Ever since Hyundai rolled out the Pony subcompact car in 1975 with Giorgetto Giugiaro styling, the South Korean company knew that it could not rival the likes of Honda and Toyota in the United States. Be that as it may, the Seoul-based brand is getting close to both competitors.
As part of Hyundai’s transformation, the Santa Fe has received a luxury-oriented trim level known as the Calligraphy. Doug DeMuro had the opportunity to check the range-topping luxury crossover, which brings us to the Doug Score of 45 points instead of the Toyota Venza Limited’s 47.
The Santa Fe Calligraphy is dead last in the ranking, far behind the likes of the Lincoln Corsair, Mercedes-Benz GLC 300, Volkswagen ID.4, and the Cadillac XT4. Why did it fail to impress, you ask? Well, the Santa Fe Calligraphy “isn’t particularly fast, nor especially practical, nor especially high on cool features.” Also worthy of note, Hyundai stopped making the seven-seat variant in order to make room for the Palisade three-row model.
Considering that even Volkswagen offers the Tiguan with the long wheelbase and three rows, it’s pretty obvious that Hyundai is missing out on a lot of potential customers. On the upside, there is a lot to like about the Calligraphy, starting with the four-pot turbocharged engine.
The 2.5-liter motor is good for 281 horsepower and 311 pound-feet (422 Nm) of torque, and the EPA combined estimate for this engine is 24 miles to the gallon (9.8 liters per 100 kilometers). The Calligraphy can be moved forward or backward with the key fob, which is nifty in certain situations.
The interior is very nice as well, but not $45,000 very nice according to DeMuro because of cheap-looking and feeling touchpoints that include the steering wheel’s airbag cover. Alas, if Doug were in the market for a well-equipped crossover in this segment, he wouldn’t step up to the Calligraphy.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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