2003 Hyundai Santa Fe 4WD GLS cont...
While the Santa Fe's overstyled exterior seems simply dated, the dash is a convoluted sight to behold, a roiling sea of plastic. It's as if you squeezed Play-Doh between your fingers, painted it grey, and added gauges. The seat cloth drew our attention, too, not due to any unattractiveness, but because it just seems curiously antiquated (ours was a tough dark weave speckled with tiny flecks of green and blue--what we used to see in Japanese cars about 20 years ago).
These seats, by the way, offered by far the firmest foam of our group, almost as if they were tautly inflated with high-pressure air. At first sitting, it feels like a competition's going on to see whether the seat will shape to you or you'll shape to the seat, but over hundreds of miles, they somehow proved entirely comfortable. And like the Ford's, you fold the Santa Fe's rear seats by first flipping their bottom cushions up and then tipping the backs down. In the Santa Fe, though, the result is less successful, as the seatbacks resist folding flat causing a ramp in the cargo floor.
Although the Santa Fe must be a dream come true to the squeaky penny-pinchers among us, it doesn't take a bloodhound to detect the weak point in its economics--mileage. At 17 mpg city and 21 mpg highway, the Hyundai loses, on average, about 3 mpg to its rivals (although its tank carries three additional gallons, keeping its range comparable). It's interesting to note that the Escape--equipped with a lowly four-speed transmission--betters the economy of the Santa Fe despite the Hyundai's extra gear.
The Santa Fe is awfully impressive, however. Given a contemporary exterior, a tranquilized interior, and improved mileage, it could easily be the SUV to beat next time around.