Hyundai Santa Fe Review
Published: 16th May 2007
Hyundai Santa Fe
In Car Entertainment and Satellite Navigation
We drove the top of the range CDX+ model which boasts a seven speaker sound system which features an in-dash six-disc autochanger. Strangely it also featured a cassette player, which might come in handy if you are old enough to remember such technology and for those of you who do not it will also play back MP3 CD's. Sound quality was OK but probably not as good as the system suggests on paper, plus it seemed to lack an RDS radio, which meant retuning the radio when moving across county, plus it wouldn’t tune into Traffic flashes, etc - most odd.
Rear seat passengers can easily be entertained by the roof mounted DVD player, which is supplied with two cordless headphones and a remote control. You can also plug digital cameras and video cameras into the player and it is also compatible with PlayStation Consoles, etc.
The Santa Fe CDX+ is equipped with SmartNav as standard, rather than using a screen for navigation, SmartNav uses a live operator to which you are connected to when you press a button on the dashboard, they take your destination details and your route/navigation instructions are downloaded for you to follow via voice prompts. Plus the system will give you an audio warning of fixed safety cameras. Not as intuitive or as useful as a screen driven navigation unit but it comes as standard.
Rivals
- BMW X5, Kia Sorento, Land Rover Discovery 3, Mitsubishi Shogun, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota Land Cruiser & Volvo XC90
What We Liked
- Exterior styling
- Ride quality
- Fuel economy
- Quiet & refined diesel engine
What We Disliked
- Certain aspects of the interior trim including the terrible wood grain trim, Hyundai please replace it.
What We'd Like To See
- Parking sensors as standard on the top of the range model
- Xenon headlights as standard on the top of the range model
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