Interior
Tucson is still a five-passenger vehicle, but is a bit more spacious on the inside. Rear legroom has increased. Hip shoulder, knee and headroom have all been improved upon for the rear-seat passengers. Up front, bucket seats have slightly different padding to provide good lateral support and good thigh support for a broad range of leg lengths.
On upper level models, the steering column is a tilt/telescopic unit. At all levels the power assist is electric. The steering wheel frames the large and easy-to-read tach and speedometer. The centre stack contains the HVAC and stereo equipment. Down low in a shallow tray is an iPod adaptor. I would like to see a USB port added because forgetting a memory stick is no big deal. Forgetting your iPod can be expensive.
Cargo space with the seats up is pretty generous and able to hold four or five carry-on luggage cases. Access through the liftgate-style rear hatch made life easy. Liftover height is average and that makes getting everything from groceries to building hardware much easier.
Driving
Tucson is much closer to an all-round vehicle than it was in its previous generation. Corners and switchbacks were done with a minimum of body lean and a maximum of comfort as long as you kept speeds reasonable. If you exceed this and let physics take over, the front will make plenty of noise before going, but it will go around corners at speeds where you think “no way”!
In the city, the Tucson can easily zip about in heavy traffic thanks to large mirrors and a great greenhouse area. Parking wasn’t much of an issue. The Tucson fits into parallel spaces easily and the optional parking aid system works well. If you are in an angle parking situation, backing out is still easy thanks to that large greenhouse area.
I managed to get some time in both the manual and automatic six-speeds. In my mind, the manual is not for use in town. If you do a lot of commuting and not much stop and go then the manual is fine. Stops and starts, getting to highway speeds and handling switchbacks, the automatic does all that as well as the manual and with very little, if any, hunting for gears. All the shifts up or down were done sharply and crisply.
This Tucson has improved so much over the previous generation; it is difficult to believe that they came from the same company. Watch out Toyota, Hyundai is coming!
photo:Charles Renny, Hyundai
Tucson is still a five-passenger vehicle, but is a bit more spacious on the inside. Rear legroom has increased. Hip shoulder, knee and headroom have all been improved upon for the rear-seat passengers. Up front, bucket seats have slightly different padding to provide good lateral support and good thigh support for a broad range of leg lengths.
On upper level models, the steering column is a tilt/telescopic unit. At all levels the power assist is electric. The steering wheel frames the large and easy-to-read tach and speedometer. The centre stack contains the HVAC and stereo equipment. Down low in a shallow tray is an iPod adaptor. I would like to see a USB port added because forgetting a memory stick is no big deal. Forgetting your iPod can be expensive.
Cargo space with the seats up is pretty generous and able to hold four or five carry-on luggage cases. Access through the liftgate-style rear hatch made life easy. Liftover height is average and that makes getting everything from groceries to building hardware much easier.
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| The centre stack contains the HVAC and stereo equipment. |
Driving
Tucson is much closer to an all-round vehicle than it was in its previous generation. Corners and switchbacks were done with a minimum of body lean and a maximum of comfort as long as you kept speeds reasonable. If you exceed this and let physics take over, the front will make plenty of noise before going, but it will go around corners at speeds where you think “no way”!
In the city, the Tucson can easily zip about in heavy traffic thanks to large mirrors and a great greenhouse area. Parking wasn’t much of an issue. The Tucson fits into parallel spaces easily and the optional parking aid system works well. If you are in an angle parking situation, backing out is still easy thanks to that large greenhouse area.
I managed to get some time in both the manual and automatic six-speeds. In my mind, the manual is not for use in town. If you do a lot of commuting and not much stop and go then the manual is fine. Stops and starts, getting to highway speeds and handling switchbacks, the automatic does all that as well as the manual and with very little, if any, hunting for gears. All the shifts up or down were done sharply and crisply.
This Tucson has improved so much over the previous generation; it is difficult to believe that they came from the same company. Watch out Toyota, Hyundai is coming!
photo:Charles Renny, Hyundai
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