- Being a diesel engine, it’s frugal and managed to get ~19km/l on the highway. Combined fuel efficiency ranged from 14 – 17 km/l in normal mode.
- Test Drive
- Delivery Experience
Being a diesel engine, it’s frugal and managed to get ~19km/l on the highway. Combined fuel efficiency ranged from 14 – 17 km/l in normal mode.
BHPian 992TurboS recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
It’s been almost two weeks since I took the delivery of Tucson AWD in Starry Night and I finally got a chance to write about the initial impressions.
Having experienced driving the 3rd and 4th gen Tucson, cars of the same segment – RAV-4, Rogue, CR-V in the USA and Canada, cross country for 1000s of miles. At first, I found the 4th generation’s design quite edgy, the acceleration and power were adequate, as it has a naturally aspirated engine. But I always loved the understated looks of 3rd gen, and I am still a fan of Hyundai’s fluidic design language.
Had been following the news that 4th gen would be launched in June – July 2022. What’s most important – it’s such an all-rounder car! It’s roomy, fast, practical and comfortable! In the sea of crossovers like Creta, Seltos, etc., Tucson is a segment above and it shows, in each aspect! Being the international spec model, it’s a different kind of Hyundai, unlike the others on offer. I was quite excited when Hyundai launched the 4th generation Tucson, and it was quite a relief to know that the car on offer is CKD, so the build quality, safety ratings, features on offer (except shift by wire, paddle shift, remote parking, plug-in hybrid models missing) will match the international specs. In my opinion, it’s one of the most practical cars under 50 lac rupees, period!
The other contenders were VW Tiguan and Skoda Kodiaq but instantly skipped them after reading the horror stories on this forum.
Test Drive
Once the Tucson was available at the showroom in India, the first thing I noticed is that the car feels long! The USA spec version was comfortable and roomy enough, the LWB version feels large, especially in the second row! I took the test drive of 2.0L CRDi. (I’ll consolidate the summary of the test drive and initial ownership review)
Delivery Experience
I decided to get the car at Ujjwal Hyundai in my hometown – Nashik. I was already acquainted with the sales manager, Mr Vishal Pate. I had a wonderful experience with the previous cars. Mr Vishal knew I was looking forward to getting the new Tucson, he booked my car in the system on the launch day and ensured me faster availability, car allotment, and delivery with my colour and variant of choice. He was knowledgeable, and provided appropriate details in a direct, calm and polite way, with relentless coordination and no false promises. The documents and payment processes were done timely and were periodically informed about the status updates. He went above and beyond to get things done on time, didn’t force me to get insurance from the dealership and helped me get the choice number. The car was shipped to the dealer during the last week of September. PDI was done using Team-BHP’s checklist and it ticked all the boxes.
The VIN number matched, and it was indeed a Sep 2022 car. Got the delivery on the auspicious day of Dassehra.
A big thank you to Mr Vishal, it was his job to provide a good experience but such little things and the urge to fulfil customer needs, enhance the overall car purchase experience.
Some pictures post ceramic coating
Summary
Positives:
1. Safety – This car received a 5-star GNCAP rating, along with a strong and stable body structure, level 2 ADAS just works! More on that later.
2. Engine and gearbox combination – The diesel engine is powerful and torquey, never felt like it’s running out of breath. This torque converter never struggled to shift to the right gear, silky smooth shifts. Goes fast and can do crazy speeds in no time. The engine noise/vibration is not felt, it’s silent and refined. The passengers might get confused about whether it’s a petrol or a diesel car.
3. Fill it and forget it – Being a diesel engine, it’s frugal and managed to get ~19km/l on the highway. Combined mileage ranged from 14 – 17 km/l in normal mode. The full tank showed a range of 760 km. Also, being an international spec Hyundai, it scores high on the reliability quotient. We’ve seen this time and again on previous-gen Tucson, Santa Fe and Elantra. Their dealership and service network across the country gives relief. Just in case something goes wrong on the highway or the mountains, a local mechanic would be able to fix a Hyundai so you can continue going places, rather than flatbed your VW / Skoda to the nearest dealership while you’re still pulling your hair out if it’ll be fixed in the few days.
