Hyundai’s biggest car on the Irish market is the Santa Fe, which sits on the road as a large seven-seat SUV. It has been popular on the Irish market because of its engine performance and comfort and the 2018 version adds a little more in terms of style and safety.

On first impressions, it has a more modern front end with a new grille design that’s common to the latest generation of Hyundais. It is marginally longer than before, with a slightly longer wheelbase that should ensure better comfort.

The doors open widely in the Hyundai Santa Fe for good access and while the boot is larger than before, it’s not the biggest in the class.

Hyundai has raised the Santa Fe slightly more from the ground, while for farming readers, there is little change in the towing capacity which stands at a maximum of 2.5t for the manual gearbox version and is even lower for the automatic version I drove.

The main changes other than improved styling are improved safety features. The new Hyundai Smart Sense safety system claims to provide the highest level of active safety ever for the seven-seat SUV. Its safety and driving assistance features comply with the highest European safety standards. These include blind-spot collision warning, forward collision avoidance assist with pedestrian detection, rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance assist, lane-keeping assist, rear occupant alert, safety exit assist and speed limit info function.

Strength

Korea-based car manufacturer Hyundai is also a significant steel producer. It claims the Santa Fe has increased vehicle body strength due to the use of 15% more higher-strength steel, resulting in a safer yet lighter vehicle.

While there is as yet no Euro NCAP safety rating for the new Santa Fe, I would expect that it will return a high five-star rating, even with the more stringent testing procedure.

Engine power is impressive in the new Hyundai Santa Fe as it comes close to 200bhp and delivers great performance but at the price of fuel economy.

In engine performance terms, there is little change. The 2.2 litre turbo-diesel engine is retained for good reason, but there are few improvements in fuel economy. The rated fuel economy figure is 17km/l (6.0l/100km or 47mpg) and that’s difficult to achieve, even with longer drives. I was very impressed by the performance of the smooth eight-speed automatic gearbox that allowed me to cruise on the motorway at 120km/h with the engine running at just under 2,000rpm.

But it failed to deliver an economy level I would have expected, so the larger than usual 72l fuel tank will be needed. My test drive covered more than 1,000km over a range of urban driving, motorways and many smaller rural roads returned an economy figure that was at least 30% below the rated figure. The economy figures also affect the CO2 rating, which is relatively high at 157g/km. This pushes the Santa Fe in the high D category, with a road tax rate of €570.

The entry versions of the Hyundai Santa Fe come on 16in wheels while the test car was fitted with 19in wheels that gave it a far better and taller stance on the road.

The engine upgrades include the addition of both selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and lean NOx trap (LNT) to further reduce emissions in conjunction with the diesel particulate filter (DPF) system. That also means the use of AdBlue fuel additive as Hyundai sought to marginally lower the CO2 levels.

Other seven-seat SUVs on the market include the Kia Sorento, Nissan X-Trail, Peugeot 5008, Renault Koleos and Volkswagen Tiguan, to name the obvious and affordable ones. The new Santa Fe is the least economical, while it is clearly the most powerful in terms of engine power and torque.

That power benefit delivers very comfortable driving; the Santa Fe never feels under load and it handles very well across a range of road conditions. And while on paper its acceleration rating is no more impressive than the competition, this is a very impressive SUV to drive.

I drove the higher specification HTRAC version which uses the Hyundai Torque on Demand four-wheel-drive system. This gives the benefit of four driving modes – Smart, Sport, Comfort or Economy. These settings adjust the weight of the steering, how the gearbox responds and how the four-wheel-drive system adjusts the power flow between the front and rear wheels. I opted for a mix of Comfort and Economy and found that the Santa Fe was very comfortable to drive. I expect that most will rarely change these settings.

There is a new dash layout and design for the Hyundai Santa Fe that’s attractive and easy to use; the higher specification models get a larger infotainment screen.

The interior has been completely re-designed and feels more roomy. Hyundai has improved the quality feel to the SUV and there are more soft touch materials throughout. The entry models come with a 5in infotainment screen, which grows to a larger 8in version as you move up to the higher Premium Plus versions of the SUV. The base model has limited features, while moving up the grades gives the benefits of Apple CarPlay or Android Auto by plugging into the Santa Fe’s USB connections, of which there are many. Some models get the extra benefit of wireless mobile phone charging.

On the technology front, there is a very impressive rearview camera available as well as a front camera system to help with parking. The entry versions come with rear parking sensors alone.

There is good seat comfort and adjustment, but there is no height adjustment of the front passenger seat. The seven-seat features have improved, with easier folding of the second and third row of seats.

The boot is spacious, but not the largest in the class. There is a space saver spare wheel tucked under the boot on the outside, which could be a theft risk.

The verdict

The new Santa Fe with a single 2.2l turbo-diesel engine choice is an impressive seven-seat SUV to drive, but possibly a little more expensive than some of the competition to own. It scores highly in reliability tests in other markets, which is a significant benefit. The entry price for the 4x4 versions start at €41,995 or £38,795 in Northern Ireland, which is competitive over time, relative to the previous model. There are more safety features included than in the past and improved levels of comfort.