Hyundai Santa Fe vs Honda Pilot

Both SUVs boast plenty of room for friends and loved ones, but you’ll have more room in the first and second rows of the Santa Fe.

• Santa Fe Headroom (1st/2nd row): 41.1/40.6 inches
• Santa Fe Legroom (1st/2nd row): 41.4/42.3 inches

This spacious Hyundai cabin gives you more wiggle room than you’ll find in the Honda Pilot, which offers 40.5 inches of headroom and 41 inches of legroom in the front row and 40.2 inches of headroom and 40.8 inches of legroom in the second row.

Staying connected has never been quite so easy. In either model, you can keep in touch with the world, whether you’re way off the grid or right around the corner. They both come with the following infotainment features:

• Bluetooth® hands-free phone system
• Android Auto™
• Apple CarPlay®

When you pair your phone to the multimedia suite in either SUV, you may have an easier time viewing navigation or clicking on apps in the Hyundai since its standard screen is 12.3 inches. The Honda offers a 7-inch touchscreen or an available 9-inch display.

Both the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Honda Pilot have a go-anywhere attitude, especially when outfitted with their available all-wheel drive systems. These drivetrains send the ideal amount of power to each wheel, so you can enjoy sure-footed control on every slick road or all-terrain trail.

If you want the most capable model, look to either manufacturer. The Santa Fe XRT and the Pilot TrailSport offer enhanced capabilities, so you can take on highways or off-road trails confidently.

If you really want to keep the fun going, you’ll need an efficient SUV. Here, the Santa Fe has the advantage. It boasts an EPA-estimated 25 city/28 highway MPG.^* Wave goodbye as you cruise past another gas station. The Honda Pilot only manages an EPA-estimated 19 city/27 highway MPG.

Plus, the Santa Fe offers an available hybrid powertrain, which will have an even greater impact on fuel economy. Unfortunately, the Pilot goes without a hybrid option.

The Santa Fe and the Pilot each include a suite of smart safety features: Hyundai SmartSense and Honda Sensing® respectively. They share a similar set of standard technologies, including:

• Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist
• Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go
• Lane Following Assist

They both also provide brand-specific versions of Driver Attention Warning. It monitors your driving patterns and alerts you when it detects drowsy or distracted driving, so you can refocus or pull over for a break.

Only the Santa Fe includes Hyundai-first, Forward Attention Warning, which uses a steering column-mounted infrared camera to track the driver’s gaze and monitor attention more closely.

Do you want an SUV that can park itself? Of course, you do! Only the Santa Fe is capable of such a feat when equipped with the optional Remote Smart Parking Assist. All you need to do is press a button on your Smart Key, and it can pull into and out of a parking spot.

Speaking of parking, it can be tricky. Not in the Santa Fe, though! This model comes standard with Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, which monitors traffic passing behind your vehicle, so you can pull out confidently. This feature is available on the Pilot.