Hyundai Santa Fe review - Boot space, practicality & dimensions

The Hyundai Santa Fe is a big car, and that translates to a spacious cabin. There’s the choice of five, six or seven-seat configurations. The latter two are spread over three rows, with the six-seater’s middle row sporting two large ‘captain’s chairs’ instead of a bench, for added comfort – although this does cost £1,000 extra.

Even in the seven-seat version, every space is large enough for a fully grown adult – even for those sitting in the back row, with extremely generous headroom. The Santa Fe certainly gives the Land Rover Discovery a run for its money in this area, because we’d only recommend children sit in the rearmost seats of the Discovery on longer journeys – there’s plenty of legroom in all three rows. The Santa Fe’s middle row is highly adjustable, too, so you can move it backwards or forwards to prioritise leg room or luggage space as necessary, and there’s more space and elbow room than in the Skoda Kodiaq, with slightly better access to the rear seats.

We also liked the Hyundai Santa Fe’s interior usability. There are plenty of storage compartments located around the cabin to boost practicality further and USB ports in the seat backs allow every passenger to charge a device. The centre console alone can store two cups and smartphones, not to mention the huge tray underneath and another large storage cubby within the armrest.

Does the Hyundai Santa Fe have a big boot?

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At 628 litres, the Hyundai Santa Fe’s boot capacity is larger than the outgoing car’s with just five seats in place, and we had no issues packing in all our luggage, bags and camera equipment when we tested it, even with the second row of seats positioned all the way back. Fold all the back seats down and space increases to a massive 1,949 litres, which is amongst the best in class.

The speed at which the Santa Fe’s powered boot lid opens and closes can be adjusted to your preference, as can the height the tailgate opens to, so if you’re a smaller person you can tweak the settings to make it easier to reach. Hyundai has referred to the Santa Fe’s wide rear opening and boot as a ‘terrace’ where users can sit and enjoy it as a social space. We expect most buyers will use it in a more conventional manner, but it could come in handy on camping trips or at outdoor events.

Is the Hyundai Santa Fe a good tow car?

Traditionally the Santa Fe has been a favourite amongst buyers towing heavy caravans, horseboxes and trailers, and it’s still to be seen how the lack of a diesel engine option could affect its ability in this department. In the outgoing model the diesel could haul 2,500kg, while petrol and hybrid models peaked at 1,650kg.