It's certainly worth test-driving as many vehicles as you can in this fast-moving segment, but you just might find yourself coming back to the well-rounded 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. While the Santa Fe Sport has much to offer, the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Mazda CX-5 are also very appealing, as is the related but newer Kia Sportage. A roomy interior with a sleekly futuristic dashboard adds to the appeal. Like most Hyundai models, the Santa Fe Sport provides a lengthy list of amenities, including some that you don't always see in this segment, such as a hands-free power liftgate and adaptive cruise control with automatic emergency braking. It should be noted that, despite a slight bump in fuel economy for 2017, neither engine is particularly efficient, with the Santa Fe Sport's official EPA numbers being only slightly better than those of the larger V6-powered Santa Fe. These output numbers have actually dropped since last year, but Hyundai claims the retuning yields more oomph at low engine speeds. Engine choices include a 185-hp, 2.4-liter four-cylinder and a turbocharged 2.0-liter four that puts out a healthy 240 hp.
With that confusion cleared up, we can tell you the Santa Fe Sport's tidier measurements make for an all-around more nimble package. Revised front-end styling is one way to tell the 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport apart from its predecessors.
The Santa Fe (reviewed separately), which has also been updated this year, is a midsize crossover SUV with room for up to seven passengers in three rows of seats. The Santa Fe Sport, which receives a thorough freshening for 2017, is a small crossover that seats five. But once you understand where the 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport fits in, you'll see that there's a method to Hyundai's madness. If you're looking at crossover SUVs, you may find the fact that Hyundai offers two separate models with very similar names a tad confusing.