As the Hyundai Santa Fe edges ever closer to the big league in terms of power and performance, Hyundai has kitted the latest generation version with even more options to make it an attractive mid-range SUV for most applications.

As SUVs like the Santa Fe have evolved, so too have the criteria on which to compare and judge them. For me, and for many rural families, one of the important criteria for judging a modern SUV remains its towing ability.

That’s why the Hyundai Santa Fe still remains in a slightly lower league to the top performers, such as the Land Rover Discovery, Mitsubishi Pajero and Toyota Land Cruiser. The first two of these comes rated at 3.5t towing ability, with the Land Cruiser not far behind.

The Santa Fe’s towing rating of 2.5t puts it down the field, in the same category as the related Kia Sorento, Nissan X-Trail and the new Ford Edge in terms of size and engine performance. They are fair comparisons and ones not to feel bad about, as the Hyundai Santa Fe, with a 4x4 all-wheel-drive (AWD), can meet the needs of many SUV buyers.

I’ve had the latest generation Santa Fe on the road recently, with its smooth six-speed automatic gearbox linked to the full AWD system. Out on the road, I was impressed with the acceleration and sheer feeling of power behind the wheel. This is a large SUV in terms of appearance, while still tidy on the road and marginally more muscular than the company’s best-selling Tucson.

Seat capacity

What’s special about it is the seven-seat capacity and the value in terms of pricing. The seven-seat feature makes it more of a family car than an SUV workhorse. There is ample space, with reasonable comfort for short journeys in the third row of seats.

Using the seats is easy and the second and third rows can be easily and quickly folded to give a decent-length flat floor area. With all seven seats in, boot space is restricted, but that’s what you can expect from an SUV of this size.

The rated fuel economy figure from what is a sizeable automatic gearbox SUV is reasonable at 15.2km/litre (6.6/100km or 42mpg). That means you should get close to 1,000km on a full 64 litre tank. My economy figure during my test drive was 20% short of that range, so you can expect to get closer to 12km per litre out on the road; that’s outside my reasonable range for what is a mid-size SUV.

The Santa Fe feels more solid and firm on the road than some of the other mid-range SUVs and that’s because is almost 400kg heavier. This is in part due to the extra seats but also the heavier feel to the SUV.

In an economy sense, perhaps with some more careful driving I could have done better.

I can only imagine how much poorer the economy figure would have been if I had a 2.5t capacity trailer on tow. The automatic gearbox version is smooth and easy to drive, but there’s a fuel economy price to pay.

Power and torque

The Santa Fe is impressive in power and torque terms, putting it ahead of the mid-range SUV competition, but it’s not strong enough in a towing sense to compete with the big boys. If trailer towing is not your requirement and powerful smooth driving is, then consider the Santa Fe, but don’t expect it to be very economical.

The appealing features, other than a powerful smooth engine and easy-to-use automatic gearbox, include hill descent control and a centre differential locking system that, other than when in the hands of serious off-road users, will probably rarely be used by 99% of Santa Fe drivers.

The lane departure system, which is also part of the safety kit, will probably get more use, although some drivers find these systems annoying, especially in rural roads where the centre white line is used with sense. The Santa Fe is well equipped in terms of safety features, with Iso-Fix on five of the seven seats. That makes it family-friendly and the five-star Euro NCAP rating confirms that. There’s a spare wheel in the boot and that’s also a useful feature for rural drivers.

Comfort

I’ve liked my drive of the Santa Fe; the driving position suited me and the seats were solid with good adjustment. I was comfortable in minutes and the seats needed little extra adjustment.

I like the controls layout and everything was easy and logical to set up, without the need to resort to head scratching or the driver’s manual.

Drill down into the ownership costs and, at €0.42/km, this is not the most cost-effective SUV. The high road tax rate and higher fuel costs somewhat cloud the good resale values that are keeping depreciation levels very acceptable.

Opting for the two-wheel-drive version will give all of the benefits of good driving position and safety features with lower ownership costs.

The better fuel economy figure and lower road tax costs will shave quite a bit from the ownership costs. This needs to be considered when the entry price is €41,995 or £32,310 in NI.

The Santa Fe ticks lots of SUV boxes in terms of style, engine performance, space and great driving experience.

Within the range, the only practical option is the two-wheel-drive version for reasons of ownership costs. With an impressive SUV look, the choice is yours.