First drive review: Hyundai Tucson

Wednesday, 4 August 2021

The brand new Hyundai Tucson is here, and we took it through the Forgotten Highway.

HYUNDAI TUCSON
Price range: $49,990 to $72,990
Powertrains: 2.0-litre petrol inline four with 115kW/192Nm, 8.6L/100km, six-speed automatic, FWD, 1.6-litre turbo petrol inline four with 132kW/265Nm, 6.9L/100km, seven-speed dual clutch automatic, AWD and 1.6-litre turbo diesel inline four with 100kW/320Nm, 5.2L/100km seven-speed dual clutch automatic, AWD.

The new Tucson has arrived, and it looks good.

Body style: SUV
On sale: Now

It’s hard to fault the design of the new Tucson.

Seventeen years to the day after the Hyundai Tucson first arrived in New Zealand, and we’re driving the fourth generation. It has smart new looks, fresh engines (although nothing electrified just yet) and plenty of tech. Tucson is Hyundai’s strongest seller, so the new one has to be good.

Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?

The interior is as stylistically adventurous as the exterior, but is a nicely high quality place.

May as well start with the obvious - that new grille. It looks massive, but it also houses the LED daytime running lights along the outer edges. The lights are quite striking in the dark and aren’t really like anything else on the road. There are also corner-mounted foglights too, for increased visibility.

* Hyundai, Kia and Next Hydrogen collaborate on more efficient hydrogen technology

The new-age design did look a bit funny in the sleepy town of Whangamomona.

* Hyundai welcomes Spot the robot dog to the family

* Hyundai debuts new Tucson SUV

There are more than a few iconic photo spots on the Forgotten Highway.

Around the back is a full-width LED strip with two dashes on each end. On higher-spec models, these are LEDs and both light up under braking while base models get halogens and only the outer bar illuminates.

The profile features a bunch of creases and angles, prominent above the wheel arches in particular. Hyundai’s best looking vehicle at the moment? Quite possibly.

Rough roads don’t really matter to the new Tucson, thanks to AWD.

Inside is an all-new interior with a new centre console with a slab of digital screen sitting above touch-based media and air conditioning controls. Base models replace some of these with physical controls and analogue gauges instead of a digital instrument cluster.

Somewhat strangely, the higher-end Tucsons don’t have wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay but the lower-spec ones do. This is apparently due to how the wireless charging and navigation systems work. Still weird though.

Powering the new Tucson is one of three different four-cylinder engines at launch. The range starts with the 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol (115kW/192Nm), moving up to the 1.6-litre turbo diesel (100kW/320Nm) and finally to the 1.6-litre turbo petrol (132kW/265Nm). The 2.0-litre gets a six-speed automatic while the other two use newer seven-speed dual-clutch automatics.

Those DRLs are very cool, and instantly recognisable at night.

Next year, Hyundai will introduce hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants, which will make 169kW/350Nm combined and 195kW/350Nm combined respectively.

Hyundai’s quoted fuel figures are with the NEDC test cycle, which is a bit old now and not what the Government uses to see if a car is too polluting or not. NEDC figures are typically a bit lean, meaning the car really uses more fuel and emits more CO2 in the real world.

There isn’t really a dud of the bunch, but the 1.6L diesel is my pick until the hybrids arrive next year.

During the launch, Hyundai said the 2.0-litre petrol would likely be penalised next year when the Clean Car Discount becomes a sliding scale, while the diesel should be under the CO2 limit. It’s harder to tell with the turbo petrol, but it may also just slip in.

Where did you drive it?

The launch kicked off in New Plymouth, at the Len Lye Centre. It was apparently chosen because its design is quite outlandish, a “striking and provocative expression of movement,” like the new Tucson. Fair enough.

From there we went out to Richard Landers’ Glass Studio, about half an hour to the west of New Plymouth, before winding back through the city and out towards the Forgotten World Highway and the Whangamomona Hotel.

It probably won’t be surprising to hear the new Tucson is superb in urban areas, particularly the diesel. Despite the engine type falling out of favour in recent years, it’s hard to argue with that low-down torque. There’s a decent bit of power too, although there isn’t much to be had by revving the engine out to the red line.

Hyundai’s 1.6-litre oiler is smooth too, more so than you might expect, helped by the new dual-clutch automatic transmission. Most of our driving was at speed, so I couldn’t tell if the transmission had any of the typical dual-clutch jerkiness at takeoff, but it’s lovely when on the move.

Moving into the 2.0-litre atmospheric base model, the lack of forced induction is clear, but the engine never feels overly burdened. It still pulls the Tucson along nicely and the gearing of the older six-speed is well-spaced.

Part of that is down to the new chassis, which was designed with weight, comfort, and a diverse range of powertrains in mind. Quite simply, it’s superb.

The all-wheel drive models weigh around 1650kg, while the front drivers tip the scales around 200kg less. Hitting the twistier bits of the Forgotten Highway in Sport mode revealed how much work had gone into the chassis – the cars don’t really feel as heavy as they might seem on paper.

With the heavier steering of Sport mode, the Tucson is reactive and happy to be pushed. Push too hard and you will encounter understeer, but that’s largely by design (it’s easier to save than oversteer). Interestingly, it didn’t seem like the transmission parameters changed much in Sport, meaning the computer would seek higher ratios instead of holding a lower gear for longer.

There isn’t a Tucson N yet but there is an N-Line model, which uses the 1.6-litre turbo petrol and adds a bunch of sporty design cues, like different seats, a gloss black grille, twin-outlet exhaust, special alloys and a special interior trim package.

It’s not the only model in the range to get the 1.6T (but it can only be had with the 1.6T) and it’s the best example of how good it can be. The engine is punchy, with max torque kicking in at 1500rpm and power at 5500rpm. If it had a mite more in both output areas, it might be my pick of the lot…

What’s the pick of the range?

… But, as it stands, my favourite is the 1.6-litre diesel. I’m not sure if it’s better in Limited or Elite trim, considering the former doesn’t have wireless phone mirroring but does have other niceties the latter lacks.

Either way, the diesel engine is superb, cheaper than the petrol, and, if you like this sort of powerplant, it could be one of the last times to get one. It won’t be penalised next year either.

Mention next year, the hybrids are due early 2022. I’m expecting those to be brilliant (especially if Hyundai can get the pricing under $80k) and I’ll probably change my mind to the PHEV. But for now, the diesel gets it.

Why would I buy it?

You want an SUV that really stands out and drives better than you might expect but also doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Why wouldn’t I buy it?

You’re waiting for that juicy electrification to come next year, or you don’t like people looking at you.