Car UK May 2019

It’s a pity they forget to

make them memorable

Seven seats, four-wheel drive and endless family-friendliness: the

Santa Fe has everything except charisma. By Chris Chilton

Hyundai

Sant a Fe

Month 1

The story so far

Fourth-gen Santa Fe hopes

to climb the steep slope to

premium-land with a sharp

new suit and mountains of

equipment

+ Imposing design; quiet; big

kit list; surprisingly agile

• Jittery ride; engine noise at
  low speeds; jerky cruise control

Price £43,985 Performance

2199cc turbodiesel 4-cyl,

197bhp, 9.4sec 0-62mph,

127mph Efficiency 38.7mpg

(official), 35.8mpg (tested),

164g/km CO2 Energy cost

16.5p per mile Miles this

month 3001 Total miles 3378

‘Remember that big SUV we hired

in America a couple of years ago,’ I

told my partner when I heard we’d

be running a Santa Fe. ‘It’s the new

version of that.’

Except it isn’t. The US road-trip

rental was actually a Kia Sorento.

Oops. But that’s frequently been

the trouble with Korean cars. The

engineering is solid, the value for

money unquestionable. But they’re

often as memorable as muzak.

Or at least they were. The Kia

Soul, Hyundai i30N and Kia

Stinger have all shown they can do

substance and style as well as long

warranties. That confidence carries

over to this new fourth-generation

Santa Fe, a jumbo-jeep with a

starting price not far off £35,000.

Aimed at cars like the Skoda

Kodiaq, Nissan X-Trail, Peugeot

5008 and the Santa Fe’s own cousin,

the Kia Sorento, the Hyundai looks

expensive at first glance. You’ll

pay around £26k to get into a basic

Kodiaq or 5008, but the leanest

Santa Fe will set you back £33,425.

Dig deeper into the spec and it’s

easy to explain the difference. The

entry-level 5008 and Kodiaq come

with puny engines, little kit and

endless options lists.

That’s not the Hyundai way.

There are only three Santa Fe trims

(SE, Premium and Premium SE),

only one engine (a 2.2-litre diesel),

and they all come with seven seats.

The toys includes adaptive cruise,

auto braking and lane departure

warning. Premium adds leather, a

bigger touchscreen, heated front

and rear seats, keyless entry and

premium hi-fi, while our Premium

SE tops that with a panoramic roof,

cornering lights, a head-up display

and 360º parking cameras.

In fact there are only two options

available on the Premium SE. The

first is your choice of paint should

you not fancy the standard Horizon

Red pearl finish. The second is a full

four-wheel-drive transmission in

place of the standard front-drive.

The middle row slides back and

forth and the final row folds neatly

under the floor when not in use. You

can also fold one section of each of

the two back rows down to create a

long loadbay and still have seating

for three, which means I’ll be able

to take my kids surfing without

having to fork out for a new set of

Kia-specific feet for my Thule roof

bars and board carrier. Did I say Kia?

Only kidding. But the Santa Fe has

six months to convince us it’s worth

making the effort to remember.

Rivals come with

puny engines

and endless

options lists, but

that’s not the

Hyundai way

Hello^

Chris and

his new Ki...

Hyundai

Logbook

MAY 2019 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 137

Simon Thompson