I drove ‘2026’s best car’ that’s not a BMW or Audi – this is what it’s like

I have to happily admit that I am not the biggest fan in the world of the recent huge increase in popularity of SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles). To be completely honest, unless you have kids or dogs (plural) to haul around, I have questions about why you would choose a large vehicle for your needs.

A good hatchback or small sedan will do just as well as its high-riding SUV equivalent, while consuming less fuel and driving better at the same time. At least that’s what I thought.

At the end of February, CarsGuide’s 2026 car of the year (Hyundai Santa Fe) was put to the test for a week, and the verdict I reached changed my perspective on SUVs forever.

We tested the Hyundai SANTA FE Hybrid Ultimate, 1.6T 239PS Hybrid 6AT, Automatic, 4WD. In layman’s terms, this is a large £55,895 petrol hybrid SUV that seats seven, has a large boot and some nice optional extras.

The car in question is 4.8 m long, 2.2 m wide, 1.72 m high and comes with five doors. While the trunk volume is around 620 liters with the seats up, it varies between 985 and 1,949 liters with the seats down. So far so practical and versatile. But there is more.

Put yourself in the driver’s seat and that’s where the intrigue really begins. Santa Fe’s system can remember which position you want the seat to be in and has a system where you can record your position. This means that the steering wheel and seat will move apart when you open the door. Once you’re in, they move into your preferred position; Useful if you’re switching between drives.

Infotainment system; It’s a mix of buttons, dials, touchscreens, and haptic touchpads. Most of the time you spend using the system is spent via the large touchscreen in front of you. It’s right up there in terms of ease of use, but adjusting the heated seats and air conditioning on the go is a bit complicated with touchpads.

Above the driver are the controls for the panoramic sunroof, and below their left elbow is a very deep and cavernous chamber large enough to fit our shooting tripod. The bottom was covered with some kind of non-smooth material, so those who like to eat sweets in the car would be better off hiding them in the tray that comes out.

Overall, at least in our spec, I found it to be comfortable and livable, with no strange pains after a long time behind the wheel as I headed to Caffeine and Machinery for a coffee at the weekend.

This trip was a good opportunity to take a good look inside the car and admire the multitude of wired and wireless charging stations inside the car.

The middle row seats are heated, like the front seats. There was also access to the large central compartment and shutters that passengers could draw over their windows.

The rear seats easily reveal themselves with toggle switches at the top and rear, so one can fold down whether they’re coming from the trunk or the rear seats. Returning the middle row to its original electrically assisted position is a bit of a pain, but it’s not the worst system in the world.

The third row of seats comes with its own charging ports and air conditioning systems, which is all well and good. But one family pointed out to us that if you don’t use the third row that often, it’s a bit pointless to have air conditioning that’s out of reach for second row passengers. Is there anything that needs to be resolved in a facelift?

This is where Hyundai really changed my opinion about the future of SUVs. Everyone I talked to about the car remarked how big and long it was.

But the thing is, it may look big, tall and heavy, but it doesn’t feel like it. Thanks to the controls, it feels like a hatchback or small sedan. Driving around London to see friends (and you handled the potholes with spine-tingling ease) it was easy to forget just how big a car you were in.

The car looked more like an athletic and energetic Golden Retriever than an elephant. Yes, you are very far from the front and rear of the car, but the steering gives you very good feedback.

While on the road, the hybrid system acts as a constant balance between charging the battery and keeping you moving. It can run on electricity alone for a while, but it very rarely stays there for very long. There are driving modes but honestly leave it in Eco and ignore Sport. There are off-road modes that show some off-road situations are available when we return to winter.

I think a big part of this is due to the fact that the car looks and feels original; This actually has nothing to do with being sporty. Yes, the engine pulls well, but it doesn’t look sporty and it’s not sporty, that’s the point. It pulls off the cool, boxy styling style better than Land Rover’s Defender, and it’s quite comfortable. Driving on the road isn’t particularly exciting, but the corners are pretty flat; There is some understeer at low speed, but that’s to be expected.

It won’t win lap time tests or set B-roads on fire, but that’s not the point of this; family oriented. Even the dreaded lane assist (the most pointless feature in modern cars) isn’t that intrusive, so much so that I didn’t always feel the need to turn the damn thing off.

Is the Hyundai Santa Fe perfect? No. I think the amenities of the third row of seats should be carried over to the second row, or at least the second row should have the same options as the third row of seats.

Tactile touchpads should be replaced by buttons, and the four-cylinder engine makes a very strained sound when starting too quickly or charging the battery. There were a few occasions when I was at speeds below 20 mph in the city and the battery was at 50 per cent but the engine was still charging and I wondered ‘Why not wait until the battery is at 20 per cent to start charging?’ I thought.

Looking at the big picture these are just very minor issues to consider; and changed my mind that SUVs don’t lean too much towards the S side of the abbreviation. If you’re looking for a capable family SUV that isn’t German or British, check this one out.

Christopher’s verdict: 7.5/10