2016 Hyundai Santa Fe

The Santa Fe comes in pretty much two trim levels for 2016 which are SE and Limited which has a starting price of $30,400 for the front-wheel-drive option and $32,150 for the all-wheel-drive ones. At this price, the Santa Fe SE comes with an emergency braking assist, dual-zone automatic climate control, heated mirrors, and heated front seats. Add a couple of extra dollars and you get the Limited trim with blind-spot warning and lane departure warning, triple-zone climate control, leather steering wheel, hands-free entry, leather upholstery, and a panoramic sunroof.

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The SE trim with the AWD drivetrain should be the way to go as Hyundai offers most of the features needed on a regular basis as standard, and the AWD adds a bit of functionality and provides a sense of safety during adverse weather conditions. If you want the very best the SUV can offer, go with the top-end Limited trim.

The 2016 Santa Fe comes with only one engine option. It gets the job done in a rather effortless manner but there is nothing exciting about this engine. It is a good engine but with a fully-loaded car, it starts to get stressed and a bit noisy too. It has a 3.3L V6 motor which is good enough for 290 hp at 6,400 rpm and 252 lb-ft at 5,200 RPM. These are some really impressive figures and make the car feel a lot more lively and spirited to drive.

The gearbox on offer is a 6-speed automatic unit that also has a manual override and the gears can be shifted via paddle shifters behind the steering wheel. The transmission's shift points and quality are well-chosen and well-sorted most of the time. Step into the gas fully from a light throttle, and after a brief pause, the automatic shifts down eagerly, with a mild rebound felt through the drivetrain.

All cars in the competition come equipped with naturally aspirated V6 and FWD drivetrains as standard. They also come equipped with 6-speed automatic units except for the 2016 Pathfinder which comes equipped with a CVT unit. The CVT unit affects its acceleration but does help with fuel economy. That being said, the Kia Sorento is the fastest of the lot taking 6.5 seconds from 0-60mph.

The fuel economy of the Hyundai Santa Fe is a bit of a letdown as the bigger 3.3L V6 returns dismal fuel efficiency figures, the figures come down to 18/25/21 respectively for city highway and combined cycles which are not really good figures. The fuel tank equipped measures a size of 18.8 gallons. With this fuel tank, it traverses a distance of 338 miles in the city and 470 miles on the highway.

The Nissan Pathfinder is the most fuel-efficient of the lot at 23 mpg combined, thanks to the CVT unit. The Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento are the least efficient of the lot but their fuel efficiency is average in the segment returning a combined mileage of only 21 mpg. On the other hand, the Honda Pilot finds a sweet spot and returns a mileage of 19 mpg in the city and 27 mpg while cruising down the highways.

The Interior of 2016 Santa Fe has similar fluidic design elements. It is maybe not the best-looking interior of the bunch but is still quite well built and feels adequately premium. So there are quite a lot of curves on the dashboard and though it flows quite well overall, it doesn’t look very pleasing to the eyes. The dashboard is quite well laid out with a massive infotainment display in the middle which is surrounded by massive AC vents on both sides. There are even what seems to be faux wooden inlays to give it a premium feel. 

The brushed aluminum-like plastics also look quite good and though you will find some cheap plastics at the lower part of the dashboard, it is overall a decently built cabin. Santa Fe has one of the best front-row seats in the group. It has good legroom with just enough headroom for tall drivers if the optional panoramic sunroof is installed. The seats have good bolstering on the bottom cushion and have well-shaped backrests. A power seat is standard on most versions, while power for the passenger seat and heating for both is an option. 

The middle row is a bench seat and is quite enough for three medium-size adults. The seatback has a 40:20:40 split and that makes it quite versatile as well. Just like the front seats, the cushioning here as well is just spot on and they hold you quite well. Though there is quite a prominent middle hump which might be a bit problematic for the middle occupant but the footwells are quite deep enough to accommodate an extra pair of feet. The third row though is just suitable for small kids as it is quite cramped and the best idea would be to use that area as some extra cargo space. 

