2019 Hyundai Santa Fe Review | High Effort Pays Off

No matter how you shake it, the SUV is taking over American automotive culture, much like the minivan did in the '80s and '90s, the Santa Fe is part of that. Now I drove this vehicle or the previous generation vehicle about two years ago and I thought, wow! Was it something old-fashioned and more than that? You could see the progress that Hyundai had made as a brand in their cars and other SUVs and now it is the turn of these vehicles and you can see from the exterior design to the interior how much work has been done.

But let's take a look inside because this is where so many good things happen inside the new Santa Fe. I've spent a lot of time behind the wheel of this one and a lot of it is down to the interior design and you. I know if this is the future of Hyundai SUVs or cars. I totally agree and admit that this is the ultimate trim level, so of course it booted, but here's why it's so good and interesting. Take a look at the door panel. The top is kind. From this soft, sturdy plastic that doesn't look cheap, you have this faux stone or wood plastic that runs all the way from the door panel to the dashboard and it's just the way the lines intersect that we've broken up what would normally be a look. boring just by changing textures and shapes and some of that extends to color choice.

You have this two-tone door design, like a light gray and these matte textures. You have matte silver. There is no piano. shine and then when you look at the bottom of the door, the whole speaker grill is alloy and it's big and it's this shape, it's got geometry and this is what I'm talking about when you get in all these cars you start to appreciate these things and there's really no excuse not to be creative in this time of competition and that's what really motivates me and why I still enjoy getting into new vehicles, even as the headliner, it has this kind of carbon style.

It just feels smooth and is such that that little attention to detail makes the biggest difference. The next big pro is that Hyundai has addressed almost every complaint I've made about any modern interior space they've designed and left behind. I go over some of these because it's kind of important. There is no Rome plastic that will blind you with sunlight. They have removed 99% of the glossy black piano plastic. Here they have gone to matte textures and it has a great effect. difference in terms of perceived quality, the HVAC controls are now all physical and include an LCD screen and the lower half of the dash, so you no longer have to rely on the touchscreen or infotainment to see this, which is great because if this breaks the On the road you can still control all of this down here like it's always been the seat heater buttons and the coolers and the steering wheel button or the steering wheel heater button it's also physical and it's so stupid and easy to use like it should be that even a goat could come in here and figure it out and I'm not kidding and I like its little details like they haven't moved on to a digital shifter, it still has detents like we've always had their buttons, knobs and switches to its information and entertainment or it is logical.

Easy to tune and easy to turn the volume up and down and the buttons on the steering wheel are not totally out of place where you can't figure out what the hell you are doing and I think this is one of the best interior designs. Hyundai has ever done it in terms of being aesthetically pleasing and simply functional. Oh, I feel uncomfortable being so nice to this car. Let's get into the complaints because there are a lot of those. The first thing I noticed was the interior lighting. Their LED sounds great on paper until I realize that Hyundai, like many companies, has this obsession with

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color temperature lighting or blue interior lights.

It feels like a refrigerator in here and there are a lot of studies on lights that show that bluer light causes more eye strain and not only is it very difficult to see things. here for that at night I don't know why they don't change to a warmer color temperature, to be honest the next thing is and I complain about this in all cars, it's the stupid one stuck on the screen for infotainment, just stuck here. and this is a little bit more integrated, a little bit more, but it's a chunky piece of plastic that looks like a kid's toy and then the other thing is that they make it, they keep making it bigger and bigger, but there's all this wasted space.

In terms of bezels around the screen, the screen doesn't fill the entire panel here and it looks so cheap, you know, phone and TV makers have gone for more bezel list designs, there's no excuse why they can't do it here and then. The same goes for HVAC controls, they are so big and thick that I know they can shrink the design while still being usable and giving you all the physical functions, but a lot of this is just selecting small design elements that are easily changeable there is no core elements in the interior space that are so screwed up that you wouldn't buy this car, you get used to most of it and I'm very

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on this if you haven't already been able to say that the last two things to talk about is the implementation of technology and infotainment, including overall comfort.

Now, if you've never used Hyundai or Kia -hz infotainment before, it's the same thing they've been doing for the last two years and it's not the prettiest thing out there, but it's one of the most functional and it's pretty fast, it's compatible with Apple Carplay, Android Auto and, as we wind up the satellite radio, the straight tubes get hot and bothered and just work, the audio system. Well here with the Infinity audio, it has clarification support which helps with compressed audio, it has a 3D soundstage mode which doesn't sound horrible if you modify it correctly and then they implemented this new center LCD display in the gauge cluster and there is a Also It has a bit of a bezel around it so it doesn't look like a flat screen, which is a really nice element.

They also have animations when switching between modes and I think the overall screen looks great, but it's a missed opportunity for customization. You should be here. able to display a lot more information here than they let you do, it looks nice, you can't put oil temp, you can't put other gauge information, it's basically your safety menus, like all their other cars with more happens to that just more graphic design and then the last part is that the 3D camera system works very well, you can see everything around you and of course when the weather is bad, like today, it gets hazy or misty and you can't see a damn thing, typical problems with camera technology and your HUD works fine.

I mean almost everything related to technology. Hyundai and Kia do this very well without being super annoying, direct or difficult to use, okay, let's talk about it, console the front. The seats mirror the backrest, having just the right amount of cushion and support, so you feel almost no fatigue after being here for hours. I was taking naked selfies with Becca and we were squirming in here, we didn't have bed sores or bed sores and some of the more delicate parts didn't have a problem because we have heated back seats so I didn't even notice that and, To top it off, there are all these power outlets and USB ports to charge as if your massagers were never turned off.

