For the faithful

What we like:

Wait… What don’t we like?

What we dislike:

Fuel consumption isn’t great

body rolls around a little as you’d expect

The Santa Fe rides really well; it’s comfortable and refined, composed yet no slouch. The 2.4l engine under the hood provides enough grunt to haul it pretty effortlessly, but if you’re used to turbocharged small cylinder engines you’ll find that the naturally aspirated one here lacks low down torque.

The saving grace though, is that the engine revs quickly and eagerly all the way to the redline. There’s also a button for you to alter the driving mode – put the car in Sport and you’ll find the gears hang on a little longer giving you the shove you need in the mid to high revs.

Steering is reasonably light, the car does roll around a little around corners; I could ask for more feedback and stiffer springs but what’s the point? It’s not meant to be a sports car nor does it claim to drive like one. Instead, it excels at what it was meant to do: provide solid performance, comfort and usability that you can depend on all the time without showing off one bit.

So this car does its job well then, and as for whether it’s pointless, well I reckon if you couldn’t live with the shape of an MPV (and the image it comes with too), you might go this route instead. I think you’ll find yourself pleasantly rewarded with quality and functionality, not to mention that smirk on your face when all the small cars get out of your way as you barrel down the right lane. Just for that, I think these big SUVs may be worth a second look.

Credits: Story and Photos by Alvan Sio