The Hyundai Santa Fe has been through many changes during the four generations and 23 years that it’s been sold here in the U.S., but none more dramatic than what is being offered for 2024. This fifth-gen Santa Fe is certainly bigger and definitely boxier, but is it a better Santa Fe?

This 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe is indeed a major departure from the wide-mouth, chrome-clad, swoopy-styled midsize five-passenger utility that we’ve known for the last 5 years, and it brings some other big changes with it.

The look is now more slab-sided, slimmed-down, and off-road inspired; drawing comparisons to Land Rover from just about everyone we encountered. The wheelbase has been extended by almost 2 inches, which adds to interior space; so much so that a third row of seating is now once again standard in the Santa Fe. Like many major departures when it comes to styling, time will tell how well it ages, or if there will be another big swing next time around. Many on our staff were not fans of the 21-inch wheels that come with the top Calligraphy trim; and it does appear like they ran out of ideas when they got to the back and called it a day.

But that flat tailgate is 6 inches wider than the previous gen, allowing for very-much minivan-like access to the cargo area, which Hyundai says is the launchpad for adventures, no longer just a simple cargo bay. There’s room for 14.6 cu-ft of adventure gear, or just groceries, behind the third row, 40.5 cu-ft behind the second row, and a max of 79.6 cu-ft with all seatbacks folded. And if you can’t fit everything back there, Hyundai has integrated a cool grab handle into the C-pillar for helping you load stuff up top.

The cockpit of this adventure vehicle feels much more like a luxury car than a rugged utility. Maybe that’s the Land Rover influence again. But really, it’s mostly on-brand from what we’ve been seeing from Hyundai lately. That’s especially the case when you escalate things to top Calligraphy trim. Its $12,500 over base and comes with features such as quilted Nappa leather seats, Eco-suede materials, dual wireless phone chargers, a sweeping panoramic curved dual screen display that we’re more accustomed to seeing in Genesis, with sturdy captain’ chairs with lots of adjustments in the second row. Two-place seating in the standard third row means a capacity of six; lesser trims come with a second-row bench upping that number to seven.

The 2.5-liter I4 turbocharged engine returns, but now as the standard powertrain, getting slightly detuned to 277 horsepower but with the same 311 lb-ft of torque as last year. All-wheel drive is an $1,800 option for all trims except in the off-road inspired XRT where it is included. A 231-horsepower Hybrid is optional. This is a lot of vehicle for the standard four-cylinder to move, even if it is turbocharged, but that seems to be the way things are heading these days. So, we’ll just have to accept the tepid jog to 60 of 7.0 seconds. To be fair, it’s still plenty quick for running errands with the family.

It uses a dual-clutch eight-speed transmission rather than a traditional automatic. Gear changes were smooth with some power drop with each upshift. We reached 95 mph at the end of the quarter-mile in 15.4 seconds. This bigger Santa Fe felt very stable at speed going down the track. It was more in its element in our handling course, with sharp and responsive steering, great balance, and lots of feedback; all making it easy to keep momentum going through the cones. We saw plenty of nosedive with a soft brake pedal in our panic braking runs. But results were quite good, with stops from 60 averaging 111 feet.

Government Fuel Economy Ratings with all-wheel drive are 20 City, 28 Highway, and 23 Combined; rounding up our 22.6 mpg of Regular average puts it right on.

An ever increasingly wide bandwidth of options has the base Santa Fe starting at $35,365 and reaching all the way up to $47,915 for top Calligraphy; the Hybrid is available in SEL, Limited, and Calligraphy trims only.
Love it or hate it, the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe has made a bold step in style, but it still has plenty of substance to back it up. So yes, it is a better Santa Fe, and now with a definite upmarket push, it lands as an even greater mid-size utility value.

If, like us, you’re old enough to remember when Porsche only made sports cars, you’ll find it hard to believe that this Panamera sedan is now in its third generation. Now, over the years it certainly has gotten more luxurious and more innovative, but does it still have the soul of a Porsche? Well, let’s find out.

The Porsche Panamera has been delivering Porsche levels of driving excitement and European luxury car levels of pampering since it first appeared here for 2010. For 2024, a third generation arrives cranking up just about everything that makes the Panamera… a Panamera.

The 911 influence remains strong in the overall design, and exterior dimensions stay almost exactly the same, but the Panamera’s face does now appear a little less rounded. Both the size and location of front air inlets have increased, expanding grillwork to the corners, further accentuating the Panamera’s already substantial width. Down the sides, the windows sit flusher with the bodywork and the rear hips are a little less pronounced. While in back, beneath the active rear spoiler, the fascia adds a lot more sculpting and the full-width taillights blend in much better than before. All making for easily the best-looking Panamera yet.

Good news for people who like to haul lots of things with their high-performance luxury car, Porsche keeps the hatchback flexibility intact. Which means a wide opening for accessing the 17.4 cubic-feet of space. 40/20/40 folding seatbacks and a nice flat load floor allow for a max of 46.9 cubic-feet.

Up front, are some great-feeling leather covered sport seats, and a new Porsche Driver Experience which includes a wide in-dash infotainment touchscreen and separate fully digital gauge display for the driver. The shifter toggle is also on the dash, sitting just to the right of the steering wheel, with the circular Drive Mode selector actually on the wheel. All controls have a very solid feel to them, and that even includes the touch sensitive ones on the rising center console that somehow work better here than in most other vehicles. Porsche even now has “vent by wire” with the ability to control airflow direction on the touchscreen, and for an additional “wow” factor, front passengers can get their own touchscreen. The rear seat experience is just as special; optional high-back bucket seats with lots of adjustments, and center console touchscreen control.

Starting off the ’24 model year, just the standard rear-drive V6 Panamera and this all-wheel-drive Panamera 4 are available. Both feature a 2.9-liter V6 twin-turbo engine producing 348 horsepower and 368 lb-ft of torque, and an eight-speed PDK automatic. But a wider variety of flavors when it comes to powertrain performance will quickly arrive, all the way up to a 771-horsepower Turbo S E-Hybrid. This Panamera 4’s numbers may sound pretty humble for a big sedan with a Porsche badge on the hood, but throw in the Sport Chrono package and it was a wild ride at Mason Dixon Dragway.

As per usual, PDK launch control performed absolutely perfect every single time, as we knocked out consistent 4.2-second trips to 60. Smooth, quiet, and luxurious for the entire quarter-mile trip of 12.7 seconds, finishing at 107 mph. In the handling course, steering had a hefty and slightly unpredictable feel to it, but delivered the kind of precision that only Porsche seems to be able to deliver. Porsche’s available Active Ride suspension that will be on E-Hybrid models not only counteracts body roll, but actively leans the car into corners like a motorcycle rider; but even without it, this Panamera 4 felt incredibly well-balanced with minimal body roll. Braking performance was fully Porsche-spec, stopping in a scant 98 feet from 60 mph.

Even with all of that performance, the Panamera remains a very comfortable car to just drive, and eats up highway miles as well as it carves corners. Government Fuel Economy Ratings for the 4 are 18 City, 25 Highway, and 21 Combined. We managed to hyper-mile our way to 27.1 mpg of Premium. Just slightly worse than average for the Energy Impact Score, using 14.2 barrels of oil yearly, with 7.0 tons of CO2 emissions.

Pricing starts at $101,550, with the Panamera 4 coming in at $108,550. It may have four doors, and a hatch, and more tech beneath the surface than just about anything we’ve blasted into outer space, but when it comes to the driving experience, there is only one way to sum up the 2024 Porsche Panamera. It’s pure Porsche.