Hyundai put the Santa Fe through an extensive freshening for 2021, giving it new, more powerful engines, upscale interior styling, and a hybrid version. As before, it slots in between compact and midsized SUVs in terms of its footprint. But the reworked controls have become less user-friendly, and the base engine feels feeble and gets noisy when pushed hard.
It took the Santa Fe a lethargic 10 seconds to run from 0-60 mph with the standard 191-horsepower, 2.5-liter four-cylinder. The power deficit means the eight-speed automatic transmission needs to shift often, and it isn’t the smoothest operator; downshifts at low speeds are often felt with a bump. We measured 24 mpg overall, which is fairly efficient for an all-wheel drive SUV of this size. Front-wheel drive comes standard.
The optional 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder belts out a considerable 277 hp, which makes the Santa Fe much quicker, but it’s mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission that suffers from low-speed vibrations.
We think the hybrid version, which combines a small turbo four cylinder with an electric motor for a combined 225 hp that's mated to a six-speed automatic, is the sweet spot within the Santa Fe lineup, owing to its power, quietness, and 30 mpg overall fuel economy.
Ride comfort remains overly firm, and rough roads bring out a jittery character; again, the hybrid has a more comfortable ride. In normal driving the Santa Fe feels rather ordinary as it goes through turns, hurt by vague steering, but it performed quite well through our avoidance maneuver exercise, with well-controlled body roll and a nicely-tuned ESC system, and it proved very secure.
The Santa Fe’s cabin is roomy, and the elevated seating position gives the driver a commanding view of the road ahead. The rear seat is spacious and comfortable, providing ample leg support, and the seatback’s contouring holds occupants in place.
Unfortunately, the Santa Fe’s controls have taken a step backward. The center console is quite stylish, but it’s dominated by a sea of similarly-shaped buttons, and it’s annoying that the infotainment screen defaults to a useless home screen every time you start the vehicle. We’re also not fans of Hyundai’s push-button gear selector, which requires extra attention and can’t be operated by feel.
Forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, and lane keeping assistance are standard. Blind spot warning and rear cross traffic warning are standard on all trims starting with the 2022 models. We appreciate that the Santa Fe is available with a motion-detecting feature in the rear seat that can help remind the driver to check the rear seat after the vehicle is turned off, so that children or pets aren’t inadvertently left inside.