Hyundai Santa Fe VS Holden Acadia

The petrol engine definitely has more pep to it than the hybrid variants I've sampled. The power is responsive and you still feel like there’s heaps leftover when you have to overtake or get up a hill without any annoying engine whines.

The steering isn’t too heavy, despite the size of this car but turning off the lane-keeping aid will keep the on-road experience feeling smooth. Otherwise, you sort of ping-pong in your lane as the aid readjusts strongly.

All Santa Fes feel way more nimble than they have any right to in corners. You do get some roll, but our test model is sure-footed, even in heavy wet weather. 

The eight-speed dual-clutch auto transmission is smooth enough and you don’t get any annoying lags when you accelerate from a full stop, which is unusual for such a unit.

Ride comfort is pretty high as well, with suspension that feels forgiving over the worst of the bumps and a cabin that remains quiet, even at higher speeds. 

You have really great visibility in this model because of how big the windows are and the taller driving position helps as well. None of the pillars hindered my vision either from my driving position.

The Santa Fe well and truly fills out a car space and it was easy to see it in a car park because the butt hangs out a bit, but it’s still easy to park with its very clear 360-degree camera system and parking sensors at the front, side and rear. So while it is big, it doesn't feel big to park.

Overall, the petrol Santa Fe is an simple SUV to drive and will be a forgiving choice for lots of different driving styles.

If you’re a fan of SUVs because they can make you feel like you’re a hundred feet tall wearing a Transformers suit, then you’re going to like driving the Acadia. Yup, it looks like a truck and feels like one when you’re looking out over that high, broad bonnet.

The dashboard is also tall, and this combined with the truck-like bonnet meant I had to raise my seat higher than the setting I’d normally use, just to see clearly over. Even then visibility isn’t great thanks to long and wide A-Pillars framing the windscreen.

There are other ergonomic issues you’ll face in this cabin. I found the centre console armrest way too high and my elbow kept hitting it as I turned the steering wheel it also made changing the drive modes on the rotating dial in front of it awkward using your left hand to scratch your left armpit. Made you do it, didn’t I?

The indicator and wiper stalks are also positioned at a high angle and on the highest wiper setting I had to take my hand off the wheel to turn them off. If my hands aren’t big enough to reach them while holding the steering wheel, there’s no way Donald Trump could.

So how does the Acadia drive? Well there are two very different feeling Acadias in the range. There’s the one Holden brought to Australia to test rigorously around its test track and Australian roads, tuning the adaptive suspension to offer a comfortable ride that suits our conditions – it’s the LTZ-V.

Then there’s the LT and LTZ, which didn’t get the full Holden suspension work-over. Sure, Holden went to the US and helped develop a suspension system for these two grades, but they had to make a compromise and agree on a tune that would make the American drivers happy, too. In the US drivers prefer a softer, more cushioned ride, while in Australia we tend to like a firmer sportier one with better handling.

That means the LT and LTZ just don’t handle as well as the LTZ-V. Not only do those lower grades have a softer ride that feels almost like you’re bouncing on a space hopper at times, they also don’t have the great adaptive suspension of the top grade LTZ-V. The adaptive suspension can not only be set in a sport setting, for better handling but is constantly adjusting itself to the driving style.

On the highway all grades cruise beautifully, like battleships ploughing through the miles of road – this is where they are really in their element. You’ll also find them all comfortable for suburban adventures, too – even on patchy streets with bad surfaces the ride is composed and compliant.

But when I took the LT with AWD along a fantastic bit of familiar road with a great surface and plenty of twists, I could feel that suspension doing everything it could to rein in the body roll, but not winning. This is a 2.0-tonne and tall SUV and I don’t expect it to behave like a sports car, but Mazda’s CX-9 feels more agile with quicker steering and better handling than the Acadia.

The LTZ-V has an exceptional ride – almost limo like with adaptive suspension ironing out the road ahead.

Even as a passenger in the second row the journey was comfy and serene, the cabin well insulated, although those rear seats are unsupportive and in the corners I felt myself sliding around back there. And that’s the thing, even in the corners the Aussie-developed LTZ-V still struggled to control its heft, and when pushed more the tyres began to chirp in the bends. The LTZ-V wears Continental ContiCrossContact high performance all-terrain tyres (235, 55 R20) if you’re wondering.

Still I didn’t feel the Acadia lacked grunt, the V6 is smooth and there was an instant connection between the accelerator pedal and the acceleration that you don’t get with the turbo-charged CX-9.

The thing is you really need to get the Acadia up to 5000rpm to really get good oomph – and that’s going to harm your fuel economy.

Choosing a front-wheel drive variant will save you a bit of money at the pump, and while the all-wheel drive adds some reassuring traction on wet roads and gravel, it’s not essential. Front and all-wheel drive Acadias had identical comfort levels in terms of ride.