2014 Hyundai Santa Fe review: Driver-friendly tech sets it apart

2014 Hyundai Santa Fe review: Driver-friendly tech sets it apart

 The yearlong rollout of the redesigned Hyundai Santa Fe SUV is now complete, including the addition of three useful tech-based driver aids. Parking sonar, blind spot detection, and xenon headlamps are available on the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe, which now comes in a two-row version called the Santa Fe Sport and a longer three-row Santa Fe.
Hyundai is adding the kinds of tech that buyers have on their wishlists. These are features that would make the company late to the game if added a year from now but that are nice to see today. And they come in addition to the existing backup camera option, which has been made standard on some trim lines and cheaper on others. That’s important on a first-class SUV that cries out for better rear vision.
The Santa Fe is one of the best midsize SUVs, more for its mainstream features and cockpit fit-and-finish than fuel economy or smothering levels of tech. Leaders in the mainstream price class offer what Hyundai just added, plus lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, city safety and pedestrian safety emergency stopping at low speeds. The best SUVs today are the Subaru Forester, our Editors’ Choice among compact SUVs and one of the 10 best tech cars of 2013; the Volvo XC60; and the Ford Escape. Now the Santa Fe is a more serious competitor among tech-savvy buyers. In a few years, it will be rare midsize vehicle that doesn’t offer blind spot detection, lane departure warning, and parking sonar. The rear camera appears likely to be mandated the Department of Transportation.