Another day… another rental… and our first model year 2026! Oh, what splendor awaits!

And yes, it was driven in “suboptimal conditions”, how’d you guess! By our “professional automotive journalism standards”, that just means we’ve been able to fairly assess the Santa Fe’s all weather abilities.

Starting off, no, I’m not in Virginia. I’m in northern Vermont today. And I’m unsure if Virginians know what snow is, because these “winter tires” were… uh… playfully suboptimal. So certain tasks on snow covered roads, such as driving uphill in a straight line, braking on a down hill surface, and cornering in general, would often run the risk of wheel spin or sliding around.

And no amount of HYUNDAI WRC DEVELOPED HTRAC ALL WHEEL DRIVE WITH A “““LOCKING DIFFERENTIAL”””” will actually help. It’s more like taking a Tylenol because your broke your arm. Sure, the pain will dull a little, but that’s not fixing the problem is it?

Well now that I’ve mentioned whatever HTRAC is, I better start from there. So, it’s a torque-vectoring AWD system. Though it’s also not permanent AWD, as the car will sit there acting 100% FWD until it decides that it’s time for an up to 50-50 split (usually in sport mode). Oh but check this out:

Ya don’t see it? Look here:

We got a locking diff! Or… at least the button thinks we do! What we’re actually graced with is a clutch pack that does many things, among them being simulating a locking diff! Supposedly (because Hyundai doesn’t say and the forums can’t fucking agree with each other) it holds the car’s split to 50/50. But don’t you go thinking that its permanent, because if it gets too hot or you go faster then like 25 mph, the clutch packs give up and the car stops doing… whatever it is that it does… shall we move on?

Driving the all new 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe is similar to driving a well padded tin can. The damping is fine, the steering is electrically assisted… you don’t really give a shit about this do you? I 100% guarantee that it drives exactly how you think it does, but like maybe 3% better.

It’s not as bad as that Ford Edge Platinum from last year. It just drives, then understeers (unless it’s snowing outside, then oversteer or understeer is a matter of throttle application and traction settings). Through turns it hunkers down better than I expected, it’s fairly controlled with not too much roll or feeling of mush about it. I’m almost having fun on a de-iced Vermont back road! Then I remember I’m in a fucking Santa Fe and not the WRX that would’ve actually been fun out there. And now I’m back to the reality. And it’s just another modern SUV that some chassis engineers gave slightly more than a fleeting shit about.

It’s not great, but for whatever it is… it’s fine I guess. Your Hyundai Santa Fe buyer isn’t giving a damn about mid-corner performance. They might care a smidge more about straight line acceleration. It felt like it hit 60 fast enough for a 3-row SUV, then started to run out steam. The 2.5L turbo inline-4 does an admirable little job trying to move a 4300+ lb lump of Korean lard. It produces 277 hp and 311 lb-ft of torque, if you care to know. A 6.4-7.0 second run is on par with like, an early 2000’s mid-range BMW. Woo.

The gearbox is nothing to write home about. The car has paddles for shifting in “manual mode”, but it won’t hold a gear unless the car is in sport. Even then, it might still boot you from your choice, you stupid fucking consumer. The paddles themselves actually feel nice to use for what they’re in. Also, the gear selector is this lovely protrusion:

Man, just like an S-class.

Throttle response isn’t particularly great, you could mash it on and off to watch nothing much happen. It also does that shitty turbocharged car thing where it surges and not much happens other than more noise. And what a noise it makes! That 2.5L turbo makes a phenomenal dull drone no matter what you do. Giving it gas just makes the monotone sound mildly louder and further displeased with your antics. Gordon Murray Automotive could learn a thing or two here.

Now go take a look at the motor or something:

I’d like to think that the engine and interior share the same plastics. Speaking of, let’s go inside.

Yes I’m gonna reuse pictures, fucking sue me.

