Is Calligraphy $25K Better Than Base? (Hyundai Santa Fe 2026 Comparison Review)

Hyundai’s Santa Fe is the 2025 Chasing Cars Car Of The Year. And to see whether it’s truly worthy of the mantle, we’ve lived with the flagship Calligraphy Hybrid AWD version for six months and 10,000 kilometres. But given that the entire range of Santa Fe was our ultimate pick of 2025, is the top-spec seven-seat version, which clocks in at almost $83K on road, that much better than the cheapest version you can buy, the base 2.5T petrol front-driver, that costs a little over $57K driveaway? Sure there’s a big difference between the twins given the whopping circa-$25K differential, right? Chasing Cars deputy editor Curt Dupriez pit his long-term Calligraphy against the price-buster and the results might not be what you might expect… Time codes: 0:00 - Intro 0:19 - Challengers 0:38 - Questions? 1:26 - Calligraphy Hybrid AWD 2:08 - Base 2.5T FWD 3:10 - Base interior 5:02 - Calligraphy interior 7:39 - Calligraphy Hybrid on road 9:22 - Base 2.5T on road 11:16 - Ownership 12:09 - Answers 12:32 - Verdict As always, we don’t accept advertising from car manufacturers, and we’re powered by Budget Direct. Subscribe now! https://www.youtube.com/user/ChasingC... Chasing Cars on Facebook:   / chasingcarsaustralia   Follow Chasing Cars on Instagram:   / chasingcars.com.au   Chasing Cars is Australia's most independent source of new car reviews, car industry news, comparisons and car guides. We give you a critical look at every new car you should consider!