The crucial car for Hyundai and an important competitor in hottest, at the moment, crossover class.

Good

• Stylish look
• Comfortable ride
• Spacious interior

Not very good

• Low fuel economy
• Not the biggest boot
• Too much scratchy plastic

Introduction

This is the third generation of Hyundai Tucson and the restyle version of previous model. The main updates of the restyle version are: the colors available for exterior, new grille, new more stylish front and rear lights and a lot of new additions to the interior.

Interior

For its class the Hyundai Tucson is very impressive in interior for space provided as well as for infotainment options. The new standard 7 inch touchscreen with extra physical buttons stands proud above the dashboard and doesn't force you to take your eyes far from the road to look at it. For the Ultimate trim there is an 8-inch color touchscreen display with navigation. Climate controls buttons are easy-to-use and nice-to-touch dials below air vents. Below climate block you have a USB socket, a 12V socket and more important for Premium and Premium SE models there are wireless charging pads. The materials are much better than before but there is still a lot of scratchy plastic especially on the doors. Rear seats have enough width to accommodate 3 people or 2 child seats and one booster in between. Even if you set the driver's seat for 6' 1" (185 cm) you have enough leg room to sit behind and to push your feet under the front seat.

Boot

You have 513 litres of space to fill in the boot or 1 503 litres with the seats flipped down and no opening in the bench seat for long items. In the boot you have one 12V socket, a hanger for shopping bag and surprisingly a full-size spare wheel under the floor.

Exterior

Thanks to new exterior elements that we mentioned above, the facelift version looks much more interesting and aggressive. Moreover the new 17 inch allow wheels come as standard now with 18" and 19" as an extra option. Despite wide-opening door for an easy access, these are not covering the sills so they are always dirty and your trousers can suffer if your are not getting out very carefully.

Performance and Ride

Hyundai Tucson is available with petrol and diesel engines and with manual or automatic gearbox. For 2.0 petrol engine you can even choose either 2 wheel-drive or 4 wheel-drive with HTRAC option. The engine gives you very silent journeys and enough power for a smooth cruising and quick overtakes in the city. The tested 2.0 vehicle should return, as claimed by Hyundai, 22 US mpg (26 UK mpg) but as a everyday car it shows around 16 US mpg (19.2 UK mpg). Tucson's ride is somewhere in the middle in its class. You can sit high enough in the driving seat to enjoy the good view around.

Ownership Costs

Starting price for Hyundai Tucson in USA is $ 23,700 for SE version and tops up at $ 32,050 for Ultimate trim. Claimed range by Hyundai is 23 miles per US gallon in city and 28 miles on highway. Based on today's price per gallon in United States - 2.32$, it means you can drive an average of 10 miles per US dollar.

For Hyundai Tucson, the annual maintenance cost will be around 426$ based on Hyundai's recommended maintenance schedule at every 7 500 miles (or 12 months, whichever comes first).

Carzall Verdict

As the Tucson does nothing wrong and a great deal right, these can lead it to be a definitely leader in its class. So if you are interested in a car from Tucson's class you can certainly put it on your shortlist.