Hyundai Santa Fe TurboHybrid Calligraphy Review: Unprecedented Luxury

What we like:

Genuinely luxurious interior

Acres of space

Fairly efficient for its size

What we dislike:

Can feel underpowered when stretched

Ride is a tad unsettled at times

Much of the Internet chatter around the new Santa Fe surrounds its apparent inspiration by the super luxurious Range Rover. If nothing else, that elevated my expectations of the Santa Fe, because the Rangie is one of the best luxury SUVs on the planet in my opinion.

That the Santa Fe manages to meet some of those lofty expectations is an impressive feat. Now with a longer wheelbase as well as chunky, squarish looks, the Santa Fe has a huge presence on the road. All of those right-angled lines help to create the roomiest interior space in its class, as well as an enlarged tailgate area. In fact, Hyundai started the design of the Santa Fe from the tailgate to emphasise the outdoor theme, before moving on to shape the rest of the car.

Does the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe look distinctive?

With an intentionally high hood, defined fenders, large 20-inch rims and H-shaped motifs all round, the Santa Fe does have enough detailing to form its own identity. Hyundai was very keen to emphasise the Assist Handle located in the C-pillar, which allows people (athletic or not) to climb up to the roof of the car to retrieve items. It’s no ladder, but it works.

Is the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe luxurious inside?

Inside the Santa Fe, the pleasing colour palette is inspired by nature with natural brown, beige and green tones. The seats are configured in a 2-3-2 layout, with the second and third row seats collapsible to create a fully flat cargo capacity of 1,949 litres.

Thanks to the Santa Fe’s bigger dimensions, interior room has expanded in every way - 2nd row legroom by an additional 20 mm and the third row by an additional 15 mm. The third row can even recline by 10 degrees. It feels like a huge car by any measure. There’s also an interesting centre storage lid that can be opened by both front and rear passengers, not at the same time of course.

Is the 2024 Santa Fe TurboHybrid powerful?

Under the hood is a surprisingly small 1.6-litre I4 engine that’s both turbocharged and hybridised. Despite the miniature displacement in relation to the car’s size, it puts out 215 hp and 367 Nm, which is nigh on impressive - especially the torque figure.

Unlike most other Hyundai hybrids, the Santa Fe is fitted with a conventional torque converter 6-speed automatic which makes progress a lot smoother and luxurious. As a result, the car has pretty decent pace on the road, so long as you’re not in a huge rush. Also, it easily achieves fuel consumption figures of around 13-14 km/l.

How does the 2024 Santa Fe ride?

The ride comfort is mostly smooth, the long wheelbase blessing the car with a natural ability to steamroll over unevenness, although it seems to struggle a bit to manage the car’s heft. However, it’s in the driver’s seat where the Santa Fe feels properly expensive: the two-tone leather-wrapped steering wheel feels lovely and is geared to be calm and measured.

Should one get the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe with the Calligraphy trim?

That particular two-tone leather wheel that we see more often in British makes is part of the Calligraphy trim, which also includes nappa leather, front ventilated seats, a UV sterilisation tray, heads-up display and a panoramic sunroof.

Admittedly, the basic Santa Fe is already so well-equipped that many of these extra Calligraphy features are not really essential. You get a Ottoman-style front driver seat with a leg rest, panoramic curved display consisting of two 12.3-inch screens and 10 airbags whichever Santa Fe you pick. But, in keeping with the upmarket feel of the Santa Fe, it feels well worth it to specify the Calligraphy trim anyway. It seems most Santa Fe owners seem to think so as the vast majority of them opt for Calligraphy.

Is the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe a good buy?

In the 7-seater non-EV segment, tha Santa Fe can be seen as a ‘value’ buy with so many features and so much luxury thrown in. It honestly feels a little like a cut price version of SUVs costing closer to 7 figures. In my mind, that’s a compelling proposition indeed.

Photos by James Wong

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