For any of you who have lived in an automotive bubble for the last five years or so, here is the headline news, Hyundai are a serious car firm with serious intentions. They hope to be in the top-five sellers in the world and judging by their progress this might be more than just a pipe-dream. Hyundai have enjoyed a success story with their Santa Fé SUV, especially here in Ireland where they have sold 4383 models.
Since its launch here in Ireland, both diesel and petrol versions have been high sellers. Unlike the overall global market, which is expected to grow some 3.3 percent annually between 2004 and 2008, the market for compact SUVs is expected to expand by some 6.6 percent. Hyundai expect to sell a total of 200,000 of these new Tucsons by 2006, with up to 65,000 of those headed for the European markets. So why is there the need for a new SUV then? Well for some customers the Santa Fé was a little big and certainly from my experience, the handling was a little less than perfect. Female customers often require a little less bulk and a little more road going prowess, so Hyundai are offering this new SUV, coming to Ireland in October and it is the Tucson and it will compete directly with vehicles like the Land Rover Freelander, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4.
The entry level Santa Fé comes in at €29,595 and Hyundai expect the car to be 10% less than that, so expect a price of about €26,600 for the 2.0-litre petrol Tucson. Visually, the Tucson is not entirely dissimilar to its elder sibling, the Santa Fé, but there is a definite hint of Land Rover Freelander and Honda HR-V to the styling. The Tucson is certainly more compact and the cabin is most definitely narrower than the Santa Fé, but head and legroom were fine. Sadly, the cabin was not clad with the most attractive of plastics.
The dreary, grey, elephant-skin-looking plastic spoils what is otherwise a nice layout. Hopefully, there will be a choice of interior colours by the time the car arrives here. The overall styling is neutral enough to appeal to both male and female buyers in equal measures, something that cannot be said for every car in the segment. The Tucson is going to be offered here with a choice of either a 2.0-litre petrol (140bhp) or a 2.0-litre diesel (110bhp) engine. Both are powerful enough for most people, with the diesel a little better suited to the car. As soon as we set off in the car on the test drive in Latvia’s capital city of Riga, we spotted that the steering was more than a little vague. This vehicle is going to be competing with the likes of the Toyota RAV4 and Land Rover Freelander, which are SUVs with very precise handling and the Tucson was noticeably less sharp. It also had a rather woolly manual transmission.
This was, however, offset by the fact that when we got to the muddy and pot-holed pocked gravel roads, the Tucson came into its own. The Tucson’s ability to soak up the horrendous surface was nothing short of incredible. It is just such a shame that the same attention was not paid to making the car more fun to drive on the normal asphalt. This may be changed before the car makes its way to Ireland, so watch this space. However, for town driving, this steering is light enough to make the Tucson very easy to park, manoeuvre and negotiate city traffic. There will be 2wd versions available, but should you choose the 4wd version it comes with a “smart” 4wd system. This normally routes up to 100 percent of available power to the front wheels, but electronically senses when power is needed elsewhere and automatically redirects it.
There is also a dashboard-mounted over-ride, which selects permanent 50/50 4wd. Levels or road noise and the overall comfort levels in the Tucson are pretty impressive. I would imagine that this is one of the quietest vehicles in its class. The rear wheel arch panels and dashboard mounting panel incorporate a 6-layer sandwich system with vertical and horizontal reinforcements and padding. Insulating pads were also used in most pillar connections, while special reinforcements and curvatures were incorporated into the body floor to absorb vibrations.
New specially-formed front and rear-suspension components, plus an engine damper for the diesel, also further reduce intrusive and unwanted noise. In terms of versatility, the split tailgate at the back is a useful feature, and if you are to fold the rear seats you can get up to 805-litres of luggage space. Expect all models to come with a high level of standard equipment, which seems to be the norm with Hyundai. At the price, I would expect the Tucson to sell in pretty big numbers. It will probably undercut rivals such as the RAV4, Land Rover Freelander and Nissan XTrail by several thousand and its nearest rival in terms of price will probably be the smaller-engined 1.6-litre Honda HR-V (1.6).
It remains to be seen whether Hyundai will alter the settings of the Tucson for Ireland. I really hope that they do, because with a tighter transmission and better on-road ability, as opposed to off-road ability, then this could be a real winner. As it is, we would still expect the car to do extremely well and many owners might find that we are being a bit too nit-picky with our assessment. But it would be a real shame to not go the extra mile to make the Tucson even better than it already is now.
INFO
Engine 1975cc 4-cyl, 134bhp, 184Nm torque
Length 4325mm Width 1795mm Height 1680mm Wheelbase 2630mm
Boot Capacity 325 litres
Acceleration 0-62mph 12.2secs
Top speed 108mph
Price Circa €26,600
Transmission Five-speed manual, four-wheel drive
Economy 34.4mpg
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