Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Yearlong Test Update: A Brutal Michigan Winter Changed How I View It
During the dark and dreary months, our long-term three-row SUV provided warmth, security, and … fun?
Winter in Michigan is mercurial. It’s snowy or wet or icy or sloppy or occasionally, improbably dry. Most days I walk my dog wearing three hoods (from a sweatshirt and two jackets) pulled over a hat, except for the days when I wear no jacket at all. Amid such volatile weather, there are at least a few things I can always count on: The sky will be gray, by mid-February my wife will be asking why we live in a place that’s so hostile to human life, and a few weeks later I’ll be thinking (but stubbornly not saying out loud) the same thing.
Michigan’s winter weather is hard on cars, too. Surface conditions change constantly, not just from day to day, but from street to street. An unforgiving freeze-thaw cycle turns the good pavement into lasagna in a matter of weeks, to say nothing of what happens to the bad roads. And then there’s the deicing salt that quietly nibbles away at everything it touches.
MotorTrend’s yearlong 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid has been a bright spot during this year’s typically gloomy and surprisingly snowy winter. Here’s what I’ve loved and what I’d love to see improved in the coming years.
Winner: Michelin X-Ice Snow SUV Winter Tires
OK, so the best thing about our Santa Fe’s winter performance didn’t actually come with the SUV, but here’s your regular reminder that winter tires are worth every penny in the snow. I’d originally planned to run the Santa Fe’s stock Pirelli Scorpion MS all-season tires for our full 12-month test. Given that recent winters have been wet rather than snowy, I didn’t see a need. The factory Pirellis had proved competent if not exactly confidence-inspiring in early snow dustings, and I figured as long as I adjusted my driving to the conditions, they’d get the job done.
But when Detroit editor Alisa Priddle made plans to pilot our Hyundai deep into the Great White North where they get enough snow to turn the roads into walled-in tunnels, we agreed that winter tires were in order. A set of Michelin X-Ice Snow SUV tires went onto the Santa Fe’s 20-inch wheels just before the holidays, a decision that proved prescient. From November 2025 through February of this year, the city where I live has received 51.4 inches of snow, roughly 20 inches more than we’ve seen during the past three years.
At $403 per tire, the Michelins aren’t cheap, but they proved their worth every time the snow started flying. On multiple ski trips to northern Michigan, driving through a whiteout blizzard in Indiana, and deep into Canada, they’ve done exactly what a winter tire is supposed to do: deliver predictable braking, cornering, and acceleration in unpredictable conditions.
Miraculously, the Michelins have a minimal impact on the Santa Fe’s steering precision and handling. That’s one of the reasons I chose them. I’ve mounted X-Ice Snow SUVs on my wife’s Honda CR-V for years specifically because they’re less compromised than most other winter tires when the roads aren’t covered in snow. I do have one gripe, though: The Santa Fe’s ride quality on the X-Ice Snow SUV tires is significantly worse than on the stock Pirellis. Winter tires with this much sidewall and such a chunky tread pattern usually feel squishier and squirmier than all-seasons. These tires on this SUV ride like they’re filled with peanut butter rather than air. Potholes and frost heaves travel through the suspension as if the Santa Fe is wearing run-flat tires (which it isn’t). This has of course been exacerbated by the fact that the potholes multiply every day throughout winter. All in all, it’s a trade-off worth making for the safety winter tires provide, but with the temperature yoyoing between the 70s and mid-20s, I’m getting eager to remount the stock all-seasons.
