The Hyundai Santa Fe is one of the most popular models at Hyundai. For 2021, the manufacturer offers significant technical changes as well as a first hybrid version. Today I am reviewing the 2021 Santa Fe's new top-of-the-range Ultimate Calligraphy version that invites you into a sumptuous interior enhanced with quilted nappa leathers.
Other crash tests include moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. Cars must also be available with a front crash prevention system that earns advanced or superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian tests in order to earn the award. Critically, good- or acceptable-rated headlights must also be installed. This is why only the Limited trim of Elantra and Santa Fe got the award, plus the Calligraphy trim in Santa Fe.
Alert readers will note those trim levels are American trims. The top-tier Ultimate trim is the Canadian equivalent on Elantra; look for the snazzy Ultimate Calligraphy if shopping Santa Fe in this country.
2021 Hyundai Palisade vs 2021 Kia Telluride
Clayton Seams: Well, despite the fact these two SUVs are siblings; they don’t look like it from the outside! The Telluride is clearly the more handsome of the two. It has classic squared-off SUV looks, smart details like the hiding B-pillar trim, and those very smart-looking square driving lights. It looks like a mash-up of all the boxy SUVs of the ’90s translated into the future. It looks great!
Meanwhile the Hyundai Palisade is a little less visually successful. The large grille is just too much chromed plastic to be taken seriously. I know most grilles are plastic these days but this doesn’t look halfway convincing. I expect a lot more from an SUV in the mid-$50k range. The low-mounted headlights are a look that I don’t enjoy stylistically and I wonder if mounting them that low on the body will cause issues with road slush in the winter months. But people don’t really buy a three-row SUV because of how it looks. They buy it f
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Hyundai’s 2021 Santa Fe will start at just over $31,000 in Canada, the automaker said early February, while the well-optioned hybrid powertrain trims, available this year for the first time on the SUV, add $10,000 to that price.
Starting at the bottom, Hyundai offers the Essential FWD at $31,399; moving up from there is the Sante Fe Essential ($33,399), Preferred ($36,399), and Preferred Trend ($38,499).
All these trims feature a 2.5-litre four-cylinder paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Hyundai’s suite of advanced safety features comes standard, and include Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, and Cyclist and Junction-Turning Detection.
Highway Driving Assist and Navigation-based Smart Cruise Control (NSCC) are also now available on Santa Fe. A 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster makes the options list, too, as does Smart Park Assist, a segment-exclusive technology that allows remote parking.
HOW TO SPEC IT?
If you re seriously considering a Palisade, go big and take the Ultimate Calligraphy, or go home
The modern crossover can be whatever is demanded. For some, it’s about utility, and for others it’s the high seating position and the commanding view of the road. Beyond this, the breed is used to schlep, haul, and otherwise provide the space needed for a growing family. Some even offer a degree of off-road ability. It’s little wonder, then, why they’re popular and being produced faster than little bunnies.
New for 2021 is the Hyundai Palisade Ultimate Calligraphy. It sits at the top of the range and arrives without options, other than paint colour. From a price standpoint, the Calligraphy is a near-luxury offering, but the level of standard content rivals some much higher-end luxury rides.