I mean, it's a great place to be, but you know, the back seats are one thing, let's take a look at the trunk now. I'm not one of those people who needs a large space for all my loads, but I understand that some people do. and when I opened the Santa Fe for the first time I looked at this and thought, can you fit a bunch of stuff in here? And what a vacation I carried this thing up to the gills, there are these little dividers here too, so if you have a loaf of bread like me that I carry, you don't want it to fly around, I mean, there's a lot of room back here, we only have these two rows, you know, two rows set up, obviously, if they added a third row. it would totally destroy the functionality here, but I love the cargo capacity here, this makes it more usable as a hauler and family machine, but you know what I'm tired of, let's get this thing on the road, okay, off we go . in the Santa Fe and I got scared trying to cross a four lane highway where the front wheel drive started to lose traction a little bit and cut off so much power that I barely made it across without getting hit and one of the reasons I wanted to do a video about a front-wheel drive version of this car and the Turpin or the non-turbo version is because I don't think everyone wants that, not everyone needs all-wheel drive, not everyone needs that. the turbo engine, so what is it like to drive this car without it?

So let's talk about the good first. This thing drives amazing, it's so smooth, it's so refined, it's so quiet, the transmission performance is surprisingly good, I mean, you barely feel any gear changes, which is strange, but there's literally no impact on the shifts. up and down gears and it's great, this is a big improvement over the previous generation Santa Fe in terms of overall refinement, it no longer feels like a compact car stretched onto a larger platform. it feels what you would expect for around the $30,000 and up price range and this thing just wants to take you off the road and it just doesn't have a lot of horsepower, it doesn't have a ton of torque, but the way it is is just sloppy . it's just sloppy and I think you know that's the biggest disappointment with the driving is the dynamics the driving dynamics with the front wheel drive version.

Now let's make this clear and I'll show you again what it's like. I'll leave the stability and traction control on good ride control. This suspension is set up almost. I mean, it's as close to perfect as you can get in a vehicle of this type. Complies with the regulations. It is soft without rolling like a sofa. It handles all types of pavement without hitting potholes. it feels great to drive every day, add very comfortable and well designed seats, it's extremely comfortable to drive now, there are three different driving modes, it has smart sport and comfort and of course when you switch between those modes you get these animations here, but honestly, we'll just leave it at sport comfort, it just synthetically increases speed or steering resistance and throttle response, which you know it doesn't need.

Leave it to comfort and you'll really enjoy the way this thing drives every day when it combines overall comfort with the ergonomics of the interior. The way everything is used here, everything is at your fingertips and there is no guesswork, no nonsense here about how to use things and that is what has made this driving experience for me. I've been so happy driving this one - it's one of those cars that I'd legitimately love to drive every day if I were looking for a slightly larger SUV, of course - that there's literally nothing to complain about in terms of drivability here, yeah , you need it all. -all-wheel drive I don't think you necessarily need the turbo here if you have the all-wheel drive setup, so that's my conclusion to the overall driving impressions of this, let's take a look at the final thoughts, final thoughts on The new Santa Fe there are so many different trim levels for this vehicle that your heads are going to explode.

I drove the 2.4 liter front wheel drive with the ultimate package and at that price it's around 35 grand and I feel like you can get into this for less. money and still have all the good things the main thing is if you choose the base model up to the fully loaded the fundamentals are the same the chassis the suspension you still brace yourself front suspension non-adjustable shock absorbers you have independent rear suspension yes everything Aero panels underneath to help silencing it and all the tricks they use, you still get the good of the driving experience and then you add a lot of money for all those various features in technology, so here you have the equipment level I think is the best if you live life in the lane slow you don't drive hard you aren't in a lot of corners you don't live in bad weather half the year you can get away with a 2.4 liter engine and front wheel drive it's great on the highway and if you just go with the SEL plus I think you're adding some Of the key things here that make it a little bit better, you get the premium audio system, which is better sounding and you get the acoustic laminated glass in the front that really quiets this vehicle.

At that price it's around $29,000 and I think that's pretty good for what you get now, the turbo engine you should. Don't even consider the turbo engine with front wheel drive because even with the 2.4 liter engine, which is average, it just doesn't handle well if you drive it hard, so I think if you're good if you're someone who likes to drive a turbo engine 2 liters with all-wheel drive, you'll be happy, but you just have to pay more money for it. Now let's move on to the pros and cons of the car or SUV. The interior is great.

I'll just say that I. I've talked about it to death, it's comfortable, it'squiet, it's refined and it's comfortable, comfortable, comfortable, and I keep saying it over and over again. Everyone who will be here will like to drive this or be in it. The space, the loading capacity is excellent, right? There's no third row on this model, so it gives you almost everything you want in a truck with minimal sacrifices, except it's not the best handling vehicle ever, but you know. What are you waiting for? That's not what transmission performance is about. The good engine is quite smooth although it is a bit Bratley and then the turbo engine I drove in the Sonata.

You know, it's basically the same thing. It's fast enough to give you some excitement. but you definitely need all-wheel drive again and I think the last part is that this is a big improvement over the previous Santa Fe. I feel like you can see the evolution here, this is not just a vehicle where Hyundai is checking a box and I've been in a lot of these small SUVs or compact SUVs where you see the manufacturer like, oh, we have to tap into that market to make money, what can we put together quickly to get a vehicle and get the money?

This is not one of those, it has been a long standing model for them and they are serious about making improvements and I think that is why I like it, you can tell it is legit, they are not trying to sell you gimmicks here. and that's why you'll enjoy driving it. I hope this was helpful. See you in the next video. This sandwich can decide hitam item. I'll show you how to get back at him on Yelp and all that other stuff.