Compare the2025 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2025 Acura ADX

Both the Santa Fe and ADX have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The ADX’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

In a Vehicle-to-Vehicle Frontal Crash Prevention 2.0 test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Hyundai Santa Fe achieved a “Good” rating - the highest possible - for its performance in forward collision warning and automatic braking systems, demonstrating its excellent capabilities in preventing collisions. The Acura ADX has not been tested.

Both the Santa Fe and ADX have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Santa Fe has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The ADX’s Rear Cross Traffic Monitor doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the Santa Fe and the ADX have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Hyundai Santa Fe weighs 732 to 1117 pounds more than the Acura ADX. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

The Hyundai Santa Fe (built after November 2024) has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2025 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The ADX has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2025.

The Santa Fe comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The ADX’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 10,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe 4 years and 30,000 miles longer than Acura covers the ADX. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the ADX ends after only 6 years or 70,000 miles.

The Santa Fe’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the ADX’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe for 2 years and 24,000 miles longer than Acura pays for maintenance for the ADX (3/36,000 vs. 1/12000).

There are over 3 times as many Hyundai dealers as there are Acura dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Santa Fe’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Acura vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 31 more problems per 100 vehicles, Acura is ranked 18th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Acura With 18 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Hyundai higher than Acura.

The Santa Fe’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 87 more horsepower (277 vs. 190) and 132 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 179) than the ADX’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Santa Fe uses regular unleaded gasoline. The ADX requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

For better stopping power the Santa Fe’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the ADX:

For better traction, the Santa Fe has larger standard tires than the ADX (235/60R18 vs. 225/55R18). The Santa Fe Limited’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the ADX (255/45R20 vs. 235/45R19).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe Calligraphy has standard 21-inch wheels. The ADX’s largest wheels are only 19-inches.

The Santa Fe has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The ADX’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The Santa Fe’s drift compensation steering can automatically compensate for road conditions which would cause the vehicle to drift from side to side, helping the driver to keep the vehicle straight more easily. The ADX doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Santa Fe’s wheelbase is 6.3 inches longer than on the ADX (110.8 inches vs. 104.5 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Fe is 2 inches wider in the front and 1.2 inches wider in the rear than the track on the ADX.

For greater off-road capability the Santa Fe XRT has a greater minimum ground clearance than the ADX (8.3 vs. 7.3 inches), allowing the Santa Fe to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Santa Fe has standard seating for 7 passengers; the ADX can only carry 5.

The Santa Fe has 54.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the ADX (152 vs. 97.3).

The Santa Fe has 2.7 inches more front headroom, 2.5 inches more front legroom, 2.5 inches more front hip room, 2.9 inches more front shoulder room, 2.6 inches more rear headroom, 4.6 inches more rear legroom, 7.5 inches more rear hip room and 2.9 inches more rear shoulder room than the ADX.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Santa Fe’s middle and third row seats recline. The ADX’s rear seats don’t recline.

The Santa Fe’s cargo area provides more volume than the ADX.

Standard Trailer Sway Assist on the Santa Fe uses the Electronic Stability Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The ADX doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, navigation instruction and driver assistance information readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The ADX doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The power windows standard on both the Santa Fe and the ADX have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Santa Fe is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The ADX prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The ADX A-Spec’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

The Hyundai Santa Fe stands out above the Acura ADX by offering not one, but two Qi-compatible phone chargers. This convenience helps travelers with multiple devices to keep powered up on-the-go. Wireless charging eliminates lost or cluttered charging cables and two of them provide more flexibility. Both vehicles also offer Qi charging for the second row passengers.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The ADX doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Hyundai Santa Fe, based on reliability, safety and performance.