this is the hyundai tucson one of a great many tall riding suv crossovers for people who want
a car with rugged good looks and a tall driving position that feels like a hatchback to drive
is it even possible though to compete with such a wide range of cars from the sangyon karando
to the audi q3 or is the hyundai tucson a bit of a jack of all trades too expensive on one
hand and not luxurious enough on the other to keep up with more well-rounded rivals
the tucson is available with a range of petrol and diesel engines including a
base 1.6 litre petrol a 1.6 litre diesel and 2 litre diesel available with all hill drive
48 volt mile hybrid attack is also available on these engines to help reduce running costs
inside the hyundai tucson while the driving position is definitely taller than a hatchback
it's not exactly sky high there's plenty of adjustment in the steering wheel and the seats
that's partly down to the fact that in this model you get electric adjustment as standard on the
driver and passenger seat also you'll notice that i've got plenty of headroom even though this car
has the optional panoramic sunroof the pedals are nicely centered and well spaced out which is great
if you've got big feet or you're wearing wellies or something whereas the gear shift sometimes
feels like it's a bit of a stretch away and i keep banging my arm into this armrest which annoyingly
doesn't quite fold out the way enough the seats are very good they strike a nice balance between
being comfortable and well bolstered enough to hold you in place and in this model they
are both heated and cooled it's just a shame that there's no extendable thigh cushion if you've got
long legs it does open up though to reveal a deep storage box which is large enough for a big bag
of crisps although there's no power in there so you're not gonna be able to charge your phone you
get two cup holders here a small kind of oddment tray here and a weird sort of thin pocket there
plus an open cubby at the front which in this car has got a wireless charger which satisfyingly is
the exact size of my massive phone you will need that though because there is only one usb in this
car although you do get two 12-volt accessory sockets which is a bit old-school and an aux look
at that you get big door pockets with a bottle shaped recess right in the middle which feels
a bit inconvenient if you want to put anything else in there and there's also a warning telling
you not to put a hot drink in them in case you thought that was a good idea there's actually a
similar icon on these air vents which explains how they work in case you didn't know which is nice
cars from the second trim level up get this larger touchscreen infotainment system which has
physical buttons down the side which i think are perhaps a bit too far away in their extremities
it's a freestanding unit that juts up out the dashboard but not too high so that it would impede
on your visibility out i found there can be a small delay and navigating between its different
menus although the fonts and icons are at least nice and big so it's easy to use while on the move
in appearance it does look a little bit like an old iphone which means it is starting to feel
quite a bit dated now this is a high specification model but even so you
get a simply huge amount of standard kit that you don't often see on cars this side of a limo
such as those cooled seats i mentioned earlier that said this climate control panel does look
hilariously dated now and while you can get a digital dial setup this car makes do with
analog dials that are at least clear and easy to read with a digital screen in the middle
now because you cannot be a premium car these days without a third party stereo the hyundai
tucson comes with a system by krell which sounds like a marvel cinematic universe character but
it's actually very loud very clear and has a lot of bass thanks to a subwoofer in the boot hyundai
talks quite a lot about luxury in its brochure for this car but there's still quite a lot of
kind of hard wearing plastic on the door cards and dashboard this area down here sounds a little
bit flimsy and just look how much i can bend this bit in this model you get a swathe of leather look
stuff on the dash here which lifts things a little bit and there's a similar finish to the wheel
and the gear stick which feels quite nice although the sun visors feel like they're made of the kind
of plastic you would trim a hospital chair in they do have these extendable plastic sections though
which are great for blocking out the sun just don't forget when you've deployed them or when
you put the visor back they'll hit you in the face and then block out the rear view
mirror there's a simple range with a good level of equipment on the base back car but there's loads
to gain by climbing through the trims called s connect se nav n-line premium and premium se
in the back in this model at least you do get heated seats although that's nothing compared
to how heated the argument is going to get over this single usb charging socket still there are
two air vents so you can blast cold air at your passengers and a decent sized door pocket in each
door too but again no hot drinks if you must bring a hot beverage into the back of the car
you put it here in the armrest rear seat space is quite good actually there are cut outs in
the back of the seats here for your knees and while the panoramic roof goes all the way back
