Friend for life

Call me fickle but after a few days with a test car my thoughts start to stray to the next – until now.

Hyundai’s big SUV, the Santa Fe, is so endearing that I’m genuinely sad to see it disappear over the horizon after the test period comes to an end. Now, that’s unusual.

In our time together it helps me negotiate the delights of Leeds and Bradford. Have you ever been to Leeds and Bradford? Have you ever been on the Loop in Leeds? It’s called the Loop not simply because it’s a never ending circle but because it sends you loopy.

Add in an endless supply of bus lane cameras, junction cameras, speed cameras, myriad changing speed limits and urban ickiness and you can see how it could all become too much for your mental health and wellbeing, especially when you are a country boy.

The best cure? Avoid sprawling conurbations. The second best cure? Drive them in a Hyundai Santa Fe. As the boy needs taking to West Yorkshire for an audition with National Youth Theatre we have to live with the second best option and it’s all fine for lots of reasons.

Firstly, the exterior design, what do you think? I’m okay with the Santa Fe’s looks and slightly strange proportions. It helps that it comes in a lovely olive green colour and has a sheen of quality about it.

The front day running lights come in the shape of an H as do the rear lamps. See what they did there? I like it.

Santa Fe is big and boxy yet somehow manages to look bold and contemporary, eye-catching even. It certainly stands out on the road and in the car park. Brave, but it works for me.

The interior of this seven-seater SUV is a real strength and one of the main reasons for feeling so happy with the Santa Fe.

It is capacious and just plain lovely. It is incredibly well laid out and equipped. I love the way the dash slopes towards the driver making everything so easy to reach and, while the switches are touchscreen-types, they are individually assigned tasks so you can look and dab without having to scroll through a million annoying menus.

It oozes quality and is plush personified. The infotainment is excellent and the hi-fi is a blast. Everything is electric and what needs to be heated is heated. It’s fabulous.

The driving experience is the second massive plus point. It is incredibly smooth, powerful and comfortable which makes it relaxing and enjoyable to drive, especially on long taxing journeys through unfamiliar territory.

Plug-in hybrids always offer more poke and the Santa Fe is no exception. There’s a seemingly modest 1.6 litre four cylinder petrol engine under the big bonnet. But once you have bolted on a turbo charger and a big electric motor the power output jumps to more than 250PS with 367Nm of silky smooth torque.

Under the skin there are some very sophisticated electronics which use the brakes and electric motors on all four wheels to ensure peerless handling.

Ride is so good that I check the technical specifications to see whether it has air suspension – it hasn’t yet it’s that good.

It all works together magnificently to control what is a very large body making Santa Fe incredibly agile and dynamic to drive.

The Calligraphy has every luxury imaginable as standard and feels so much more luxurious than its £58k price tag would suggest. It is refined, steeped in technology and dynamic to drive.

Of all the SUVs on the market, at any price, the Santa Fe stands out and when it pulls off down the road I start to miss its amiable ways the instant it goes. Fickle? Moi? Not when it comes to the Santa Fe.

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