Comfort and function

The interior is comfortable, and it comes with a slew of features. Hyundai's use of blue backlighting on everything from the instrument panel to the cup holders makes the cabin extremely appealing.

There's also plenty of room inside, which is why so many crossovers are so popular. You can carry five people very comfortably as well as all of their stuff in the easy-to-load cargo area.

There are also all the luxury features so many people want, such as navigation, backup camera and Bluetooth connectivity. For this model year, Hyundai also added an optional 605-watt Infinity Logic 7 Surround Sound stereo system; it's excellent.

This vehicle, however, needs a good stereo because it's incredibly noisy on the road. Road and wind noise fill the cabin. One unscientific test I use on a vehicle is to count how many times I adjust the volume on my commute to work. A perfect score would be zero adjustments, simply playing the stereo from the last time I drove it. The Santa Fe scored an 8.

    See also:

    Exterior
    The two-door hatchback Accent is kind of cute, kind of sporty and a little dorky. Some folks I came across liked it; others just weren't offended by it. The sedan's styling is much more conservati ...

    Powertrain - Stronger, leaner and more refined
    At the heart of the rejuvenated Hyundai Santa Fe is a new 2.2-litre direct injection 'R' diesel engine that demonstrates major improvements over the already-impressive outgoing version. This new a ...

    2011 Hyundai Sonata review by G. Chambers Williams III
    Among them is the newest generation of Hyundai's midsize sedan, the Sonata, now available in dealerships as an early 2011 model. The South Korean automaker introduced the new model to automotive j ...