• Feels premium and well-built inside
• Good amount of physical buttons
• Touchscreen infotainment can be fiddly

How’s the quality and layout?

Hyundai’s played a blinder here, with the Santa Fe’s interior feeling well-built and posh but including lots of handy and practical touches. The steering wheel itself is chunky, with solid but soft-feeling materials on the buttons and Hyundai’s now conventional stalk drive shifter.

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Nothing inside feels flimsy or hollow to touch. Great for those with kids that needs stuff to endure long family holiday trips, and generally feels a cut above cars like the Skoda Kodiaq.

Infotainment and tech

The two 12.3-inch screens that house the driver’s instruments and infotainment both look clean and read well, with simple instrument dials for the driver to read. The infotainment itself isn’t the easiest to use, mind – plentiful menus and some illogical placements of options make the experience a little fiddly. This criticism can be levelled at most Hyundai models (as well as Kia and Genesis models) however, as they all use the same system.

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Happily, that’s counteracted by a large panel of physical buttons for quick access to certain infotainment screens, as well as some (but only some) physical switchgear for the climate control and drive modes.

Comfort

The driving position offers loads of adjustment and seat comfort is impressive – handy for long journeys and tall drivers. The latest Santa Fe also benefits from a Hyundai specialty on its top-spec Calligraphy model: lounge seats in the front that recline to an almost horizontal degree and feature their own leg rests.