Practically Perfect in Every Way! // 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe Calligraphy FULL REVIEW

[@BhutJolokias]

We've had a 2025 AWD Hybrid Calligraphy for 2 1/2 weeks now. The wife loves it (all that matters), and I appreciate the features and gas mileage. We're heading out on our first trip tomorrow, looking forward to traveling in relative luxury. You will like the Hybrid, I'm sure. Still has plenty of power, and it''s pretty responsive in Sport mode. The 6-speed auto is much smoother than the dual clutch, especially at low speed. We also have an Elantra Sport which the dual clutch works great in, except when it's cold at low speeds where it gets a bit confused.

[@602North]

I could not see myself in this…until I watched this video. I would rather my wife have it, then I could drive it but not be fully committed 😊

[@jax1079]

This is the way... :-) But it's hard to deny the immense practicality of the Hyundai Santa Fe. There might be a few questionable design choices for sure, but compared to Megan's other favorite vehicles of the past year -- the Toyota Sequoia, Toyota Land Cruiser, Lincoln Nautilus, and Hyundai Palisade -- the Hyundai Santa Fe combines a LOT of what she loves about those vehicles into one, far more practical, package. Considering we could get a fully loaded hybrid Santa Fe for $50k, which undercuts ALL of those other vehicles... it starts to become a no brainer.

[@stephen1991]

Thanks for the honest review. I too thought this design was awful, and the interior was too simple, just straight lines. After several months I've begun to accept the qualities and the interior has some nice aspects to it. I'm looking at purchasing the Calligraphy hybrid, not so much for the fuel economy, but to get the conventional 6 speed transmission. The only hesitation I have is that i'll soon be working from home and the last time I did my driving miles dropped off to a couple thousand a year. Just trying to justify a 50K+ vehicle just sitting in my garage.

[@jax1079]

All good points. Thanks for watching!

[@bonbon27]

I got the 2025 Sante Fe hybrid calligraphy and I love it. Has the 6 speed auto transmission and no auto start stop feature. It’s a quiet smooth ride and getting over 34 mpg so far. Buy the hybrid folks!

[@BhutJolokias]

Well, it does have auto start-stop. However, you can't turn it off as it's an integral feature of being a hybrid.

[@Bookman11702]

Awesome review!

[@jax1079]

Thanks so much!

[@DJL78]

You both are so good at this. Gotta say this was on my list. Drove it, had it for two days, kinda hated it. I need a vehicle to go back and forth between Chicago & PGH. All new for me this month. Bought a Toyota Crown Signia Limited for the cross-haul. Cannot wait to see your review.

[@jax1079]

Thanks so much! Really looking forward to getting the Crown Signia for a week. We're both big fans of that, but we haven't gotten to live with it yet. Thanks for watching!

[@GlennLaycock]

Dual Clutch - AUDI is why - strong German influence during their "maturing phase" and dual clutch for the domestic market was considered like the thing real drivers want. It has to shift up and down in order - so if you interrupt its expectation - it is cuing up and down - so if you skuttle its plan it has to do a rethink. They were super cool as racecars they were fantastic and to have them in ordinary cars was like a dream come true - fast and crisp - all the benefits of "how nice" the manual experience is - but no question it is a performance loss to go to the automatic torque converter experience - BUT we boring consumers it is just less thinking although heaven forbid we admit it.

[@jax1079]

Solid point 👍🏻

[@rinbine2713]

Most regular car buyers care more about mpg. Hyundai's DCT is used for that purpose. It's why mainstream manufacturers use CVTs and DCTs. No matter how much automatic transmissions improve, it's hard for them to surpass the fuel efficiency of CVTs and DCTs due to their mechanical characteristics. Why? Because the torque converter causes significant energy loss. If the car had a regular automatic transmission, you will see below 20 mpg. Hyundai's DCT is tuned more for smooth shifting rather than shift speed, unlike the DCTs in VW, Audi, or BMW. This is why car reviewers often make the mistake of comparing it to a traditional automatic. Among the DCTs on the market today, Hyundai/Kia’s DCT is the smoothest.

[@jax1079]

We would only somewhat agree with this. For fuel efficiency gains, the CVT style transmission is by far the best way to achieve it. Dual clutch transmissions are not really inherently more fuel efficient than conventional automatics, but they allow for less power loss with the same fuel economy (which is the same premise as downsizing and turbocharging engines). But similarly to turbocharging, doing so adds some complexity and other tradeoffs, potentially with reliability. If we're talking about a single mpg, slight power difference, and worse day to day responsiveness, we feel that most mainstream buyers would rather have a conventional automatic transmission. Honestly, having tested the new C8 Corvette, the dual clutch in the Santa Fe isn't really any smoother, which seems odd for a family style SUV compared to a high performance sports car.

[@jprusso224]

Yeah... head-up display is fully adjustable on 95% of the cars. Finding where the setting is might be a challenge, but it's there somewhere! The deal breaker for me in these H/K/G ice models is the freaking DCT. On a sports car... fine. These are not sports car. Thanks for the review!

[@jax1079]

The DCT is certainly puzzling. From a cost standpoint, they obviously carried it over to save money, but it's literally the only part of the Hyundai Santa Fe that doesn't feel dialed in and carefully considered, which is a shame because the total package is so good.

[@jlot8almahska]

The 2025 santa fe caligraphy has a hybrid now top trim and no dct transmission. Planning to get that or palisade.

[@honda97ish]

I like the previous generation better that one had better styling.

[@jax1079]

We suppose taste is in the eye of the beholder.

[@67keyakaren68]

Perfectly ugly with perfect unreliability. This is embarrassing to be seen in