it doesn't impede on headroom too much these rear seats also recline to maximize passenger space
or can be set bolt upright if you want more luggage capacity or frankly you just don't like
your rear seat passenger the middle seat actually is surprisingly good even i can sit upright with
no particular problem and because it's set kind of far forward as well i don't think shoulder room is
going to be an issue there's even somewhere to put my feet because of this low transmission tunnel
boot space largely depends on what model you buy the petrol tucson has 513 liters with the seats up
and 1 503 liters with them down this drops by 30 or so liters if you pick the 1.60 for diesel
and by 50 liters if you pick the largest two litre diesel the floor has two heights and
there's a place underneath to store things like the tonneau cover when not in use plus a hook on
each side of the boot to hang things from and a 12 volt socket for electrical accessories
before we go on here are three alternatives to the hyundai tucson
nissan qashqai this has been around for ages and it's still the car to beat when shopping for a
midsize family suv that's despite rivals including the tucson offering better practicality and
nicer interior still it pays to be first and the kashgar remains something of a knee-jerk choice
say attacker this is the most fun car of this type and size to drive that's an area that
hyundai has improved upon lately but it still lags behind when it comes to this spanish suv rival
if that's not your priority then the set offers a similarly sized boot and a nicer
interior making it a strong alternative regardless of whether you like driving fast
kia sportage the tucson sportier cousin features more dramatic looks and a similarly strong list of
standard equipment the boot's a bit smaller though and the cabin is more design lead
than the ergonomic tucsons making it more of a youthful offering to the hyundai's premium feel
it is not particularly evolving to drive the hyundai tucson and that's especially compared
with something like a attacker or a mazda cx-5 it does however have a very good level of grip
and that coupled with good body control means that it has an overwhelming sense of stability
the brakes are very strong though and can provide quite a lot of dive the 6-speed manual gearbox
in this car is light but very positive it slots neatly between its shifts and actually has quite a
surprisingly short and sporty throw the pedals and steering are also very light although there is a
sport mode which you can activate to add weight to the latter you do have to press the button twice
every time you want to change modes though which is kind of annoying and to be honest with you i'm
not really sure about that much this turbocharged 1.6 litre petrol engine that we've got in this car
is the fastest model from not to 62. although i think if you get the 2d to diesel it will feel
just as strong in everyday conditions potentially even better thanks to a lot more low down torque
elsewhere in the engine range there is a non-turbocharged version of this petrol engine
which is good if you're not in a particular hurry and a 1.6 is diesel engine boosted by 48 volt
mould hybrid assistance and that in particular offers a great blend of efficiency and performance
on that last point it is worth noting that this 1.6 litre petrol engine will
absolutely drink fuel if you push it too hard we saw 25 mpg on one particularly spirited drive
trouble is though unlike the diesel engines of the tucson range you do need to work
this petrol engine quite hard to get the best out of it in order to keep it in its
relatively narrow power band let the roads drop too low and there
can sometimes be a bit of a delay before the power comes back in
what i mean by that is that the power from the turbo comes in in one big push and then you have
to shift up before the power fades otherwise all you get is just more noise that said if you keep
the engine within its range it does make quite a good noise it's graph without being too strained
the ride is nicely judged although on this car with its big wheels it can sometimes feel
a little bit jiggly i think a cheaper spec with smaller wheels and a bit more
tyre sidewall would be better at dealing with smaller tarmac imperfections but then again
it probably wouldn't look as cool either way the hyundai tucson is commendably
quiet on the move with very little wind or road noise and the engine is
barely audible at takeover all while cruising on the motorway
before we get to the verdict if you're still trying to decide whether this car is right for
you here are our top three choices based on budget for the cheapest car to run you'd be best suited
by the 1.6 litre naturally aspirated petrol engine in s connect trim company car drivers should head
straight for the 1.6 litre diesel engine with 48 volt mild hybrid assistance two wheel drive and
a manual gearbox as this produces the loose co2 and something like sc nav trim upwards as that
car comes with satnav as standard performance car fans are best served by the n-line model in
terms of sporty styling and the turbocharged 1.6 litre petrol engine which is the only version that
clocks a not to 62 mile time under 9 seconds although the 2d diesel is also a good choice
there are loads of cars like the hyundai tucson and at times it can be a little bit
difficult to differentiate between them all what we have here is a good looking practical
safe and above all good value for money suv with a measure of luxury thrown into
you