PLUS

  • Practicality. You can choose to seat five with a cavernous boot, but even with seven on board there is some storage space.
  • Value. Starting at $41,490 for the Active CRDi, there are few cheaper ways to seat seven.
  • Strong diesel engine. It’s a little noisy when cold, but has plenty of grunt to lug the troops around and is very economical.
  • It drives well. The Santa Fe is an impressive handler; not in a sports car sense but for what it is it’s pleasant to drive.
MINUS
  • Though it handles well, the Santa Fe’s steering could use improvement. It’s inconsistent in how heavy it is during corners which isn’t nice. There’s also a mode to manually change the steering weight, but this is a pointless gimmick.
  • The Santa Fe’s soft suspension makes it quite comfy over big bumps, but average country roads make it jiggle about. On a long trip it could be quite tiresome.
  • The plastics in the cargo bay are quite easily scratched by sharp objects. Something to be aware of if you’re lugging tools or the like around.
Click here to read the full review on theu00a0Hyundai Santa Fe.