The mileage is with AC ON and on the highway. ECO mode barely squeezes 1 – 1.5 km/l more than normal mode. Also, notice the smart cruise control symbol. Works quite well, more on that in the “ADAS” section. Notice the “Auto” below the headlamp symbol, that’s for auto high beam assist, more on that in the “Lights” section:
4. Decent handling and ride quality – Especially for a crossover of this segment, it handles quite well. There might be a thud for larger potholes, but not felt in the cabin, takes on bad roads easily. The car feels stable and rock-steady at high speeds. It can do triple-digit speeds comfortably all day without breaking a sweat! Steering is good, doesn’t feel vague, it’s light enough for city drives, and it does weigh down in sport mode. Braking has enough bite to slow down and stop the car. You’re looking at the wrong car to carve curves on the twisty roads, the suspension is a bit too soft for that, that doesn’t mean it’s bouncy, it’s not, but then, cars of such segments are meant to have soft setups, for those comfortable highway cross-country tours. Get a BMW 3 series for those twisty roads! But it’s one of the perfect cross-country tourers.
Notice the shocks/springs are from KIA:
5. Ingress / Egress and Ergonomics – My parents can easily slide in on the seats. It’s effortless. The seating is quite good when adjusted to the preferred position. The commanding driving position gives confidence in driving through the city roads and highways. The body roll was felt quite a lot, only to realize that the tire pressure needed to be adjusted, ever since, it’s well contained and gets quite comfortable. The steering wheel size of these new Hyundai is a little small for my liking.
6. Exteriors – The edgy looks of this car have grown on me. The dark chrome grille looks amazing! Looks futuristic and beautiful in this shade of blue. It surely does turn heads at the traffic signals and parking spots! The panel gaps are consistent and even! The fit and finish look tight and precise.
7. Interiors – LOADS of space! The LWB is quite spacious, with oodles of space in the second row! A stark contrast from the edgy exteriors, the minimal interiors with grey / black tone seats/dashboard make the cabin feel spacious! The cabin feels quiet. Entry-level German crossovers might feel cramped on the back seats and headroom compared to this one. Perfect for our airport runs! The fit and finish are on par with the Germans.
8. Climate Control – It’s excellent. The diffuse mode along with ventilated seats is the sweet spot for comfortable long drives. A hot cabin is cooled in no time.
9. Infotainment System – Works fine as expected, sound quality is excellent but like a typical Bose sound stage, the low-end bass has that wavy punch, and the vocals aren’t distorted. I do enjoy living on the bleeding edge of tech, but it’s always fun to go back to using retro tech, sadly, it doesn’t support iPod.
Haven’t taken the plastics off my car yet. On the other car that I’ve driven, the piano black finish triggers the OCD when covered with fingerprints and dust, looks excellent when clean. Considering PPF / other solutions to avoid eyesores.
The infotainment screen shows the CarPlay home screen, wish it was wireless, the screen is sharp, bright and smooth:
10. Lights – There’s a lack of information regarding the headlights on offer for the new Tucson. It’s obvious that the lack of projectors as an option made us sceptical about the performance of the MFRs. Even though they’re not projectors, the MFRs have a sufficient throw and offer surprisingly good visibility on low and high beams. They don’t perform poorly as anticipated earlier. The road and the traffic visibility are quite good on the highway. The high beam assist does aid while driving on the highway at night. Highway drives while raining at night are comfortable using these headlights.
11. ADAS – Even if Hyundai claims that the car’s radars are optimized for Indian road conditions, one shouldn’t completely rely on ADAS. Factors like roads not well marked, bad road engineering, some aggressive moron cutting you off and someone might rear-end you when the car suddenly slows down. These assist features are quite helpful and make driving more convenient, but they might not fully function due to road and weather conditions, it’s the driver’s instinct to safe driving and they should have their eyes on the road.
Negatives:
- Pricing – Being a seller’s market, this car is expensive, ~Rs 42 Lakh for a fully-loaded diesel with HTRAC
- Parking – Parking this car can be challenging in tight spots.
- Lack of physical buttons for climate control – Now here’s the thing, sometimes, you do want to take control of the fan speeds of climate control, and these modern cars have touch-based controls. It gets annoying to take your eyes off the road to operate this touch-based climate control. No, voice commands are not intuitive. There’s no harm in providing retro dials to control the volume and temperatures!
Wishlist:
- Dashcam
- Tire inflator
I’m loving this car so far, planning a few road trips and will post long-term ownership reviews! Thank you!
Keyword: Bought a 2022 Hyundai Tucson AWD: Delivery, PPF & initial observations