Compare the2024 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2023 Mazda CX-9

For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Santa Fe have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Mazda CX-9 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

Both the Santa Fe and CX-9 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 CX-9’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 the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Santa Fe are reminded to check the back seat. The CX-9 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Hyundai Santa Fe has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The CX-9 doesn’t offer knee airbags.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Santa Fe’s standard Downhill Brake Control allow you to creep down safely. The CX-9 doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.

Both the Santa Fe and CX-9 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 CX-9’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the Santa Fe and the CX-9 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, 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, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Hyundai Santa Fe achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The CX-9 has not yet been fully evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.

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 CX-9’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Mazda covers the CX-9. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the CX-9 ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Santa Fe’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the CX-9’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Mazda doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the CX-9.

There are over 55 percent more Hyundai dealers than there are Mazda 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 Mazda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 70 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mazda is ranked 29th, below the industry average.

The Santa Fe’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 27 more horsepower (277 vs. 250) than the CX-9’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Hyundai Santa Fe is faster than the Mazda CX-9:

On the EPA test cycle the Santa Fe gets better mileage than the CX-9:

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Santa Fe’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The CX-9 doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Santa Fe uses regular unleaded gasoline. The CX-9 requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Hyundai Santa Fe higher (7 out of 10) than the Mazda CX-9 (5). This means the Santa Fe produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the CX-9 every 15,000 miles.

An eight-speed automatic (SMG) is standard on the Hyundai Santa Fe, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a six-speed automatic is available for the CX-9.

The Santa Fe offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The CX-9 doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

For better stopping power the Santa Fe’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the CX-9:

The Santa Fe stops much shorter than the CX-9:

The Santa Fe Limited’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the CX-9 Touring Plus/Carbon Edition/Grand Touring/Signature’s 50 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe Calligraphy has standard 21-inch wheels. The CX-9’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

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 CX-9 doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the CX-9 Signature pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the Santa Fe’s turning circle is .9 feet tighter than the CX-9’s (37.9 feet vs. 38.8 feet).

The Santa Fe is 9.2 inches shorter than the CX-9, making the Santa Fe easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The front grille of the Santa Fe uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The CX-9 doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Santa Fe has 16.9 cubic feet more passenger volume than the CX-9 (152 vs. 135.1).

The Santa Fe has 1.8 inches more front headroom, 3.3 inches more front legroom, 1.6 inches more front shoulder room, 2.1 inches more rear headroom, 2.9 inches more rear legroom, 2.3 inches more third row headroom, .3 inches more third row legroom, 2.6 inches more third row hip room and .4 inches more third row shoulder room than the CX-9.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Santa Fe’s middle and third row seats recline. The CX-9’s third row seats don’t recline.

The Santa Fe’s cargo area provides more volume than the CX-9.

The Santa Fe has a standard Sinking Seat third row seat, which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly. The CX-9 doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Santa Fe’s second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The CX-9 doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

Maximum trailer towing in the Mazda CX-9 is limited to 3500 pounds. The Santa Fe offers up to a 4500 lbs. towing capacity.

The Santa Fe uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The CX-9 uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The CX-9 doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The power windows standard on both the Santa Fe and the CX-9 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 CX-9 prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Santa Fe’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The CX-9’s power mirror switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

When the Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The CX-9’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

The Santa Fe XRT/Limited/Calligraphy has a 115-volt a/c outlet, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The CX-9 doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

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 CX-9 doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The Santa Fe is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The CX-9 doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Mazda CX-9 by almost 8 to one during 2023.