Back in September, the Here Awards rōpū set off around the country to view the shortlist of projects in person: four days on the road, from Tāmaki Makaurau to Ōtautahi. We did so in our 2025 Hyundai SANTA FE Calligraphy model – in a fetching shade of Earthy Brass Matte – and we're delighted to announce you now have the opportunity to drive one for a week.
With the houses located in a variety of locations, from the inner city to open country, we found it versatile, comfortable and a pleasure to drive. It’s a big car, but it slides into street parking with ease.
The SANTA FE has had an all-encompassing, design-driven overhaul for its latest iteration: a sharp take on a New Zealand favourite. With a squared-off, blocky shape, the new design features an extended wheelbase, high hood, muscular fenders and sharply defined wheel arches. It also features a full-width power tailgate for optimal boot space. The front grill is confident, while headlights and tail lights feature a prominent H.
It also has a class-leading interior with myriad small details that make it work: heated leather seats that can lie flat if you want them to, a motorised sunroof, dual wireless phone charging and a generous 12-inch panoramic display. There’s a central armrest cubby that can be opened either way by front or rear passengers, and a multitude of storage options including a glovebox with a UV light to clean your phone. Pleasingly, it has a number of buttons for ease of access when driving, steering away from the move by other car-makers towards everything being on screen.
As a large SUV, it’s well suited to transporting a rōpū of architects and the odd photographer or writer: helped in no small regard by its three rows of seats, which can be reconfigured to create a very large boot. In our case, the car was set up as a six-seater, with the third row of seats in the boot and “captain’s chairs” in the middle, along with charging ports, cup holders and air-conditioning controls. (This is also very popular with the junior members of the Here team, now aged eight and 10.)
The biggest change this iteration is in the engine. The SANTA FE is now petrol-only. Ours is a hybrid, combining a 1.6L turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor, which means it does an impressive 900km to a tank with no real impact on performance. A family vehicle, sure, but a pretty good transporter of architects as well.
To be in the draw to drive a SANTA FE for a week, enter here – we hope you enjoy driving it as much as we did.
Hyundai SANTA FE
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