Hyundai Santa Fe Elite 2025 Review

The 2.5-litre Santa Fe Elite is the mid-point in the Hyundai Sante Fe range and is priced, before on-road costs (ORCs), at $62,500. At opposing ends of the Santa Fe lineup are the entry-level front-drive 2.5-litre turbo, dubbed simply Santa Fe, which is priced at $53,000 plus ORCs, and the flagship Calligraphy hybrid AWD tagged at $76,500 plus ORCs. The hybrid Santa Fe Elite is $4000 dearer than the 2.5-litre at $66,500 plus ORCs.

Within the mainly-AWD model lineup the premium Santa Fe Calligraphy is available in turbo-petrol or hybrid form with the $500 option of two ‘captain’s chairs’ that replace the three-passenger mid-row seating and reduce the overall seating capacity from seven to six.

There are plenty of seven-seat challengers for the Santa Fe, split close to evenly among similarly conceived soft-roaders (Toyota Kluger, Mazda CX-80, Kia Sorento) and heavy-duty ute-based wagons (Ford Everest, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Isuzu MU-X). Clearly, the Santa Fe’s realistic competition comes from the first, more refined and purpose-built group.

The Santa Fe Elite is not left wanting for luxury equipment, the most immediately noticeable deficits being the flagship Calligraphy’s twin sunroofs, massaging driver’s seat and Alcantara seat trim.

What the Elite does get is leather seat trim – including classy but vulnerable white – a memorised, 14-way power-adjusted driver’s seat (10-way adjustable on the front passenger’s side), seat heating and cooling in the first two rows, a heated steering wheel, 12.3-inch centre screen, head-up display, a 12-speaker BOSE premium audio system, paddle shifters, a power tailgate with foot swipe activation, electrochromatic dipping rearview mirror, heated and power-operated external mirrors, and 20-inch alloy wheels.   

The Santa Fe comes with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty and 12 months of 24/7 roadside assist. Fixed-price servicing intervals are set at 12 months or 15,000km for the five years of warranty with all except the $569 third service set at $459.

For an added cost, Hyundai offers lifetime servicing and premium roadside-assist plans.

Under the umbrella of Hyundai’s SmartSense safety technology, the Santa Fe’s 10-airbag count includes a front-centre bag that helps keep front passengers from coming into contact in a side collision, as well as a driver’s kneebag. In addition to the normal dual front and rear side airbags, the curtain airbags cover all three rows of seating.

Driver-assist features include autonomous emergency braking in forward and reverse, junction-turning and crossing assist, oncoming lane-change steering assist between 40 and 145km/h, brake-assisted direct-collision assist between 10 and 130km/h, pedestrian and cyclist avoidance, front and rear cross-traffic alert,blind-spot monitoring with active assist, driver attention detection, lane tracing and lane-keep assist.

The Santa Fe scored a full five ANCAP safety stars in 2024.

The Santa Fe Elite’s in-cabin technology is consistent with its cutting-edge presentation.

The curved 12.3-inch touchscreen offers crisp graphics accessing functions such as Apple CarPlay/Android auto, Bluetooth, radio, and Hyundai’s Bluelink system that factors in GPS and other functions including automatic notification in the event of a collision, plus live traffic information.

There’s an array of six USB-C ports throughout, as well as two 12-volt outlets, one at the front and one at the rear of the cabin. The Santa Fe Elite also comes with a head-up display, plus separate chargers for two smartphones on the front centre console.

The Elite’s remote-control parking capabilities are a handy feature, especially if the Santa Fe is wedged into a tight spot between two vehicles.

The Santa Fe Elite’s 2.5-litre long-stroke four-cylinder turbo-petrol joined the previously hybrid-only Santa Fe range in 2024 as an unmitigated powerhouse. It produces no less than 206kW, backed up by a sturdy 422Nm of torque that’s available from a leisurely 1700rpm.

Coupled with the efficient eight-speed dual-clutch auto transmission, this makes for a handy set of legs either in urban traffic or on the open road, the output having no trouble coping with the Santa Fe Elite’s hefty 2024kg kerb weight.

The on-demand AWD driveline can be set in Eco, Normal, Sport and self-governing My Drive modes and, for minimally challenging off-bitumen adventures, in multi-terrain modes including Snow, Mud or Sand.

