- The 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe pairs blocky SUV styling with a flexible 3-row inside.
- Pricing begins at $36,400, together with the vacation spot charge | Value it your manner
- On sale now | See Hyundai Santa Fe fashions on the market close to you
Hyundai embraced the larger, bolder, higher design mantra when it redesigned the Santa Fe in 2024. However how purposeful is the inside of one of many top-rated 3-row crossover SUVs?
Regardless that the fifth-generation Santa Fe grew in nearly each dimension, the 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe remains to be 9 inches shorter and has much less cargo and passenger area than Hyundai’s largest car, the redesigned 2026 Hyundai Palisade.
Nonetheless, for customers in search of a midsize SUV with out the extra measurement, weight, and on a regular basis third-row wants of a Palisade, the Santa Fe measures up as a sufficiently roomy car within the midsize phase.
Just like the Palisade, it comes with gas-only or hybrid powertrain choices. A turbocharged 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine makes 277 horsepower and 311 lb-ft of torque. An 8-speed automated transmission and front-wheel drive (FWD) are commonplace, whereas all-wheel drive (AWD) is optionally available. The Santa Fe Hybrid has a 1.6-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder gas-electric combo making 231 hp and 271 lb-ft.
Intelligent packaging of the hybrid mannequin solely shaves one cubic foot of complete passenger area. The small 1.5-kWh battery pack sits beneath the entrance passenger seat, so the ground is raised about an inch or two over the non-hybrid. It’s laborious to note until you’re wanting.
Santa Fe Passenger Room and Consolation
The 2026 Santa Fe seats as much as seven passengers. For larger consolation, customers can swap out the second-row bench seat for pampering captain’s chairs, which come commonplace on Restricted and Calligraphy trims. The draw back is that you simply lose a seat and might solely match six individuals.
Hyundai launched a brand new base SE trim for 2026, which lowers the beginning value but in addition cuts some consolation options. The SE has material seats as a substitute of artificial leather-based upholstery on the SEL. It additionally lacks an influence driver’s seat and heated entrance seats, commonplace on the SEL. In any other case, the entrance seats have ample help and good aspect and thigh bolstering. Obtainable options embody a Leisure Consolation seat with a leg relaxation that means that you can recline the seat practically absolutely, as if mendacity on a chaise lounge. Simply not whereas driving, after all.
Second-row passengers additionally profit from the Santa Fe’s boxy design, with 42.3 inches of legroom, one of the vital spacious within the class. Santa Fe’s second-row captain’s chairs have a perform to regulate the angle of the cushion, which is nice for accommodating passengers of assorted sizes.
One function we love is the USB cost ports on the edges of the entrance seats, which permit simple charging from the again. One other neat function is a storage cubby that pulls out from the middle console between the entrance seats. This lets second-row passengers safely stow their charging gadgets, headphones, or any of the stuff of linked fashionable life. The console cowl additionally opens from the entrance or rear, making extra storage accessible to rear riders. Few different midsize SUVs have such considerate household issues.
Santa Fe Third-Row Area
The third row is much less beneficiant and is greatest for grade faculty passengers on quick journeys. With solely 30 inches of legroom, it really works properly sufficient for carpool responsibility and to shuttle the pee-wee workforce to apply. Perhaps a 3rd little one might negotiate more room from their older siblings within the captain’s chairs and carve out a nook again there for street journeys.
In any other case, it’s a cramped proposition. For an average-sized grownup, your knees sit greater than your hips, making for a clumsy third-row seating place. For extra purposeful area, take into account the bigger Hyundai Palisade.
One different quibble is on high trims with power-folding captain’s seats. They take some time to slip ahead, although there’s a handbook bar beneath the seat to maneuver it ahead rapidly. Impatient sorts (responsible as urged) would possibly favor the operated by hand bench seat within the second row.
Santa Fe Cargo Room and Flexibility
The third row could be extra typically stowed flat to make a roomier cargo space. With the seats up, it solely has 14.6 cubic ft of cargo area, which is large enough for 4 carry-ons. That fifth passenger’s rollaboard would possibly want to sit down on high of the opposite 4.
Energy-fold the third-row seats from the cargo maintain, and it expands to a a lot roomier 40.5 cubic ft of area. Fold down each rear rows, and it measures out to 79.6 cubic ft — not fairly minivan proportions, however nonetheless a superb quantity of area to be a weekend warrior backwards and forwards to the house enchancment retailer.
One notable design function of the Santa Fe is its wide-open tailgate. Boxy just like the rear, it was designed to optimize the entire area, so even the hinges and arms are out of the way in which. It’s nice for Costco runs and tailgating alike. It additionally makes for a pleasant sunshade or cowl from rain.
Santa Fe Options and Tech
The Santa Fe wears a contemporary digital pores and skin centered on a user-friendly 12.3-inch touchscreen. It’s ok that you simply may not miss the less complicated analog days. Hyundai equips it with wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Mid-grade and better trims even have a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster beneath a single curved piece of glass with the touchscreen. All however the base SE have not less than one wi-fi gadget charger on the console, and 6 USB ports, together with two for third-row passengers.
Obtainable options embody a Bose 12-speaker sound system and an enormous dual-pane sunroof. Hyundai emphasizes security with a complete suite of ordinary driver-assist programs, together with adaptive cruise management.
Santa Fe Supplies and Design
The cabin displays the broad, boxy look of the outside with a low and extensive sprint that visually stretches out the cockpit and provides a sense of area and roominess. Hyundai migrated the gear shifter to an digital dial on the steering column, much like the model’s electrical autos. It opens up all types of area within the middle console, with a tiered storage shelf topped by as much as two wi-fi gadget fees in good, easy-to-reach areas.
The low sprint and its built-in storage tray, in addition to deep door pockets, mirror the considerate intent of each area contained in the Santa Fe. The decrease sprint has loads of plastic, and the bottom SE trim limits the comfort options and price, besides, the Santa Fe’s good inside is a winner.
