Come to Worcestershire & try Chabak. So said Hyundai for the launch of their all-new Santa Fe. What’s Chabak I asked ? It’s Korean for literally “sleeping in a vehicle by evenly unfolding the seats.” It’s become extremely popular in Korea because it’s simple. How could we refuse & since the last time I camped was 1982 off we went to drive the Santa Fe & here’s what you need to know.
What is it ?
The Santa Fe is now in it’s fifth incarnation. It’s Hyundais largest car & is offered in either a 7-seat or 6-seat configuration perfect for large families & a getaway.
What’s new outside ?
For a start it looks completely different. There’s echoes of Land Rover & JEEP from the side & front, with it’s H-shaped design elements & chrome grille. At the side, the quarter glass has been enlarged by 48% compared to the previous generation, so it feels brighter & larger in the cabin. From the rear it looks like nothing else out there with it’s large expanse of metal on the tailgate, a hidden – rear wiper & two lowdown H shaped LED lights.
Practicality
Inside it’s been designed to be as practical as possible with countless storage areas, cup holders, seat position adjustment & passenger conveniences with a boot space of up to 1949 litres. On Calligraphy, there’s even some built in grab handles subtly hidden in the side bodywork to enable easier access to the roof rails by supporting your foot on the rear wheel.
Interior
Hyundai have really gone to town here. There’s an H-shaped hidden mood lamp that extends from the dashboard to the front & rear doors, an all-new dual panoramic curved display integrating a 12.3″ cluster & a 12.3″ navigation screen. Elsewhere there’s a 6.6″ climate control screen, a steering wheel mounted gear lever, a dual wireless charging pad with built in fan, a bi-directional centre storage space accessible from the front & second row of seats, integrated memory seats, seat foot rests, remote folding of the second row of seats. Pretty much everything has been designed to be as practical & user-friendly a possible. As a bonus the build quality is excellent with a clever use of soft touch & ergonomic finishes on the dash, doors & throughout the cabin.
Engine range & performance
Two new Gamma powertrains are available, hybrid or PHEV. The 1.6 turbo hybrid variant features 215 PS engine output, 367 Nm of torque with a 0‑62 mph acceleration in 9.6 seconds & a top speed of 112mph. The 1.6 turbo PHEV model boasts 253 PS engine output, 367 Nm of torque, 0-62mph acceleration in 9.3 seconds & the same top speed of 112mph. The hybrid is available in both 2WD & 4WD, the plug-in just in 4WD.
Model choice & prices
Premium, Ultimate or Calligraphy. Prices from £46,775 to £54,105 on the road for the hybrid & £51,830 to £57,580 for the plug-in variant.
Practicality
Inside it’s been designed to be as user-friendly as possible with countless storage areas, cup holders, seat position adjustment & passenger conveniences. The boot goes up to a massive 1949 litres on the hybrid, 1942 litres on the PHEV with both sets of seats folded down. Even with the second row if seats in situ you have 628 litres & 621 litres respectively. The hybrid will tow up to 1,110kg, the plug-in 1,010kg braked. There’s even some built in grab handles subtly hidden in the side bodywork to enable easier access to the roof rails by supporting your foot on the rear wheel.
Convenience
Convenience features include seat back charging ports & a multi-clip for second-row passengers, Digital Key 2 to unlock & start the car using a smartphone, a UV-C Sterilisation tray for hygienic storage of belongings, an electric tilt & telescopic steering wheel, a haptic steering wheel that vibrates to alert the driver of potentially dangerous situations while driving or parking, a smart power tailgate, digital centre mirror, 12″ HUD display & on the PHEV, a switch-type USB-C Module supporting up to 27W fast charging. Rear sets feature USB-C connections on the sides & there are also USB connections for row three as well.
Connectivity
Hyundai’s latest Bluelink Connect is featured . It comes with Voice Recognition, integrated Amazon Music, a BOSE premium sound system & SoundCloud, all of which lifts the infotainment experience inside the Santa Fe. Bluelink is offered on a 10 year subscription & includes connected & Smart EV routing, over the air updates, & battery pre-conditioning.