You’ve got physical dials for air temperature, radio station, and volume. Oh, and the hazard light. But almost everything else is a capacitive touch thing. And it doesn’t even have a stupid motor to vibrate when you touch something. I thought we as an industry collectively agreed to chuck all of these awful screen-buttons into a large pile to be imploded in the depths of the Pacific..

It’s fucking obtuse to operate the rest of these controls. Sure, there are buttons for radio (not that you’ll use them much) and that lower strip is nice. But god damn it those other fucking AC and heated seat controls are ass to use, even as a passenger. Mercifully and unlike some other cars we’ve reviewed, it didn’t reflect light back into my eyes. Probably because its glossy finished was finely smudged over.

Other than that, the interior feels fine. It’s cheap but not overly so. Most the surfaces you’ll actually touch won’t feel like recycled C4 corvette dashboards. Those materials are present in the Santa Fe, like on lower door cards and seat backs, but they’re stiff and thick enough to feel durably cheap vs unfortunately cheap.

The rear seats in both rows are reasonably comfy and roomy, if you had any concerns.

The visuals in here are pretty clean. The gauge design is clear and pleasant to look at. Meanwhile the rest of the infotainment system is pretty easy to navigate. Everything is big and clear, so you aren’t left digging through menu lists you wont read and apps you’ll never open. In a sea of overly stylized and info-heavy crap, this was honestly reasonably refreshing. Though if it had to bitch, I’d say that the contrast between the actual output on the dial vs the background should be greater.

There are also a number of just weird little details in here. For example, the center console cubby also opens to the passengers. And that’s complemented by a really deep drawer shoved in there too.

But no AC controls nor 12V ports. There are rear AC vents (but no controls) on the B-pillars:

And there are USB-C ports built into the front seats here:

And once you go to the third row, you get this nifty little assembly:

So the 3rd row passengers get their own vent and AC control, but the second row only get a vent. Additionally, the 3rd row gets 4 cup holders while the 2nd has EIGHT FUCKING CUP HOLDERS! Three per door plus two extra ones in the middle seat.

The key fob is also just the Hyundai logo. And feels so cheap and like it’s ready to disintegrate you’d think it came as an option for a 90’s Hyundai Excel.

Finally, I just find this little deet funny:

Yep, those are actively opening vents it seems. Nice.

So that’s about it. The 2026 Santa Fe is a fine thing. You’re getting a lot for the money relative to some other cars. And unlike some other brands the cost cutting doesn’t leave you wanting to take anti-depressants. I wouldn’t call it cheap and cheerful, but I would call it cheap and kinda nice. Like in a Mazda kinda way, though maybe not as nice to look at or be in. If you’re asking it to be anything other than a 3 row people hauler that’s nice to be around, it will disappoint. So don’t do that and buy a WRX or a Miata or something fun in that case, I’m sure you’re cross shopping a Santa Fe with those two cars. We only give you relevant consumer advice here on MSIMA ya know.

Oh shit I forgot to mention the looks right.

Looks wise it’s just kinda “eh”. I appreciate Hyudnai’s designs, the new Santa Fe is well executed… I just don’t really care to be looking at a 3-row block, regardless of who makes it.

Also I hope you like whatever that graphic in the grille and lights, because it is literally everywhere. I think I see it in my sleep now. It speaks not to me but to us.

What could it mean?

A SIGN PERHAPS?!? A MESSAGE FROM THE ANCIENT ONES?!?

OF COURSE, IT WAS HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT ALL ALONG. THE CUBES?!? THE LINES?!?

IT ALL MAKES SENSE, DEAR CONSUMER.

HOW COULD I BE SO BLIND?!? HIDDEN BY THEM, PURPOSEFULLY IN THE MUDANE TO FADE INTO THE BACKGROUND!!!… unless you know where to look.

Quick, we just gotta align the sacred geometry:

Adjust the vibe frequency, reorient in healing vortex, DO COPIOUS AMOUTS OF LSD.

Good god there it is:

The truth.