The Active sits above the entry grade in the Santa Fe range and lists for $48,300 for the petrol variant with the diesel costing $3500 more.
Standard features include: LED headlights, an 8.0-inch screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless phone charger leather seats, a proximity key, front and rear parking sensors, rear privacy glass, dual-zone climate control, puddle lamps, electronic child locks, rain sensing wipers, power folding mirrors and 18-inch alloy wheels.
The petrol engine is a refreshed version of the previous 3.5-litre V6 making 200kW and 331Nm, while the 2.2-litre diesel is new and produces 148kW and 440Nm.
Explore the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe range
Also new is the eight-speed dual clutch automatic transmission to be found in the diesel variant. It’s a wet-clutch type of DCT and it’s smooth and quick.
The V6 has a regular eight speed automatic.
The Santa Fe has a maximum five-star ANCAP rating, but this was awarded back in 2018 and these days the standard to get the full marks is higher.
All Santa Fes came with AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection, but now there’s a Junction Turning function.
A weakness in an otherwise outstanding array of safety equipment is the curtain airbags which don’t completely cover those third-row windows.