BIG CAR BIG CHANGES

The all-new Santa Fe takes a sharp turn into the future with a bold new inspired design that has polarised opinions. Should we not judge this book by its cover? We drove it around its home in Korea

- Jim Gorde

THE "SANTA FE" NAME IS NOT NEW to India, Hyundai having sold some previous generation models here, including the potent 2.2 CRDi turbo-diesel version from the "Fluidic" design era in which I travelled across the length of the country back in 2014. It was a capable car then and, now, oh, how right have Hyundai got it!

Agreed, the looks may not go down well with everyone but, then again, the age-old saying is what matters is what's on the inside. And that's where the new Santa Fe truly excels. Of course, the exterior is still a very modern take; replacing what was an already radical design approach on the "Parametric" model. Codenamed "MX5" (wink wink) the new Santa Fe raises the game with its revamped styling, joined by a premium and properly spacious interior with high-quality material and top-shelf equipment. Besides, it also packs a comprehensive suite of advanced driver assistance features that enable Autonomous Level 2 capability. But that's not the whole story. It never is. With each new Hyundai these days, there is always some bar that tends to be raised that isn't evident at first glance.

We'd be driving the new Santa Fe in a petrolauto-FWD guise but, here in Seoul, there are smooth roads, only some road works, and the total number of speed-humps over the 140-kilometre route we'd be on could be counted using one's fingers. So, yes, a twowheel-drive, full-size, seven-seat SUV that looks like a Ford Flex-Range Rover mash-up, with a turbo-petrol is not something most would expect to see in India especially with those multi-spoke 21-inch wheels. Nevertheless, we had the 2.5 Turbo and, on paper at least, the numbers looked promising.