Five things I learned driving the 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe

It’s been a fairly long time since I have driven a vehicle that had not one single reason — be it some special all-wheel-drive system, particularly parsimonious fuel economy, easy-to-use infotainment system, or whatever — to recommend it. Similarly, it‘s been an equally long while since I have driven a car that had a singular fault — uncomfortable seating, poor handling, hard-to-use infotainment system, or whatever — so damning that it rated a please-don’t-buy admonishment.

All that torque makes the Santa Fe pretty punchy, providing more than adequate passing power. But at full honk, Hyundai’s little turbocharged engine is more fury than fast. Yes, there is more go-juice than the base, naturally aspirated 2.4-litre four-cylinder, but with 82 extra lb.-ft. of torque, I expected more outright pep. Ford’s similarly-powered Edge 2.0T has a little more jump, while the Kia Sorento and Nissan Murano both offer more powerful V6s as their top-of-the-line powerplants.

Now, a fuel consumption difference of four-tenths over 100 kilometres is hardly a reason to buy one vehicle over another — according to Natural Resources Canada’s official calculation, the difference is $104 per year — but since the Santa Fe is both less powerful and less likely to match official ratings the Hyundai would seem to offer no advantages here.

That said, the steering is fairly numb. Of course, steering feedback is hardly a top attribute to most shopping for family CUVs, so the Santa Fe, at least in 2.0T guise, is a more than adequate. The same applies to the Hyundai’s ride; there is not much to complain about, but neither is it a magic carpet ride.

All that size friendliness, however, is accompanied by somewhat tepid styling. While the build quality — materials, panel gaps, etc. — are all up to Hyundai’s recently excellent standard, the actual styling is a little lukewarm, almost as if the South Korean giant had designated sister-company Kia as purveyors of exciting interiors to hard-to-please Millennials, while Hyundai was to be shopped by we aging, supposedly-placid Boomers.

drivingdotca I don't follow you for ads. I especially don't follow you for ads for tasteless generic crossovers. At least advertise a cool vehicle.

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