for the EX Turbo vs. $38,960 for the Santa Fe Limited).
- Plug-in hybrid’s $40k-plus price to start will take a while to work off in at-the-pump savings.
- All trims come standard with driver “assistance” electronics, including Lane Keep Assist, Automated Braking Assist, and a “drowsy driver” monitor.
Under The Hood
The Santa Fe is a crossover, as unusual as sunlight in the morning. But there are a few unusual things about it. It offers the usual standard and optional engine–the former is a 2.5-liter four cylinder, without a turbocharger, making 191 horsepower and 181 ft.-lbs. of torque, the latter being a turbocharged version of this engine that makes 281 horsepower and 311 ft.-lbs. of torque.
So far, nothing unusual. Almost every other crossover comes with a four-cylinder engine, with or without a turbocharger.
It’s what the Santa Fe’s engines are paired up with and what you can pair them with that makes them unusual, which isn’t a continuously variable (CVT) automatic transmission.
Most crossovers come with CVTs, which don’t shift through gears but transition through ranges because of the slight (2-3 MPG overall is typical) fuel-efficiency advantage, which helps the company selling the vehicle comply with federal fuel efficiency mandates. It helps sell the vehicle to people who want the maximum-mileage possible. But many people dislike the operating characteristics of CVTs, which have a different feel and sound. Some people like the more traditional feel and sound of a transmission that shifts from gear to gear, and that’s what you get here.
The base 2.5-liter engine without the turbocharger is paired with a conventional eight-speed automatic. And it still manages 25 MPG in city driving and 28 on the highway; with AWD, this dips slightly to 22 city, 25 highway. These numbers are a bit lower than others in the class but not hugely.
If you opt for the turbocharged 2.5-liter engine by choosing the Limited or Caligraphy trim, you get an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, a quicker-shifting type of automatic. The more powerful engine’s mileage stats are 22 city, 28 highway with FWD, and 21/28 with AWD.
This brings us to the other unusual thing about the Santa Fe relative to most crossovers.
Most bundle all-wheel-drive with their optional, more powerful engines. Whether this is done out of concern for “safety” (all that extra power going to just the front wheels) means you’d be able to spin them, or for mercenary reasons (you want more power–you’ll have to pay extra for the engine and the AWD) is immaterial as regards this Hyundai.
If you want the stronger engine and don’t want AWD, you can buy a Santa Fe that way. Or you can buy it with AWD. You’re not pigeonholed into buying the stronger engine and AWD.
You can also get AWD with the standard engine.
There is no up-selling you to get the extra traction or less if that’s what you prefer.
Both engines are also regular fuel engines, including the turbo engine. That saves you about 30 cents per gallon at every fill-up, which works out to about $6 or so for every 18.8-gallon fill-up. Not small change over time.
With this buggy, you can pull up to 3,500 lbs.–a solid tow rating for the size and class.
On The Road
Hyundai is to Kia what Buick was to Pontiac back in the day.
For those who don’t remember those days (Pontiac was retired back in 2010 but had been dead for many years before that), GM used to offer different permutations of shared-platform vehicles, with some sportier than others and some more luxurious than others. Buicks were softer-riding and tended to be more regal-looking and a bit posher than Pontiacs, which were rowdier in their styling and usually set up to deliver a sportier driving feel.
There’s a similar difference between Hyundai’s Santa Fe and Kia’s Sorento. If you drive the two one after the other, you will notice this and decide for yourself which nuance you prefer. The drivetrains are identical, so there’s little if any difference in how they feel when you push down on the accelerator pedal. The standard engine provides par-for-the-class giddyup, and buyers who prefer the little snap that occurs whenever conventional automatic changes from one gear to the next will like that as opposed to the CVT automatic’s surge through its ranges, which to some people feels like the transmission is failing (and sometimes sounds like it).
With the optional turbocharged engine, the Santa Fe and Sorento are capable of reaching 60 MPH in six seconds, which (for those who remember) is as quick as most V8 muscle cars of the ’60s were. The little four’s swell of torque is also comparable to that produced by many of the V8s of that era (compare the numbers to those of a ’66 Mustang GT’s 289 Hi-Po V8) and gives the Hyundai and the Kia a stronger low and mid-range than the base-engined versions of these vehicles, which require more pressure on the accelerator to get them accelerating.
