Hyundai Santa Fe (2013-2018) - Interior & comfort

Climb into the Hyundai Santa Fe and you're greeted by an interior that's smart but not special; rivals like the Nissan X-Trail offer a more pleasant driving environment.

Hyundai Santa Fe dashboard

The Santa Fe’s dashboard is simply designed and nice enough to look at, but hunt around and you'll find hard scratchy plastics; the classy style of the exterior doesn't quite make its way inside, which is a shame given this is supposed to Hyundai's flagship model. There's plenty of adjustment in both the steering wheel and driver's seat, though, so getting comfortable at the wheel is easy.

There's some noisy clatter from the engine under acceleration, but once you're at a cruise the Santa Fe's interior is quiet thanks to the work Hyundai has done insulating the cabin. Big tyres and raised suspension also mean that the Santa Fe is comfortable on long journeys.

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Equipment

The car is available in two different trim levels - called Premium and Premium SE - and standard equipment is good even in the less expensive Premium. It includes heated leather seats, chrome trim, split-folding rear seats, Bluetooth phone connectivity, cruise control and air-conditioning. You also get a leather steering wheel and gearlever, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, roof rails and a touchscreen sat-nav system with a rear-view parking camera.

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Top-of-the-range Premium SE cars have 19-inch alloy wheels rather than the standard 18-inch versions, as well as front and rear parking sensors, keyless entry, a panoramic sunroof and bright xenon headlights on top of all the other equipment.

Options

As one of Hyundai’s flagship models, the Santa Fe is very well equipped and the options list is small as a consequence. The £1,500 Convenience Pack (which is only available with the automatic gearbox) includes radar cruise control that matches the speed of the car in front, as well as autonomous emergency braking and a 360-degree camera to make parking easier. The only other options are metallic and pearl-effect paint for £645, and fixed-price servicing packages; these start at £399 for two years.