Gorgeous Gas Relief
Tucson is known for its stunning cactus-laden desert landscapes, historic structures enduring culture – and for being the first city to earn the title of World City of Gastronomy. And then there’s the Hyundai named after it. It has quite a reputation to live up to – and we think this latest generation is doing the name proud – but like any iconic city, there's always a way to make something great - even greater.
The presence the Tucson’s styling demands is pretty unmistakable. This thing just plain looks good to us. An almost dizzying array of lines, edges and angles can feel distracting and incohesive at times. We’re still not sure what purpose adding such prominent flares to the doors achieve. But it looks damn good. I’m decidedly against plastic fender cladding whenever possible but the angular, thin plastic arches at work in the Tucson aren’t the most terrible. We love how uniform the headlight and grille designs work together. Save for the amber indicators, they almost appear as a single harmonious piece.
That fashion forward, avante garde approach on the outside, sadly doesn’t continue inside. Understandable, to a degree, but it’s quite plain and nondescript in here. Hyundai, unlike other manufacturers, tends to have wildly different interiors across the brand. It’s an interesting and appreciated approach – and lets designers have far more creative freedom without feeling pressured to keep a universal design language across the board. We do understand the appeal of understatement, but with an exterior like the Tucson’s, we were expecting a little more pop inside.
That’s not to say it isn’t bad – but some of the choices made, we take mild issue with. Relegating audio and air functions to touch controls is cumbersome and potentially distracting. Thankfully there are media controls on the steering wheel at least. But operating touch controls while driving presents the potential for safety issues. But that aside, this is a well-equipped and very comfortable vehicle. Our tester featured the expected gamut of Apple Carplay/Android Auto, a full range of safety features like lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control and pedestrian detection, and some very handy blind spot cameras that appear in the gauge cluster upon indicating – which oddly enough, is not available in the higher end Santa Fe.
Under the hood of the Tucson Hybrid, you’ll find a 1.6L turbocharged engine that is paired with a 44 kW electric motor – both regulated through a familiar feeling automatic transmission. No CVT here, no siree. Combine all that with an AWD system and this high tech CUV feels refreshingly normal. Hyundai claims it’ll return fuel ratings as good as a combined 6.4L/100km. But if you really wanted it, it can easily do better. We rarely make a conscious effort to maximize fuel economy. We’d rather drive a vehicle as one normally would in daily practice. And even with this approach, we still managed to squeak out 6.3L/100km by the end of our evaluation week in a mix of highway driving and squeezing through the streets of Toronto.
Mazda is our usual standard bearer when it comes to daily drivers that still retain some fun character on the road – and that’s not an undeserved title. Even their biggest CX-9 feels taut and agile – even more so than far more expensive options. The Tucson is no sports car, but choosing an automatic vs. a CVT gives it a little more excitement on the road. It’s still quite soft and comfortable before anything else, but you won’t feel out of place giving it a little gas on a bend. The extra weight of its battery pack, combined with the smart AWD system helps it feel planted and safe, even with a marginal touch of body roll. It’s a CUV – you have to expect that.
Let’s talk dollars. Hybrids are rarely the more affordable option – and no exception here. The Tucson’s Hybrid comes in two trims – Luxury and Ultimate. The former costing $40,624, with the Ultimate setting you back $43,324 – the same cost as the ‘entry’ level Santa Fe Hybrid. But this still rings in at a lower cost than other hybrids on the market like Toyota’s RAV4 Prime PHEV. Given the current COVID-19 situation, it’s going to be difficult to find these vehicles without a silly markup unfortunately so don’t be surprised if you see prices even higher.
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