Usability
We added our iPhone wirelessly to utilise AppleCarPlay & Android Auto connectivity is also offered. The large dual-screen tilts slightly towards the driver with Hyundais useful short-cut buttons for functions such as Home, Map, Search, Media, Set-up, directly underneath. The stand-alone digital climate controls are a great addition meaning it’s easy to adjust the temperature whilst on the move. Under this are buttons to access the parking camera, hill descent control, drive & terrain modes & the auto brake hold. If you swipe left & right across the touchscreen you can also access functions such as Memo, Voice Pay, Weather & Phone Projection on the screen itself
Safety
Hyundai Smart Sense comes with a vast array of features. For parking alone you get Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, Forward/Side/Reverse Parking Distance Warning, Reverse Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist, Rear View Monitor & Surround View Monitor. And don’t forget Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control, Speed Limit Assist, Lane Follow Assist, Lane Keep Assist, Front, Front Side, Curtain & Centre Front Airbags. Hyundai have a handy short-cut to access the driver safety, a star button within the steering wheel switches which enable you to de-activate the more annoying ones.
Driving
We mentioned Chabak at the beginning of our review but we weren’t just sleeping in our Santa Fe. We undertook a 3 hour, 90 mile drive across the middle of Wales to Llyn Brianne reservoir, which took in plenty of A & B roads, plus some exceptional views from single tracks, all of which gave us a pretty good idea of what you can expect from the new Santa Fe & it’s really rather good.
This is a large, heavy car with weights ranging from 1,900kg – 2,090 kg, but despite that, it’s surprisingly agile & is good to drive. Somehow, Hyundai have managed to make this hugely practical motor drive like something an awful lot smaller. Light steering & a decent gear box help & the all around view from the drivers seat is first class.
Should we be surprised ? With Hyundais N range prowess perhaps not. The hybrid we drove wasn’t quick off the mark but on some notably narrow, winding & gravel based surfaces, up & down some steep inclines, it was never anything other than sure-footed & nimble. It’s also incredibly comfortable. My notoriously fickle lower back survived six hours of undulating roads in the Santa Fe relatively unscathed. Only the overnighter in the rear left me with some stiffness even though I managed a solid 8 hours of sleep in the boot space.
On the return leg, I was able to overtake some slow moving traffic quite easily & I utilised the parking cameras in a supermarket car park. On a dual carriageway near Worcester I enabled Adaptive Cruise Control & this too was simple to access via the steering wheel functions & it works well.
Driving modes
The Santa Fe features three standard driving modes which are Normal, Sport or My Drive. In all honesty, we felt that there’s not that much discernible difference between Normal or Sport modes. Sport does increase gear ratios so you do get a little bit more power for an overtake. My Drive allows you to select your own driving levels & Eco would be our default option for most driving scenarios.And in our time on board the 4WD Calligraphy, we didn’t venture off-road so didn’t get to try the Snow, Sand or other off-road driving functions.
USP
As far as the cars USP, it’s amazingly spacious inside. Front seat passengers are spoiled for space & rear seat passengers are catered for with USB-C connections & drinks holders in both back rows. And if you want to spend a night in your Santa Fe Chabak style, with both rear seat rows folded to bed down for the night, then anyone up to 2 metres tall will find that there’s room enough as we did.
Pros
Amazingly practical & competent 7-seater. Surprisingly nimble & agile for it’s size & weight. A spacious well equipped cabin means that you can spend a night in one, literally ! Offers amazing value for money. All versions comes fitted with the latest safety & tech.
Cons
For company car drivers the PHEV’s the one to choose & we are driving it shortly. The exterior of the rear tailgate is a little bit Marmite. The 1.6 engine may be a bit underpowered if your Santa Fe is fully loaded.
Verdict
We loved our outdoor adventures in the Santa Fe. On some challenging Welsh roads it performed admirably offering some really rather enjoyable driving. It will do the boring stuff such as dropping the kids at school or a long motorway journey well too, so it’s a bit of an all-rounder. Notably, the on board tech & safety is second to none & the build quality is very, very good as well. Perhaps the quirky rear tailgate look won’t appeal to all & it may also be a little underpowered. The lack of a premium badge may put some off too.
However, we’d argue that if you want a hugely capable & comfortable 7-seater, the latest Santa Fe smashes plenty of far more expensive offerings, right out of the park.
A Chabak 4.25/5