With all the seats up, the Santa Fe has a decently sized boot and though you won’t be able to fit enough luggage for five people here, still with some squeeze and third-row seats folded down, that is fairly possible too. The Santa Fe is among the least spacious cars here as the others are having just a few inches of extra space in all three rows. It also trails behind the Honda and the Nissan in terms of cargo space and that was also pretty much expected as the Santa Fe is quite a few inches smaller than the two. Standout interior features:

• Powered front seats and adjustable driver's lumbar support
• Bucket Folding Captain Rear Seat
• Fixed 50-50 Split-Bench 3rd Row Seat Front with Manual Fold Into Floor
• Leather Seating Surfaces
• Leather Steering Wheel
• Dual Zone Front Automatic Air Conditioning with Rear HVAC

How intuitive is the 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe’s infotainment unit?

The center of the dashboard of the 2016 Santa Fe is flaunted by an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system which is having a slight matte finish to it to reduce the glare. It is quite a nice system and comes with a 6-speaker audio system as standard which can be upgraded to a 10-speaker unit as well. This system comes with inbuilt navigation and Hyundai’s very own BlueLink system which has a lot of features. It also comes with a 3-month subscription to SiriusXM radio. Voice Command is a pretty standard feature in this price bracket just like the Bluetooth connectivity. Standout infotainment features:

• The 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• 6-speaker audio system
• SiriusXM radio w/3-month trial subscription
• Blue Link telematics
• Blue Link Selective Service Internet Access
• Bluetooth Wireless Phone Connectivity and Streaming Audio
• Turn-By-Turn Navigation Directions
• Voice command

The 2016 Santa Fe is among the first few products from Hyundai to move towards a more mature styling language and we have witnessed this trickling down to smaller cars like the Tucson as well. It is undoubtedly one of the best-looking crossovers in this segment and looks very stately. The front houses the traditional hexagonal grille of Hyundai and with those headlamps integrated with DRLs, the car looks very smart from the front. It also happens to be the best angle to look at the car as one can completely make out with the front how premium Santa Fe happens to be. 

It is a very balanced design to the side as well. While the shorter Santa Fe sport definitely looks better with the overall design, the Santa Fe just looks a bit too stretched when looked at from the side and that gives it a rather estate-like look. The rear again is better incorporated in the Sport which looks more like an SUV while the normal Santa Fe looks like a jacked-up minivan. Overall the Santa Fe Sport is the better looking one and will be our pick if the third row is not a priority.

Nissan Pathfinder is the largest vehicle of the lot and is also the heaviest. Thanks to the large wheelbase, it has the most spacious cabin in the segment. Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento sit a little lower than the Honda Pilot and Nissan Pathfinder too. Standout exterior features:

• Fully Automatic Projector Beam Halogen Daytime Running Headlamps w/Delay-Off
• Front Fog Lamps
• Roof Rack Rails
• Lip Spoiler
• Power Heated Side Mirrors w/Convex Spotter
• Chrome Door Handles and Side Windows Trim
• 18-inch Aluminum Alloy Wheels

Well lately all Hyundai cars have started to score quite well in the crash tests and that is a fairly good sign. Santa Fe is among the most premium cars of Hyundai and has also aced all the crash tests. The car has been awarded by the NHTSA with all “5 stars” for overall safety. The IIHS reports fairly good overall scores for Santa Fe, including top "Good" marks in all categories except the notoriously difficult small overlap frontal crash, where the crossover earned a "Marginal" report. Further, all models come with a standard equipment list including front, side, and curtain airbags, as well as a driver knee airbag, for a total of seven. Hill-start and downhill assist also are standard, along with anti-lock brakes, stability, and traction control. Standout safety features:

• Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and, Driveline Traction Control
• Blue Link Emergency SOS
• Blind Spot
• Restricted Driving Mode
• Tire Specific Low Tire Pressure Warning
• Rear parking sensors

The Hyundai Santa Fe is a very stylish and premium crossover and is loved by all for quite a lot of years now. It is among the best driving crossovers in the bunch and with the 3.3L V6 engine, it is able to outshine pretty much every other car in its class. Though for those who prefer third-row practicality, this might not be the best pick, but then for everything else the 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe is quite a good option.