Just got a 2025 Calligraphy Santa Fe Hybrid, and the dealer never really talked about the self-driving and parking features. Can anyone break it down for me?
Can it do hands-free driving on highways with the nav system?
What about the parking feature—does it actually parallel park like Ford or GM, or is that not even an option on this car?
Hyundai’s HDA2 system works about as well as Ford’s BlueCruise in my experience.
Davin said:
Hyundai’s HDA2 system works about as well as Ford’s BlueCruise in my experience.
I’d probably still keep my hands on the wheel. I mean, what else would I do with them? 
Do you actually need both hands on the wheel, or will just one hand work?
@Ripley
Everyone’s comfort level is different. The industry is moving towards monitoring visual attention more than hands on the wheel.
You don’t need both hands on the wheel. Every 30 seconds or so, you just need to give it a slight pinch or push (not a full turn). I usually wait until I get a gentle reminder on the HUD before it gives an audible alert.
It’s a well-designed system and works smoothly. One of the main reasons I chose Hyundai and a trim with HDA2.
It doesn’t have full hands-free driving, just lane-keep assist and automatic steering, but you still need to keep your hands on the wheel. It handles most driving functions well.
For auto-parking, it only moves forward and backward with a button. No self-parking like Ford or other brands. The Hyundai version feels like a bit of a gimmick.
@Peyton
Mine sometimes goes several minutes without asking me to touch the wheel.
Gale said:
@Peyton
Mine sometimes goes several minutes without asking me to touch the wheel.
Same here, but I don’t fully trust it. It has some trouble on the highway with exits and steering.
@Peyton
Yeah, it’s not perfect, but it does well when lane markings are clear. It was the best of the cars we test-drove, except for the Tesla Model Y, which is in a league of its own for this stuff.
@Peyton
The HDA system does a great job on highways and usually doesn’t need much intervention. It even avoids off-ramps fine.
Davin said:
@Peyton
The HDA system does a great job on highways and usually doesn’t need much intervention. It even avoids off-ramps fine.
Mine sometimes veers slightly towards off-ramps before correcting. It’s mostly fine, but it makes me a little uneasy. But yeah, HDA2 is really impressive overall.
@Peyton
Interesting—I’ll pay closer attention with off-ramps. I don’t remember mine veering, but maybe I missed it!
@Peyton
It’s mostly a gimmick, but the auto parking does make small adjustments to keep it centered between obstacles. The sensors handle that part.
@Peyton
It actually does a bit of steering. When I was parking in my garage, it adjusted the wheels slightly. So it might do more than we realize.
The auto parking is handy if someone parks too close and you need to move your car in or out without squeezing in!