With those power figures it’s to be expected that the 2.5-litre turbo engine lacks the fuel economy of the hybrid, which is quoted at 5.6L/100km.

Against the official ADR Combined consumption figure of 9.1L/100km our review Santa Fe Elite averaged 10.8/100km, putting it at a disadvantage against the Toyota Kluger hybrid, the diesel Ford Everest Ambiente and the also-diesel Kia Sorento Sport+. Especially considering the Hyundai’s 67-litre fuel tank, which is more suited in terms of range to a hybrid than an energetic 2.5-litre turbo-petrol.

If the hybrid Hyundai Santa Fe impresses with its efficiency, the turbo-petrol Elite does an awfully good job of making light of its two-tonne-plus weight.

Its 422Nm might not quite match the turbo-diesel Kia Sorento’s 440Nm or the (much heavier) Everest’s 500Nm, but there’s a clear power-to-weight advantage which serves it well on the open road. An indicative zero to 100km/h acceleration time of around 6.8 seconds is pretty swift for a two-tonne, seven-seat SUV with few performance pretensions.

The steering is similarly unfazed by the Santa Fe’s size and weight. It’s quite quick at 2.6 turns from lock to lock and the 255/45 R20 tyres are assertive enough to help shrink the driver’s perceptions of the bulk and weight being dealt with.

The Santa Fe Elite also feels luxuriously hushed inside, equally as quiet under way as the hybrid versions. It rides with a controlled, absorbent smoothness that cannot be matched by ladder-frame, live-rear-axle contemporaries. It copes well with undulating, tight and patchy country roads.

The Santa Fe Elite, like all its SUV contemporaries, is no off-roader. With unitary body construction, limited 177mm ground clearance and an AWD system designed to keep the vehicle on the road rather than off it, any attempt at tackling a bush track should be carefully considered beforehand. The standard Sand, Mud and Snow AWD modes are more a pretence than a reality.

That’s not say there’s no scope for adventure: the Santa Fe 2.5-litre’s 2000kg towing abilities are better than the hybrid versions, which are limited to 1650kg.

Particularly with our review Santa Fe’s bone-white but questionably practical leather trim, the cabin feels big, airy and classy, with a sunlit glasshouse and an abundance of space and relatively thick cushioning right through to the third-row seats – where compensation for limited rearmost legroom is found in generous cushion width.

Access to the third row is power-assisted and easy, though taller adults may have some difficulty extricating themselves through the confined foot spaces between the folded-forward seat cushions and the door openings. Sliding the centre-row seats back into place is relatively easy provided the Santa Fe is not parked on a steep uphill slope.

The seats elsewhere are large and well-cushioned, with generous head, shoulder and – except for the third row – leg room, while face-level air-venting is provided throughout, from the low-set outlets in the mid-row side pillars and from outer side vents in the third row.

There’s plenty of soft-touch surfacing and the controls, though touchscreen biased, are generally easy to find and operate, including the steering-column-mounted gearshift wand.

The twin phone charging pads take pride of place in the front console and there’s a decent-size centre bin that cleverly hinges at either the front or rear to enable use by front-seat and mid-row passengers. And there are two small gloveboxes, separated between upper and lower by a handy slot for papers or leaflets.

The powered tailgate opens up to reveal a generous load area that begins at 642 litres and opens up to a mighty 1963L with all seats aft of the front end folded down.

Although the Santa Fe could be seen as a visually polarising presence in the sub-$80,000 large SUV segment, there’s an appealing and undeniably fresh look about it that is backed up by its overall refinement, versatility and practicality.

The general balance of ride and handling is sharp enough not to deter drivers who might be intimidated by its apparent size and the 2.5-litre turbo engine delivers solid accelerative thrust that’s only disadvantaged by its thirst for (thankfully 91 RON) fuel.

The hybrid version of the Elite is not exactly a sluggard itself and delivers significantly better economy but adds an extra $4000 to the up-front costs. That would take some time to recover.

With those things in mind, it’s easy to like the 2.5-litre Santa Fe Elite. Its credentials as a soft-road SUV bring more refinement in urban conditions than ute-based seven-seat rivals like the Ford Everest and Isuzu MU-X and, for most, that’s a good thing.

The extra fuel costs are really the only detriment.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Elite at a glance:
Price: $62,500 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 206kW/422Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 9.1L/100km
CO2: 212g/km
Safety rating: Five stars (ANCAP 2024)

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