In updating the three-row Santa Fe for 2017, Hyundai has made the likable crossover a numbers machine. Two, four, six, seven, and four—these numbers refer to the Santa Fe’s expanded choices this year, including two- or four-wheel drive, six- or seven-seat configurations, and four distinct trim levels. Last year, Santa Fe buyers faced only two trim levels, one with six seats and the other with seven. Order-sheet complexity aside, Hyundai also has enhanced its already competent Santa Fe with typical mid-cycle updates like freshened styling to more onboard technology.
As before, the Santa Fe’s trim levels bear some connection to the number of seats a buyer can expect. Previously, seven-seat Santa Fes came in “SE” guise, with six-seaters (which swap the SE’s three-across bench for a pair of second-row captain’s chairs) arriving in “Limited” form. (Hyundai sells the similar-looking and shorter-wheelbase Santa Fe Sport with only two rows of seats to cover that market segment.) For 2017, those tenets hold, only with a twist: in addition to SE and Limited trims, there are new SE Ultimate and Limited Ultimate specs. Essentially, the new higher-zoot Ultimate versions of the SE and Limited come standard with items previously offered in an “Ultimate” option package.
Charting the Changes
Every 2017 Santa Fe gets new wheels, new headlights, a new grille, and new front and rear bumpers. That might not sound like much “newness,” but the tweaks nicely square up the Santa Fe’s look to match current Hyundais such as the Sonataand the Elantra. Inside, the center stack has been massaged to make room for Hyundai’s latest corporate 7.0-inch touchscreen display, which comes standard on the base Santa Fe SE and incorporates Android Auto phone integration. A drive-mode selector with choices for Sport, Eco, and Normal settings is also included, although the Santa Fe’s 290-hp 3.3-liter V-6 and six-speed automatic transmission go unchanged. Front-wheel drive is the default across the board, with all-wheel drive available for $1750.
Particularly pertinent to the Santa Fe’s target demographic—families—there’s a new array of safety technologies on offer. There’s a multi-view parking camera, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, an electronic parking brake, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, automatic high beams, and adaptive headlights. These items are available on the SE Ultimate and Limited Ultimate in the redundantly named Ultimate Tech package for $2100. Common safety items like blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert come standard on the SE Ultimate, Limited, and Limited Ultimate, while a backup camera is standard on the base SE.
From SE to Ultimate
For 2017, the Santa Fe SE’s price nudges upward by just $400, to $31,695. Standard kit includes 18-inch aluminum wheels, an eight-way power driver’s seat, dual-zone automatic climate control, and automatic headlights. Buyers can jazz up their SEs with all-wheel drive for $1750 and with a comprehensive Premium package that adds leather seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, proximity key with push-button ignition, LED fog lights, electroluminescent gauges, a color LCD driver-information display, heated front seats, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a power passenger’s seat, a third-row USB port, and a power liftgate for $3650.
Stepping up to the $39,595 SE Ultimate buys you the nicest seven-seat Santa Fe available, netting goodies such as an 8.0-inch touchscreen display with navigation, leather seats, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a 12-speaker Infinity audio system, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, rear parking sensors, proximity key with push-button ignition, 19-inch wheels, and a power-operated panoramic sunroof. The aforementioned $2100 Ultimate package is the sole option besides color and drive configuration.
If a six-seat Santa Fe is more your speed, the $35,845 Limited comes better equipped than the base SE, with a standard power liftgate, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, proximity key with push-button ignition, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, LED taillights, and heated front seats. There are no options besides color and the available all-wheel-drive setup for $1750. Finally, the Santa Fe Limited Ultimate arrives loaded with the same goodies as the SE Ultimate, plus LED taillights, and similarly offers as its only option the safety-tech-laden Ultimate package for $2100.
None of Hyundai’s changes for the 2017 Santa Fe seem destined to disrupt the rig’s fundamentally sound formula of offering a ton of standard features in an attractive, comfortable package. The only difference is that now buyers will have more choices to consider.
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