I think it's official, winter is here. We have about eight inches of snow sitting outside, and a few snowmen that have already fallen over. While I enjoy summer, like pretty much every sane person, I like winter much better. I love bundling up in layers, wearing scarves, and not sweating through every item of clothing I own because it's a billion degrees outside. Yet another reason I enjoy this time of year is that I can stick my daughter in ugly outfits and then cover her up in snow gear. Putting her in tights to mitigate the loss of the thousands of socks during the warmer months, forcing her into last year's sweaters because yes, of course they still fit. Don't tell me what to do.
Anyway, on to today's review. I had been wanting to test out a Hyundai Santa Fe for quite some time, because they've come a long way from the early/mid 2000's bubble-car look. The current design is sleek, menacing, and generally pretty bad-ass looking, and, if you know me, I love me some angry looking vehicles. I phoned ahead to see about taking one out and the General Manager of Duncan Hyundai (my local dealership) was super enthusiastic about it (or at the very least, super pleasant). When I arrived I found out that the Santa Fe has two models, the Sport and the XL. I took out the Santa Fe XL, which was a good choice. I decided to take it to a beautiful spot (this is pre-snowfall, mind you) to take some pictures and ended up at a beach because I live on an island and there are beaches everywhere (jealous?). But all jealousy aside, let's get into it!
Technical Stuff:
Trim: Santa Fe XL - Premium
Engine: 3.3L DOHC V6 engine with GDI (290 hp)
Fuel Economy: City 13.0L/100 km, Highway 9.7L/100 km, Combined 11.5L/100 km
Price: Starts at $32,199CAD for the base model. The Premium model that I drove starts at $37,049CAD.
Exterior:
As I stated previously, the Santa Fe XL looks bad-ass. The grille is beefy and aggressive and there are neat little gills on either side that house the fog lights. With the way the headlights are swooped back, the front end makes the Santa Fe looks like it can stare down an entire road of cars and have them all apologize and meekly steer out of the way.
The wheels are quite nice for a non-top-of-the-line trim, and they definitely add to the overall look of the exterior. The XL looks sporty, and, in my opinion, doesn't betray the fact that inside there are seven seats and probably four or five children trying to wreak havoc while strapped in there. The rear end doesn't extend too far, giving it a very normal looking and feeling driving space. The overall size of the vehicle is not too big, which makes driving in circles around parking lots while you try to find a parking spot a breeze. Until you get into a battle over the first available spot, and then, as aforementioned, the XL should win that battle on looks alone.
The XL has a proximity key, which is all the rage these days (and I can see why). You don't need to use the key to physically open the door, you just need to have it on your person and press a button on the door-handle to open the door. This feature is great because I am always digging for my keys while holding my daughter in one arm as she tries to escape. Also, for some reason I always hold her on the same side as the pocket in which my keys are. We do this awkward dance at least once every day, and since my free arm is not elastic (but how cool would that be?!), a proximity key is a good idea. The XL also has a touch-button rear hatch, so you don't have to worry about using any muscles at all when opening or closing it. Because who likes using muscles?
Did you know, the Santa Fe XL can also tow up to 5000lbs? Of course you didn't, that's why I'm writing this. This means you can haul a trailer with it, and not actually need to buy a hauling-specific vehicle. Double duty! The sideview mirrors are extra large as well (to help you out if you decide to tow a small house behind you).
Interior:
The Premium trim level had cloth seats, but the fabric was a close resemblance to the type of fabric that is on my Britax carseat. That fabric is amazing; it has withstood some serious spillage and food accidents and still looks fabulous. I'm not saying that it is the same material, it just LOOKS like it might have the same qualities....so if you dump something on your new Santa Fe cloth seat and ruin it, don't blame me. And pay attention to the road when you're drinking your Starbucks and driving. Common sense, am I right?
Here's a cool thing: the third row seats fold down flat, like flat flat. Not like "flat" where you're unsure if the car designers actually know what a straight line looks like. When the seats are down, your rear storage area becomes fairly immense. You can definitely put two strollers, two diaper bags, two of those baby hiking backpack things (what are those called?!), a dog, maybe another dog, possibly all your groceries, and your grandma, just in case she wants to come. When the seats are up, you can get maybe one stroller and some groceries, and maybe a small dog (like Chihuahua size). But don't worry, there is also a bit of storage underneath the floor, in case you buy something for yourself at the store (like maybe some great candy) and don't want to share it with the always hungry baby bird mouths in the rest of the seats.
Another cool thing: the second row seats have a 40-20-40 split. This means that you can have two children in car seats in either window seat, and fold down just the middle to haul long things. The only things that came to mind for me were that this would be perfect for skis, pieces of wood, or a giraffe. I'm sure you can get more imaginative if you want. I really like this feature because previously, if you have two children in car seats and only have a 40-60 split, you're forced to be that weirdo on the road carrying a long piece of wood/skis/giraffe on the roof of your car, holding it on with your left hand (because who actually carries tie-downs).
