2015 Hyundai Sante Fe Sport – Plenty of Utility, Not So Much Sport

It should come as no surprise when you check Hyundai’s monthly sales report to find the midsize Santa Fe crossover as the brand’s third-best selling model trailing only the Elantra and Sonata. Americans have fallen head over heels in love with crossovers with the segment seemingly absorbing the station wagon and taking more and more of the minivan’s sales. Now in its third-generation, the Santa Fe has grown from the compact original to a midsizer and it’s now made in two sizes. A larger three-row variant has replaced the defunct Veracruz while the shorter two-row version now has a Sport suffix. I recently spent a week with a 2015 Santa Fe Sport learning whether the badge fits.

With a wheelbase of 106.3-inches and overall length of 184.6-inches, the Santa Fe Sport gives up 3.9 and 8.5-inches respectively to its three-row big brother. From the grille to the B-pillar, the two Santa Fe models are identical. Halfway through the rear doors of the Sport, the beltline of the glass begins an upward sweep that ends near the rear edge of the roof while longer version stays closer to the horizontal. The result is that the Sport has the appearance of more muscular rear haunches that reinforce the naming convention. Of course, the downside is somewhat compromised over the shoulder visibility although the optional blindspot sensors definitely help to overcome this.

Overall, the Santa Fe is a handsome execution of Hyundai’s fluidic sculpture design language and even as it heads into the fourth year of its current product cycle, it doesn’t look dated. On the downside, certain competitors, notably the new Ford Edge are starting to look more like the Santa Fe, especially in the fascia. Nonetheless, this is a design that is not so radical that it will look out of place five years from now, something that may or may not apply to the current Nissan Murano.

Like the Sonata sedan, Hyundai has opted for a four-cylinder-only powertrain lineup in the Santa Fe Sport. The base powerplant is the familiar 190-horsepower 2.4-liter direct-injected mill while my tester had the optional 2.0-liter turbocharged version with 264-horsepower and 269 lb.-ft. of torque. If you want a V6 engine, you’ll have to step up to the three-row Santa Fe. All Santa Fes are equipped with six-speed automatic transmissions and either front or all-wheel-drive.

As with other contemporary Hyundai models, the Santa Fe now has a very competitive cabin environment with materials that look and feel good with one distinct exception. For reasons that escape me, Hyundai designers opted to use some faux wood trim surrounding the outboard vents and across the passenger side of the dashboard. I’m not a fan of high-gloss wood accents even in expensive luxury cars, preferring matte finishes like the Lexus LS460. The shiny plastic wood just looks out of place here and something closer to the surrounding materials would have made a lot more sense. That’s a minor quibble though.

The combination of beige leather with beige and brown surfaces in my test unit looks soothing and comfortable. A two-tone grey or all-black cabin are available as well. The Santa Fe I drove was also equipped with the Ultimate package that brings along 19-inch alloy wheels, HID headlights, heated and ventilated memory seats, 12-speaker audio system, heated steering wheel, navigation and the panoramic sunroof that exposes the cabin to the sky. Both front and rear seats are comfortable and supportive and three people can fit in the back without feeling too crowded.

Whether hitting the road for a summer trip or prowling estate sales, the Santa Fe offers plenty of room for your stuff. With the rear seats up, 35.4 cubic feet of cargo space is available including several hidden compartments beneath the floor where you can keep valuables out of sight or stash wet stuff after a day at the beach. The angle of the rear seat backs is also adjustable, allowing for some extra cargo space while maintaining room for five. When you need to haul the mid-century-modern console hi-fi home, the rear seat folds to provide 71.5 cubic feet behind the front seats.

After driving the Santa Fe Sport for a week, I generally really liked it for what it is. It’s a roomy family hauler that’s comfortable and not too big to maneuver in urban parking garages. However, it feels like the 264-hp output figure might be a tad optimistic. The AWD Sport is not particularly heavy for the class, with its 3,706-pound mass being 390-pounds lighter than a Ford Edge and 225 fewer than the Murano. Yet when accelerating, it just doesn’t feel all that spritely. Mind you, it’s not a slug, but it just feels like it’s working harder than you might expect.

The Santa Fe handles pock-marked roads with aplomb, although it does have a bit of body lean when taking corners, nothing alarming, but more than Mazda’s CX-5. A button on the steering wheel lets the driver toggle the steering effort between comfort, normal and sport modes, but as with most vehicles I’ve tried, the differences were less than dramatic and hardly seemed worth the effort of adding the switch and wiring. I’d suggest to automakers that they reserve this functionality for performance vehicles and just go with the sport calibrations they have which are far from uncomfortable.

While most recent Hyundais rank well in their segments for fuel economy, the Santa Fe is a bit of a disappointment in this regard. The EPA rates the AWD Sport 2.0T at 18 mpg city, 24 mpg city and 21 mpg combined. After a week of driving I managed 20 mpg which is better than the 18 mpg I saw from the smaller Lincoln MKC last fall but well shy of the 26 mpg achieved by the Mazda CX-5. With gas prices staying well below $3 nationally, expected to remain low for the foreseeable future, fuel economy may not be as big an issue as it was a few years ago, so this may not play as much into the purchase decision.

As I write this, 2016 Santa Fe Sports are now arriving at dealers with the base sticker at $24,950 for the 2.4-liter FWD model. The pretty much loaded 2.0-liter turbo AWD I drove with the Ultimate package had a bottom line of $38,350 including delivery. The Santa Fe Sport is an attractive midsize crossover that most families probably won’t mind travelling in although the Sport badge is misplaced here. If sport is what you are after in something close, albeit slightly smaller in size, you’ll probably be happier with a CX-5. If you need room for more than five, take a look at the longer Santa Fe or the related Kia Sorento.