2022 Hyundai Tucson, Track Test

I thought that the latest generation of the Tucson had a lot of promise when I first drove it a few months ago at its launch. It featured some outstanding highlights, such as the razor-sharp design, showcasing a completely new design language for the brand, acres of space inside, and a massive leap in terms of quality and, of course, standard equipment – something that the Hyundai brand is quite famous for. Thankfully, unlike most of its competitors, the Tucson is still offered in both petrol and diesel variants, making it one of the few SUVs that still offer the diesel option in the Indian market. Our test version was the diesel engine variant, which produces 184bhp and 416Nm and featured an 8-speed automatic gearbox.

But how did it fare in our test? Well, it did exceedingly well in most aspects. Our team of jurors loved the practicality, quality, design, space, and refinement of the Tucson. It also fared quite highly in terms of the value for money, which makes sense, given how well-equipped it is, and its newfound jump in quality levels also contributes to that end. The other aspect that most of the jurors loved was the spaciousness of the cabin – I mean fitting in five adults here would be a breeze. The quality levels of the Tucson, along with the large crisp digital displays in the cabin, make the Tucson feel like it is from a segment above and definitely add to its appeal to Indian customers. The suspension setup also deserves some praise, for most of the jury members found that in normal day-to-day usage, the Tucson offers an excellent balance between ride quality and high-speed manners, which essentially means more comfort inside the cabin.

While the ride and handling of the Tucson are excellent, there is still one aspect of that car that Hyundai hasn’t yet perfected – I am talking about the feel of the steering. In normal mode, the steering is fairly direct but completely devoid of any feel – in fact, it seems quite dead. And in Sport mode, it loads up heavily – a bit too heavy, for my liking – but that doesn’t change the way it feels or communicates to the driver. Some of Hyundai’s newer products have seen massive improvements in this aspect, and I think the Tucson definitely needs work in this area – it’s one of the few shortcomings of the SUV.

With its powerful diesel engine, the Tucson was decently quick around the track, but what impresses you, even more, is its on-road ride and high-speed manners. Ultimately, the Tucson scored well in all categories, especially value for money and X-Factor, so much so that it lost the top spot of this year’s awards by just a meagre 0.2 points – that’s just how close it was overall to the winner. And given that the waiting list for the Tucson is now extended to nearly two years, you can understand why it makes such a compelling proposition not just for us professional testers but also for regular Indian customers.

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