All the seats (second and third row) have temperature controls and the third row has a 115V plug in for your grumpy teenagers and their iPads. The seats are also super easy to put up and down; so easy a monkey could do it. However, don't let that monkey drive the vehicle; I don't think that they're allowed to drive in this country. The second row of seats have the 'Lower Universal Anchorage System' (LUAS) bars for the toddler carseat and I'm not sure if the third row seats do because I forgot to check. I've found a few vehicles that have decided to hide the LUAS bars so deep inside the seat that you need a treasure map to find them. Not so with the XL; it has them in plain sight so you can clip in easily and without undue amounts of sweat and swearwords coming out of your body.
Both my front-facing carseat and rear-facing infant carseat fit in the XL with room to spare. The infant carseat even left room for a relatively tall person to sit in the front seat and not feel like their legs were turning into pretzels. The second row seats slide forward enough to allow a lot of space to actually get into the third row seats, which is nice. The XL is super roomy inside, and I would imagine that seven adults would probably fit in there quite comfortably. Although, the thought of having seven adults in a car is kind of odd to me, and I don't know why....
The dash is nice, and has a touchscreen, but it's not too fancy. It does its job well and is easy to navigate. I managed to reset the radio station, use cruise control, and turn on the air conditioning without panicking. The bottom of the dash, in the middle of the vehicle, has open side holes, and the pillars are sort of in the way. I would have preferred the pillars to be attached to the back of the dash to be given more side access to the bottom dash, but that's kind of a minor detail. There's also an extra top storage compartment on the very top of the dash, which I love. The more storage, the better. I love hiding things everywhere and then forgetting where they are. My daughter apparently likes the dash as well. Good buttons.
The rear passenger doors also have one of my favourite features OF ALL TIME (not lying). They have window shades that are hidden in the door and you can pull them up as needed. No more wrestling with the stupid suction cup window shades! Or living with the incessant rattle of the window hanger shades! Life is glorious!
Driving:
The Santa Fe XL drives extremely well. Because of its size, it accelerates a bit slowly, but you can tell it has a lot of power once it kicks in. The ride is very quiet and super smooth. My husband used to own a large Dodge pickup, and, because of its length, it was really smooth on the highway. The XL was probably just as smooth. It handled well, but around tighter corners you really felt the heaviness of the vehicle. On all, though, it was thoroughly enjoyable to drive. I can definitely see this being a great vehicle for long trips; it just cruises along easily and comfortably.
I turned on 'Eco' mode, and it seemed to stay in a higher gear to cruise at lower RPMs and it shifted a bit earlier. This makes sense if the goal is to save fuel (which I think it is?). I also tried 'Sport' mode, and it just made the handling a little bit more touchy, which I kind of liked. Apparently 'Sport' mode is supposed to hold gears for longer, but I didn't notice that.
I started out my drive with a full tank of fuel and the dash said I had 500km to go before empty. So, 500km on a 71L tank works out to about 14.2L/100km, which is a bit more than the advertised numbers.
There was a backup camera on the Premium trim model, though I believe it does come standard on all trim levels. I used it once, and was very amused at the way the little yellow box moved when you turned the wheel. It reminded me of Michael Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal' dance when he does the anti-gravity lean. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up, and also, how old are you?! Though you can use the backup camera, the XL is quite easy to see out of and the mirrors are great (because of the aforementioned larger sideviews), so backing up without it would be just as efficient.
The turn signal noise on this vehicle (and all new Hyundais) is absolutely amazing. I'm not sure why I enjoy it so much, but I would really like to record it and use it as a metronome, running pacer, phone alarm and ring, maybe play it randomly to cheer myself up when I'm feeling sad. I like it that much. I was probably a bit overzealous in my signaling today just so I could use it. Road bending right? Better signal! Slowing down to a stop? Better signal! See a cute dog walking down the street? BETTER SIGNAL! I took a video of the signal on Snapchat, but I have no idea how to put it up here....so you'll have to follow me on Snapchat (rhodesr) if you want to see my dumb videos about turn signals.
Safety:
The XL has 7 airbags, ABS, and downhill brake control, like most vehicles nowadays. It's also available with parking assist (if you suck at parking, which, let's be honest, is most of us), blind spot detection with lane change assist, and adaptive cruise control. There's also the option for adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking, if you are in general kind of a lazy driver or live in a city with a fair amount of traffic. My personal favourite is the 'lane departure warning system', because how many of us accidentally drift out of our lane while trying to calm down a crying baby by throwing food at them? Or while looking at a cool cloud? I did that yesterday.
Conclusion:
Alright, I really liked the Santa Fe XL. Like, a lot. I may go back and drive the Santa Fe Sport, just to see how it stacks up, but I think it would be pretty hard to match the XL. Hyundai doesn't have a minivan in their lineup, so the Santa Fe XL is their 'go to' family vehicle. However, the benefit to that is that it's NOT A MINIVAN, it's an SUV. You can feel confident that you still appear (on the outside at least) to be a sporty, outdoorsy, and cool person. We all know that you're lying, but the Santa Fe XL will cover for you.
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