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Drive... Model: Hyundai Santa Fe Ultimate hybrid 1.6 T-GDi 4WD 6spd auto. Price: £45,830 Engine:1.6 Petrol Hybrid Pictures: Hyundai

If you're on the trail for SUV serendipity you just might want to say 'Hi' to the bigger and bolder third generation Hyundai Santa Fe which has consistently received accolades as one of the best large SUVs.

It's a sleek and appealing 'whip crack away' seven seater from Korea with an indomitable presence that's practical, classy, top quality and well equipped inside and outside. Therefore, that proper five year, unlimited mileage, warranty comes as no surprise. Do you think the likes of Peugeot, Vauxhall and Renault would chance a warranty like that? I don't. Since its entry into this highly competitive market, competitors have quaked. And with good reason, for you'd be hard-pressed to match its 'bangs for bucks' that Hyundai makes it their business to deliver. At £45,830, the Ultimate spec.7 seat 1.6 petrol hybrid with the new six speed automatic, with 'on demand' four-wheel drive is up there with the best for much less - and it's top quality too. We all know that the appeal of the SUV is dependent on ultra practicality and versatility. You can go anywhere with anyone in any weather and virtually on any highway short of the Rocky Mountains in one of these because it is no 'soft-roader'. It has different drive modes for different challenging conditions.

There's acres of room for five and their luggage and if you flip up the other two seats from the boot floor, there's still room for luggage. Put all seats down and you have a veritable pantechnicon.

Hyundai Santa Fe Ultimate hybrid

The name given to this model is redolent of adventurous treks 'Out West' but for the British market Hyundai have made subtle and clever adaptations. UK models are chassis tuned to the unique demands of our great British roads. A cynic might claim, therefore, that this SUV is 'pothole perfect' and capable of undertaking journeys without terminal damage to the chassis. A positive thinking person like your correspondent relishes the good roadholding, the tautness behind the wheel and the effortless 'red-carpeting' of rough highways. In a Santa Fe you might be forgiven for thinking that the Minister of Transport had - in a fit of the vapours - lavished untold fortunes on our roads. Unfortunately this is not so: merely a consequence of the Santa Fe's impressive road manners. The chassis certainly betrays no load carrying imperfections. Driving along it feels as smooth as silk with a ride as supple as a Spanish señorita. For a big car it's so easy to drive. It even has Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) so that when you are towing a trailer with your mother-in-law in, she wont get car sick. The torquey 1.6 petrol engine combines with the 44.2 kW electric motor to give lovely smooth and linear performance, taking you to 'certainly fast enough' mph - and yet you don't struggle to get 45 mpg in eco mode on a long run. Inside, comfort is....er...as comfy as comfy can be, on heated and cooled seats that are power operated. There are so many bells and whistles to make your life complete. There's every adjunct to sybaritic living and hedonism and you and yours are kept safe by safety systems galore. The flight deck displays an array of instruments and controls that are the ultimate in digital digitalness and you are soothed by a sound system of sonic excellence. To put it in a nutshell (and a very big one at that) it has as much going for it as rivals that are over half as much again.

By Syd Taylor

Motoring Reviewer

With indomitable presence and sculptural purposefulness the Santa Fe delivers like a galloping Pony Express. If you're in the market for a big-hearted hunk of a car that won't take a massive chunk out of your earnings, here is utility value that's worth flagging up: and never has practicality felt so luxurious.

You could carry the Queen of Sheba and guarantee not to spill her sherbet in one of these - and it's also a fairway to carry a gaggle of golfers on their way to the eighteenth.