No, your memory isn't playing tricks on you---it has been only a few days since I reviewed the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe in the Los Altos Town Crier. Print deadlines being what they are, it's been a couple of months since I actually drove that one.
More time in a vehicle is never a bad thing, and I wasn't about to say "no" when the folks at Hyundai and Prestige Automotive offered me one for the second week of a visit to Georgia in late July.
This time, instead of Shimmering Silver, I got the extra-cost ($470) Serenity White Pearl paint.
It also has what Hyundai calls a "gray" interior that looks (to my eye) more like off-white or cream. Just plain gorgeous.
I also got to do longer stretches at the wheel this time as we took an overnight trip from Commerce, Georgia to Augusta and back a different way through two towns that were largely spared destruction in the Civil War---Milledgeville and Madison---a nearly 300-mile loop. The Santa Fe was supremely comfortable on rural backroads, city streets and interstate highways. 96 degrees and 80% humidity? No problem. The Santa Fe's climate control system is so powerful my wife and I kept nudging the temperature settings up.
What stays the same between Santa Fes, unless you get the Santa Fe Hybrid, is the engine. A 2.5-liter turbo four, 277 horsepower, 311 lb-ft of torque and and eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Zero to 60 happens in 6.3 seconds. The EPA combined city/highway fuel economy estimate is 23 mpg---20 city/28 highway.
I beat that. In fact, I hit the combined estimate for the Santa Fe Hybrid---36 mpg. I reached out---double-checked with Prestige---this is a gasoline Santa Fe.
Apparently the light-on-the-throttle stuff I learned through two fuel crises is still with me.
With the third-row seats in place, cargo space is about that of the trunk of a small sedan---14.6 cubic feet. Fold down the third row, and that jumps to 40.5 cubic feet, and with the second row folded as well, it's 79.6 cubic feet.
There's 30 inches of rear-seat legroom in the third row...
...making the second-row seats, with 42.3 inches of legroom, the place to be for adult passengers.
The front seats are adjustable, supportive and comfortable for all-day driving.
As before, our test vehicle was the top-of-the-line Santa Fe Calligraphy 2.5T AWD. Base price, including destination, $49,695.
That starting price includes a lengthy list of standard equipment, including a comprehensive suite of active safety features, 21-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, taillights and daytime running lights, power-folding heated side mirrors with turn signal indicators, a dual-pane sunroof, roof side rails, the aforementioned C-pillar grab handles (which are lockable), a power liftgate, proximity key, pushbutton start, dual automatic temperature control with vents in the second and third rows, Nappa leather-trimmed seats, remote smart parking assist, a surround-view monitor, highway driving assist, head-up display, eco-suede headliner, power front seat with driver memory and relaxation, ventilated front seats, heated front and second-row seats, a heated steering wheel, rear window sunshades, digital rearview mirror, interior ambient lighting, a 12.3-inch touchscreen with navigation, Bose premium audio, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and digital key...
...and a first---dual wireless phone chargers for the driver and front seat passenger.
In fact, two firsts. I totally missed the next one when I had the first Santa Fe at home in California.
It was my son-in-law who pointed out the "UV-C" button and asked what it does.
I, the automotive writer, authoritatively said "um...I dunno" and hauled the owner manual out of the glovebox.
See, I thought the compartment above the glovebox was just more clever storage. And, I guess you could use it that way, but....it's actually a UV-C cleaning tray.
Slide any germy thing that'll fit---cell phones, pacifiers, sippy cup lids, reusable straws---in there, shut the door, press that "UV-C" button, wait ten minutes and....Voila'!...sterile (well, 99.9% germ-free) stuff!
The $470 Serenity White Pearl paint and $210 worth of carpeted floor mats were the only extra-cost options, so the as-tested price of this 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe Calligraphy 2.5T AWD is $50,375.
In my Los Altos Town Crier review I mentioned the more-than-passing resemblance to the Land Rover Defender. It's not just me. I got that reaction from relatives and total strangers during the week I drove it in Georgia. And very few people believed me when I told them the price tag was around 50 grand.
The Santa Fe has everything it needs to be a massive hit.
