First Drive: 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS

Once known primarily as a low cost, low feature also-ran in the US auto market, Hyundai (and sister company Kia) has made some tremendous strides over the last few years. I recently had the opportunity to test drive a new 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS, and it’s clear that Hyundai is producing much better vehicles than they were just 5 years ago. The Santa Fe was completed redesigned for the 2007 model year, with sleek new sheet metal and significantly updated mechanicals.

The interior is vastly improved as well, with more head, shoulder and leg room in all rows. The new dash design and instrument panel layout are also clean and modern — I especially liked the soft blue lighting that surrounds most of the dials and buttons, making finding the radio dial or the AC control much easier when driving at night.

I’ll post a full road test in a few days. In the interim, see what my About.com colleague Aaron Gold thought about this new vehicle in his 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe Review for the About.com SUV site. – [Jeff James]

^{photo: © Hyundai Motor America}