A little bit bigger, newest technical innovations, more aggressive apperance and a new name. With this ingredients, the All-New Hyundai Tucson (in Europe the last one was called as “ix35”) want to catch up the success of his predecessor and we are pretty sure he will make it!
[ads id=”0″ style=”float:left;padding:5px;”]In this review, we drove the new Tucson and where able to take a deep look at all the new stuff he is bringing to the SUV market. In this test drive we want to talk about the 1.6-liter T-GDi engine because it is the biggest change compared to its predecessor.
Don’t worry, even when the price of the new Hyundai Tucson went up a bit, it is even with the lowest configuration a full vehicle where you will not miss (nearly) anything!
The exterior of the Hyundai Tucson is awesome and very special. Even when there are many cars around, the Tucson will make the heads turn. This is especialy done by the new front grille, people like the really big “jaw” which takes the handwriting from Peter Schreyer.
The length and wider Tucson gives everyone much more space. Even with my 1.90cm (6,2 ft.) I have plenty of room in the front as well as in the rear-seats. This fact and a bigger trunk let the Tucson get the best “roomspace” you can use in his class.
The interior recieved some minor (but good) changes to the appearance. It is very intuitive and (as an old ix35 drive) we had no problem finding some configurations or (for example) start the seat cooling.
[ads id=”7″ style=”float:left;padding:5px;”]So after we changed everything for our personal taste, we started our test drive with the 1.6-liter T-GDi engine and got instantly suprised how quiet it is, both, the engine and the car.
After a few meters, we noticed why the engine got so well recommended before our drive. It is a realy strong engine and it runs realy great and fast even in the low rpm´s.
Since we got a car with the new DCT system it feels very sporty. You didn’t feel any gear-change, neither when you rev up or if you brake, everything runs smooth and with nearly no noise.
Beside the new engine even the new suspension need to get praised. There where no seconds where we noticed, we were sitting in a big suv. The whole car drives like a small compact car who has been desinged to search for more and more corners. But still it has a lot of comfort and was not jumping if you pass above speed bumps or bad conditioned roads.
This fact is achieved by a whole new level of suspension and steering. The new Hyundai Tucson has a complete new damper-system with an additional rebound-spring on top of it. This system and the new paralel-axle-steering (the steering system is integrated in the axle) let the tucson be one of the best handling-suv´s we have been driven.
Now we can get new assistance-systems besides the “blind spot detection”, with “rear cross-traffic alert” we where higly suprised by the usability of the new “traffic-signs detection” and the “automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection”. The automatic emergnecy braking is fully working till a speed of around 180 km/h!
Blind Spot Detection* with Rear Cross-traffic Alert** and Lane Change Assist*
This available radar-based system helps detect when a vehicle is in the driver’s blind spot and provides both an audible and a visual alert to help keep you aware as you move down the road. When reverse gear is selected, Rear Cross-traffic Alert helps identify and warn the driver of vehicles approaching from the side. Lane Change Assist measures the closing speed of an approaching vehicle in the adjacent lane to determine if changing lanes is safe and if it’s not, gives the driver an audible and visual warning.
We didn’t tested the auto-brake system in this test drive, but we have beed testing it in an Tucson with Diesel engine and where suprised how good it was working (in emergency-cases).
Our conclusion
We are higly suprised by the new Tucson. Beside his massive and confident appearance, the new tucson is even a whole new level in the “inside”. This makes him to one of the best SUV´s in his class.
Additionaly its good price and the long warranty (5 years in Europe) we give everyone a recommendation to buy! It doesnt matter if you are a family, single, old or young… This car has lifestyle and usability merged together like noone else!
