Rent Hyundai SANTA FE 2022 in Dubai

Out on Sheikh Zayed Road is where the Hyundai Santa Fe 2022 makes its case, and it's the side of this SUV most rental pages skip. We rent the Santa Fe across Dubai and deliver it to your door in one to two hours, with 250 km a day included before any extra-kilometre charge. The 2.5-litre puts out 205 hp, so a loaded family car still overtakes on the E11 without you planning three cars ahead. Our take: this is the midsize SUV to book when your week mixes long highway runs to Abu Dhabi or Ras Al Khaimah with the daily school and mall duty, and you don't want a Palisade's size or running cost. Whether five seats and this boot fit your group is the one thing to settle first.

On the highway and around town

The 205 hp four pulls cleanly from a standstill and has the mid-range to merge and overtake at speed, even with four aboard and the AC working. At a steady 120 on the E11 the cabin stays quiet and the ride settles, which is exactly what a two-hour run to RAK should feel like. This is a relaxed cruiser, not a sporty one, and that's the right brief for the roads here.

Around town it's an easy car to place once you're used to its size. The high seating position helps you read junctions and the long bonnet, and the steering is light enough for repeated U-turns and tower-car-park laps.

Will five seats and the luggage work for your group

The 2022 Santa Fe we rent is a five-seat, two-row SUV. If you genuinely need to seat six or seven, this isn't the car and a Palisade or a people-mover is the move. For a couple or two adults with two or three kids it's roomy where it counts, with a wide second row and reclining seatbacks that keep an adult comfortable on the longer drives.

Boot space is the strong suit. With all five seats up you get 1030 litres, enough for a big grocery run plus a stroller, or two large cases and a few soft bags on an airport pickup. Drop the second row and it opens to 2042 litres, which takes flat-pack furniture or a bike with the front wheel off. The honest line: load four or five people plus a week of cases and you'll use most of that boot, so pack with a plan. It's generous for a midsize, but it isn't a full-size SUV.

Specs at a glance

How often you'll stop for fuel

The 67-litre tank is the figure that matters for a week. In real Dubai city driving with the AC on hard, expect somewhere around 11 to 13 litres per 100 km, less on a steady highway run. That works out to a comfortable few days between fills for normal errands, and most of a tank still left for a return trip to Abu Dhabi. It's a big SUV with a big engine, so it isn't sipping fuel, but you won't be hunting for a station mid-trip either.

A couple of costs catch renters out here. Salik tolls are charged to you as you pass the gantries, and any RTA fines during the rental pass to you, so keep to the posted limits and lanes. Child seats are required for under-fours, and we can fit one on request.

Heat, parking and ground clearance

A Santa Fe left in an open lot through a Dubai July gets genuinely hot inside. The air conditioning is strong, and the large cabin cools to comfortable within a few minutes of driving with the fans up. Crack the windows for ten seconds before you set the climate and even August is manageable. Rear passengers get their own vents, which is the detail that keeps kids in the back from roasting on a longer drive.

At 4785 mm long and 1900 mm wide this is a midsize SUV, so the Marina's tighter multi-storey bays and some older mall ramps want a bit of care and the reversing camera. The roughly 200 mm of clearance clears Dubai's speed bumps and mall lips without scraping. That clearance helps on a graded track, but this is a front-wheel-drive road SUV, not a dune car, so leave the soft sand to a proper 4x4.

Who should rent it, and who shouldn't

Rent the Santa Fe 2022 if you're a couple or a family of up to five who wants a comfortable, quiet highway cruiser with real engine pull and a boot that handles serious luggage, without stepping up to a full-size SUV's footprint and fuel bill. It's the car I hand to people who find the Tucson a touch tight but don't want to wrestle a Palisade through Marina parking.

Look elsewhere in two cases. If you regularly need six or seven seats, this five-seater won't stretch, so size up. And if your week is mostly solo or two-up city driving with light bags, you're paying to feed an engine and move metal you won't use, and a Tucson or a midsize sedan will be cheaper and easier to park. For the family in between, the 2022 Santa Fe is the sensible, comfortable middle, and we'll have it at your door within the hour or two.