Hyundai Tucson Review (First-Drive): The Mid-Size SUV That Offers Best Of Both Worlds?

However, the latest facelifted avatar of the Tucson SUV was showcased earlier this year at the 2020 Auto Expo. Earlier this year in the month of July, Hyundai launched the facelifted Tucson at a starting price of Rs 22.3 lakh ex-showroom and the car almost stayed true to the one that was showcased at the Expo.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, since everything came to a halt, we could not test drive the new Tucson. But now, we got our hand on the facelifted Tucson GLS 4WD for a day and the car now gets new features on the outside as well as on the inside. Read more to find out what we have to say about the SUV.

Design & Style

At the front, the first thing that attracts one's attention are those sleek-looking LED headlight units. Right below that are the foglights and sadly they get a halogen bulb setup, but the SUV gets LED DRLs around the fog housing. We would have loved to see a full LED setup as far as the exterior lighting was concerned.

The SUV gets a fair amount of chrome on the big grille at the front. There are piano-black finishes on the grille and around the fog lights that overall compliments the look of the vehicle. You also get some subtle lines on the hood of the Tucson that gives it a bold stance. Overall the SUV looks good from the front.

Moving onto the side, the Hyundai Tucson gets a new set of 18-inch multi-spoke dual-tone alloy wheels, that looks pretty awesome and goes well with the overall size of the vehicle. It also gets black cladding around the wheels. The ground clearance on the SUV is around 172mm, which is not the best in the class. With that much clearance, the SUV will struggle to do hardcore offroading, although it will be able to manage some rough terrains.

The body line and creases on the vehicle are very minimum and it also does not feature any badges on either side. It gets body-coloured ORVMs with an integrated indicator. The roof of the vehicle is black and it also gets a shark fin antenna. The roof rails are sturdy enough to attach a luggage carrier in case you plan for a long outing.

Now moving on to the rear section of the vehicle, the SUV gets nice looking LED taillights that are split into two (into the body and the boot-lid). However, the entire section of the taillight is not LED and the turn signal and the reverse light are halogens. There is a fair amount of chrome at the rear also and it gets the TUCSON and the HTRAC (4x4) badges on either side of the boot.

The boot lid is an electronic one, making it easy to access when your hands are full of luggage, but it opens pretty slowly and vice versa. It also features a reverse parking camera with active guidelines that makes parking at tight spaces easy. We were expecting the car to get a 360-degree camera setup, but it does not. But it gets parking sensors at the front also, so the hard work becomes slightly easy.

Interior

Step inside the car and you will be welcomed by a spacious cabin. Getting in and out of the car is not a difficult task as it does not sit too high. However, the cabin of the top-spec GLS 4WD is completely blacked out, which gives the SUV a sporty stance from inside. The dashboard is finished in a single colour and gets soft-touch material that accentuates the Tucson's premium appeal.

The steering wheel is wrapped in leather and has a nice grip to it. The steering mounted controls help the driver to focus on the road and not look at the infotainment system often while changing songs or picking up a call. The cruise control settings are also present on the right-hand side of the wheel.

The Tucson now gets a floating infotainment system that is very responsive to touch and does not lag. The infotainment system comes with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and the brand's latest-generation Blue Link connected technology as well. It also gets a sound system from Infinity, which is pretty awesome too.

The instrument cluster, on the other hand, looks slightly dated. We expected the SUV to get a full digital cluster, but it features analogue dials for the tachometer and the speedometer. Placed in the centre of both the details is a MID screen that reads out a lot of information about the car and can be controlled through the buttons on the steering wheel.

Speaking about comfort, the front two seats are extremely comfortable. Though we got the car for a short period of time, we can tell you this much that on a long trip you will not tire out. The front two seats are electronically adjustable, also, only the driver's side gets the lumbar adjustment.

Coming to the rear seats, they offer good back support and have ample headroom and decent legroom. However, the second row lacks under-thigh support, but it is pretty comfortable. The company has also fitted the SUV with a big panoramic roof, which not only makes the cabin look bigger but also lets you enjoy plenty of sunlight.

Now coming to the boot, the Tucson gets a boot space of around 500-litres, which is not bad and will fit luggage for 5 passengers. It also has a 60:40 split in the middle row that allows more room for luggage if needed.

Engine & Handling

The Tucson gets both petrol and diesel engine options. However, on the top-end diesel trim (GLS) gets the 4WD option. Both the engines are 2-litre turbocharged units. Now since we drove the diesel variant, let us stick to that. The oil burner pumps out 180bhp of power and 400Nm of peak torque. Again, both engines are mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Sadly, the SUV does not get paddle shifters.

Now the suspension setup on the SUV is what impressed us. They are soft and will give you a comfortable ride, but at the same time, if you show the car a few corners, it will not fail to impress you. The company made sure that the customers can enjoy the best of both worlds. And, yes since it is a heavy vehicle it had body roll, but less compared to other SUVs of this size.

Now you have a differential-lock that will allow you to switch to four-wheel-drive on the go. When you are in the city you can just switch it off and only the front wheels will do its job and help you save some fuel. It also has features like auto-hold, hill-climb assist, electronic parking brake, traction control out of many.

There are three driving modes in the car: Eco, Comfort and Sport. The SUV will give the maximum fuel efficiency in the Eco mode and with that, the throttle response and the steering will feel light. Comfort is when you want to cruise around in the city with decent throttle response. In the Sport mode, the SUV becomes extremely responsive and the steering wheel also feels slightly stiffened up, which is a good thing.

The steering wheel is extremely responsive and with a flick, the SUV will switch lanes. The Tucson has a good mid-range but lacks on the top end, we are sure that the turbo petrol engine will have a good top end as well. In the diesel variant, the torque kicks in at as low as 1700rpm and is there almost till the 4000rpm mark. The redline is at around 4500rpm. However, in the manual mode, the vehicle will not hold the gear for you if you do not upshift.

As far as the mileage is concerned, we did not have the car for a long period to test that, but with a 62-litre tank size, we expect the Tucson to cross the 550km mark on brimming the tank.

DriveSpark Thinks!

The Facelifted Hyundai Tucson with all the changes done to the exterior and interior looks absolutely fantastic. The things which could have been there are paddle-shifters, a 360-degree camera setup, full-LED lighting setup and a little more ground clearance. But if you are not interested in the list mentioned above, and want a comfortable yet fast SUV, then we suggest that you should definitely check out the facelifted Tucson.