But the main difference you’ll feel is in the seat of your pants rather than the small of your back. The Santa Fe is softer, plusher. The Sorento is more supple. When tossed into a curve at higher speeds, the Kia feels a little more confident. The Hyundai feels more relaxed all the time. These attributes are neither good nor bad–just different, which is good, as it means you get to choose.
It’s always better than one-size-fits-all.
All trims come standard with an array of “assistance” technology, including Lane Keep Assist and Automated Brake Assist. These “assists” can mostly be avoided by turning them off. The aggravating thing is having to buy what you may not need or want. This includes ASS (automated stop/start “technology”), which shuts off the engine at practically every red light unless you stop it by pushing the button on the console to turn ASS off.
At The Curb
The previous generation Santa Fe (2018 and prior) was available in Sport and XL versions. The former was bridging the gap between the compact-sized latter and larger-sized, three-row crossovers.
The current Santa Fe splits the difference.
It is longer than the previous-generation Santa Fe Sport by about three inches but not as long as the previous, nearly full-sized regular Santa Fe, which was 193.1 inches long vs.188.4 inches for the current iteration (the previous-generation Santa Fe Sport was 185 inches long).
This footprint is solidly mid-sized, almost the same as others in the class such as the Ford Edge, 188.8 inches long overall.
Hyundai decided to offer the new Santa Fe in a two-row configuration only, instead of providing a smaller, two-row version and a larger, three-row version as previously. If you need a third row, there’s the full-sized Palisade or the Santa Fe’s Kia-badged cousin, the also mid-sized Sorento, which sacrifices behind-its-third-row cargo capacity to carve out the space for it.
Instead of 36.4 cubic feet with the two rows in place, as in the Hyundai, you get the extra row but only 12.6 cubic feet behind it. Both cousins have about the same total cargo capacity when their second (and second and third) rows are down: 72.1 cubic feet for the Santa Fe and 75.5 for the Sorento.
If you need more of both, the Palisade or its Kia-badged cousin, the Telluride, has got you covered. These larger, three-row crossovers also still come standard with V6 engines, by the way.
Hyundai does a top-shelf job of blending tech with function. LCDs abound, but there are rotary knobs with a feel to adjust volume and change channels. You can feel the click as opposed to the tap and swipe. There are multiple USB hook-ups, but they didn’t forget the 12V PowerPoint, so you can still plug-in accessories that don’t feed off USBs, such as radar detectors.
The Rest
The objective criteria that once clearly defined a luxury vehicle from one that no longer does. This Hyundai is available with such niceties as quilted leather door panel inserts, heated and cooled seats, a configurable LCD dashboard (something that, as recently as five or six years ago, one found only in expensive luxury cars such as the Mercedes E and S-Class sedans) with a 10.25-inch secondary LCD cluster, a 12- speaker audio system and panorama glass roof.
Amenities such as climate control AC and power windows, locks and seats, cruise control, etc., are what ashtrays once were — i.e., the bare minimum expected, even in economy cars.
This is great news for people who like luxury but would rather not pay for it. It’s not-so-good news for car companies trying to sell luxury-brand vehicles that increasingly don’t offer much more for your money except that they cost more money.
The one thing that will cost you more money here is more power vs. what it would cost you across the street at the Kia store, where you can pick up an essentially similar Sorento EX with the same 281 hp turbocharged version of the 2.5-liter engine for $3,970 less than that engine costs under the hood of a Santa Fe. This is so because Hyundai only puts the more robust engine in the top two Santa trims, Limited and Caligraphy, while Kia offers it in all but the base LX and S trims, which come with the non-turbocharged version of the 2.5-liter engine.
On the other hand, the Sorento isn’t available with the rugged XRT package available in the Santa Fe. The Santa Fe’s base price ($27,200) is significantly less than the Sorento’s ($29,390). If you’d rather not pay extra for a third row, you may not need to, and maybe you prefer the Santa Fe’s looks.
The Bottom Line
It’s not easy, usually, coming up with a reason to buy one crossover vs. another. But Hyundai gives you a couple of them here.
Eric Peters lives in Virginia and enjoys driving cars and motorcycles. In the past, Eric worked as a car journalist for many prominent mainstream media outlets. Currently, he focuses his time writing auto history books, reviewing cars, and blogging about cars+ for his website EricPetersAutos.com.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
