2025 Hyundai Santa Fe XRT
Base Price: $40,600
2.0 Liter Turbo 4 Cylinder
277 HP / 311 TQ
MPG as observed: 23
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Guy who did stuff: Yousef Alvi
The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe XRT is probably one of the most surprising vehicles I have driven in a long time. Looking at it, it looks like someone did a CTRL C and and CTRL V to a Range Rover and Land Rover image in Photoshop and just slapped on a Hyundai logo. I mean if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then sssshhheeesssshhh. So going into this review, I didn’t really give the 2025 Santa Fe XRT a lot of credence.
Boy I was wrong.
My literal ‘sitting into it the very first time’ uttered a ‘wow’ from my beautiful iips. First, holy crap the seats are comfortable! You sink into the seats instead of sitting on top of them. They feel like a perfectly broken in leather recliner. You just sink in a tad bit and go ‘ahhhh’. Now after I went ‘ahhhh’, I glanced at the dashboard.
Well slap me silly because the dashboard a sight to behold! It’s utter simplicity, elegance and modernity…makes it a masterclass of dashboard design. What Hyundai did was what other automakers cannot wrap their heads around:
You don’t have to have retina searing screens galore to make your interior modern
You just need to have a balance between tech and functionality.. Everything needs and ought to have a physical control, has a physical control. Everything that can be relegated to the touchscreen…is relegated to the touchscreen. There is no ‘WTF, oh come on man’ when trying to do simple tasks like adjust the temperature or turning on the seat heaters. You just….do.
Same thing goes for the rest of the interior. It’s just so simple to operate that it’s refreshing. Fold dowing the rear seats take a simple light tug of a strap. No holding buttons for an eternity, just for the seat to find a speck of dust and reset all the way back. You want to actual have your rear occupants comfortable? Welp, there are full HVAC controls for ALL three rows. Twist a dial and they are set.
Now if you think everything falls apart the second you take it on the road….you’re wrong. First, this Santa Fe XRT rides stupendously well! It’s just so freakin’ comfortable. It’s well damped without being over damped. Hyundai has dialed the suspension in so acutely that there is no swaying about or bobbling of heads on uneven surfaces….you just sit there and absolute comfort.
Let’s go ahead and break it down:
The Great
- Looks
I don’t care that it looks like a Photoshop version of the Land/Range Rovers. It looks fantastic…at least does from the front and sides.
- Interior
Absolutely a masterclass in balance. Superbly combining ease of use and tech.
- Comfort
From the seats to the way it rides, the Santa Fe XRT is a fantastic family vehicle.
- Lights
Look at those lights! From the front to the rear, the DRL look fantastic with the ‘H’ being lit up without looking ostentatious. The best part is the front DRL H pattern will turn orange when you put the blinker on! I love it!
The Bad
- Brakes
The brake pedal feel is errrr lacking? Okay, it’s not good. The first 20-30% of pedal travel is all dead space and in something this big…that’s disconcerting. Once you travel past that dead space, then the feel is like stepping on a piece of rotten wood. There is no sense of reassurance whatsoever
- Engine
The Santa Fe is 4500 pounds and the poor little 2.0 Turbo does it’s best lugging around all of that weight but that is assuming the turbo is spinning. If you’re out of boost, then it doesn’t move. If you’re taking a left hand turn from a dead stop, then it doesn’t move…at all.
- Rear end
I’m the only person that notices this but damnit I can’t unsee it. The rear end of the Santa Fe looks like a muffin top. It’s strangely narrow at the top, wide in the middle and strangely narrow at the bottom.
Overall
The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe XRT is one comfortable, stylish, large, easy to use and efficient family crossover. If you can live with it’s engine and braking quirks, you won’t be disappointed.
