In the recent past, Korean car design has been responsible for plenty of models that make you want to cross two sticks together in classic Hammer Horror film vampire hunter style but all the new stuff is surprisingly easy on the eye. Hyundai's latest Santa Fe SUV is a case in point.

The new model is so much better looking than its predecessor that comparing the two cars doesn't actually make sense. It's like comparing Roseanne Barr with Jessica Alba, which more or less constitutes borderline cruelty. Gone is the dissonance that characterised the last Santa Fe's "design", such as it was, and in its place you find a harmony of curves and surface treatments. The overall look eschews adventurousness for an understated handsomeness that's really very pleasing.

Hyundai now has styling and R&D centres across all over the world, and this global influence certainly shows. The nose gets a large grille that happily hasn't been subjected to any overenthusiastic applications of chrome, flanked by two sleek headlamps with neatly designed internal elements. There are even frosted strips underneath the main clusters that house secondary lamps, a feature seemingly incorporated more for aesthetics than effect but very welcome nonetheless.

The rear aspect almost deliberately echoes that of the Volkswagen Touareg, and indeed the latter was named, along with the BMW X5, as potential rivals for the Santa Fe. If you're going to aim high at all, you might as well go all the way. The flanks do suffer a little from the tall glass area, which dispels some of the sense of mass that you get from the car's proportions, but this is a minor quibble in the context of the overall shape.

It's a confident design from a confident manufacturer, buoyed by rising sales and spurred by the ambition to be amongst the world's five largest manufacturers by 2010. A prospect that must surely be giving other manufacturers plenty of food for thought.

DRIVING IT

For the local market, one engine variant will be initially available, an all-new 183bhp 2.7-litre V6. The new engine represents a 13bhp increase over the old 2.7-litre lump, still in service in models like the Trajet MPV, and develops 8Nm more torque.

These figures might not sound very impressive on paper but then again, the old V6 wasn't exactly crippled by a lack of grunt. However, exploiting that engine's power was an exercise in tolerance, given its impressive lack of refinement.

The new V6 is vastly smoother, and much quieter to boot. It's also much more eager to rev. Performance is slightly impeded by the four-speed automatic gearbox, though, which tends to hunt a bit for the right gear. This only really happens during overtaking manoeuvres at high motorway speeds when you need the gearbox to quickly make its mind up as to whether to kickdown a gear or not. In town, however, there's enough low end grunt to keep gearshifts to a relative minimum.

With regards to the old Santa Fe, handling prowess didn't really factor very much, but Hyundai has worked hard to improve things for the new car. The Santa Fe's high speed stability is particularly impressive, it has no real tendency to wander, even in stiff crosswinds or when passing heavy turbulence-generating arctics or trailer trucks. The brakes are quite authoritative, too, although the first few degrees of pedal travel don't quite lend that impression.

The penalty is a relatively stiff low speed ride, which can in part be attributed to Valencia's cavalierly paved road network. At expressway speeds, things do smooth out considerably. Refinement is also pretty good, and wind noise isn't all that intrusive even when you're well into three-figure speeds.

Body control in the corners is not bad, too. The Santa Fe will roll if you're a bit too enthusiastic with your entry speed but it's not untoward. That doesn't mean that you can drive it like a proper sedan, though, as stringing a series of quick corners together isn't really in the Santa Fe's handling vocabulary.

INSIDE IT

All Santa Fe's bound for local showrooms will come with the seven seater option. The two seats in the third row are only large enough to hold children or a pair of tiny adults but they're definitely handy to have. And they can be folded flat into the boot floor to free up extra load lugging room. If you need even more space, the seatbacks in the middle row can be folded forwards to liberate 1,582-litres of room.

Up front, there's plenty of room and visibility is excellent. Normally, SUV proportions tend to be a bit hard to judge especially during parking but this is not really a problem in the Santa Fe.

Build quality is as per Hyundai's usual standards, and considerable effort seems to have been put into making sure that most surfaces come with some form or another of soft touch finish. The dashboard architecture isn't as attractive as the exterior would lead you to believe, though, but everything's clearly laid out and logically arranged.

Our test car came with all the bells and whistles, including digital two zone climate control, a sunroof and an integrated stereo. However, not all of these options will make it here, as local distributor, Komoco Motors is keen to price the Santa Fe to sell.

Oddments storage is well served, with plenty of cubbyholes and you even get a chilled compartment in the centre console.

DOLLARS AND SENSE

Hyundais are generally priced to sell, and of late the company has had a lot to do with putting the cheerfulness into cheap. At under $90,000 with COE, you get a V6 engined, seven seater SUV that's as good looking as any out there. And there aren't all that many seven seater SUVs.

The list of standard equipment hasn't quite been finalised, but whatever the eventual spec there's no denying that the sub-90k asking price bags you quite a lot of car.

VERDICT

Hyundai has built a perfectly competent, and really very attractive SUV. The only niggle, however, is the size of its engine. The company appears to be in a sort of transitory state, slowly gearing its products to take on the best of the competition in all segments, and that has implications for its affordable carmaker roots, with a new range of larger engines symptomatic of this push. It's probably something that the local market in general has to start seriously facing up to, as this is in no way limited to Hyundai.

Still, the best thing about the new Santa Fe is its looks. If this new aesthetic is a sign of things to come, a visual identity that Hyundai's been slowly evolving with its most recent models, then rival carmakers must surely be very worried.

NEED TO KNOW

Model Hyundai Santa Fe 2.7 (A)
Engine 2,657cc, 24V V6
Max Power 183bhp at 6,000rpm
Max Torque 248Nm at 4,000rpm
Gearbox 4-speed automatic
Top Speed 173km/h
0-100 km/h 12.0 seconds
Price from $89,000 with COE
Warranty 3 years / 100,000km
Contact Komoco Motors, 6475-8888

SIMILAR CARS WE HAVE DRIVEN

Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.7 (A) $86,900 with COE
The new Grand Vitara combines good looks with a pretty serious off-roading focus, with its electronically controlled differential lock. It's also very refined on-road, especially compared with its rough-and-ready predecessor.


Toyota RAV4 2.4(A) $89,988 with COE
The latest RAV4 is much larger than the old model, although Toyota has opted for an evolutionary approach to the styling. The RAV4 is also very capable on road, in fact managing to feel much like a proper sedan.