Driven - Hyundai Tucson

[Beemer]

Finally, yesterday i took the first drive of Hyundai's latest SUV i.e. TUCSON .

Man , what should i say , it just blew me away .

To begin with ,the moment i started the engine, was surprised that how far the technology has come that a Diesel engine can be so silent .

I, immideatly took the car to an empty piece of road and the moment i pressed the pedal , i was amazed by its acceleration ,its hard to believe you are driving a diesel car .Well i thought , my octavia had an excellent diesel engine(very rightly so) , but if thats what you call excellent then i ve no words to describe this one .I mean the aceleration is just outstanding , espically when you consider it weights 1.7 tons. I wont mind saying , its the BEST DIESEL CAR I ' VE EVER DRIVEN(dis side of the merc) , though its the same engine thats doing the duty in the elentra but somehow , i find it much more noise/vibration free(atleast from inside) when compared to the elentra .The brakes didnt disappoint either .

As far as the ride , I found the ride Quality better than that of the CR-V , the interiors are just fine ,nothing much to write about, i wish they had the leather upholstery .

The best feature i like in this car/SUV is the 4 wheel drive lock button , by pressing this you can enjoy the car on its 4 wheel mode , but unfortunatly it only works when the speed of the car is under 35 kmph , than after it's just like any other 2 wheel drive.

From outside it looks a compact SUV but once you get inside , you ll be amazed the amount of space it has on offer, though the boot is not that spacious but reasonable , the exterior looks are very muscular compared to the very Delicate (Womenish) looking CR-V .

Overall , i find this car pretty good in whatever it does . But i would still say the price (14.3 lacs) is slightly on the higher side. It may be coz its a CBU .

And to add on , if anyone want to see how far hyundai has come , this is the car to watch out.

Looking hard to digest that i said all this for a Hyundai ??!!
Well, then go and take the test drive and find it out for yourself !

However , guys i am about to book mine and ll be getting one soon .

As soon as i get mine ,ll post some pictures

[X-Machine]

Hey Beemer,
Nice first-hand report there.Though how was your impression about the torque,braking and view from the car.If you could,pls elaborate!!

Anyways,I spotted 2 Hyundai Tuscons(black and silver) last night at Peddar road running on TR registration.The car was at a gas station and was being driven by Hyundai officials.
Wonder what were they doing at 11pm with the car???
The car actually looks good from the outside.Infact better than the CR-V its positioned against.Its massive with those amazing tail-lamps and the head-lights.The black actually looked better than the silver one.The silver one had carrier-railings(whatever they're called) on top.Looked pathetic.But another thing that looked bad were the tires.They looked too skinny.Maybe an upsize in the wheels department and wide rubber would make it looks even better.
Did'nt get a chance to look at the interiors.
And as rightly said,the pricing is a letdown.

X

[RJK]

At 16odd Lakhs on-road Mumbai. Really ? Goodluck to Hyundai to try & push them off the dealers at that price. Looks horrible according to me but then again looks are very subjective.

The silver one had carrier-railings(whatever they're called) on top

Roof Rails.

[Beemer]

Originally Posted by X-Machine

Hey Beemer,
Nice first-hand report there.Though how was your impression about the torque,braking and view from the car.If you could,pls elaborate!!X

Thanx X , the car puts out 25 kgm of torque , so the initial accelaration is just fantastic and 20-80 kmph is done in very quick time and while i was cruising at 120 ,i instantly braked hard and the car did stop immidiately . Though , i would still give one more try to the braking of the car .

The front view is preety good and you sit high up there , the seats are pretty well heighted , front and rear both ,but the rear view is not that good as the rear windscreen isnt that large .

Originally Posted by X-Machine

The black actually looked better than the silver one.X

Yes the black does look better as it matches well with the body claddings , whereas ,silver does not gel well with those gray bumpers (i dont understand why the bumpers and claddings aren't BC) .

Originally Posted by X-Machine

The silver one had carrier-railings(whatever they're called) on top.
X

Well , those are called roof rails , but how come you didn't see them in the black as it is there in every car , irrespective of the color of the car .

[Beemer]

Originally Posted by RJK

At 16odd Lakhs on-road Mumbai. Really ? Goodluck to Hyundai to try & push them off the dealers at that price. Looks horrible according to me but then again looks are very subjective.

Well , even i used to think , its too much for too little but then now ,when i ve had the drive i would say its worth every penny spent(courtesy , the faboulous diesel engine) .
To agree , you need to go and test drive .

Whereas the looks are concerned , its a very modern design , unlike the CR-V which is too old and i hate those tires mounted at the rear(a generation old design). But as you said , looks are very subjective .

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by Beemer

Thanx X , the car puts out 25 kgm of torque , so the initial accelaration is just fantastic and 20-80 kmph is done in very quick time and while i was cruising at 120 ,i instantly braked hard and the car did stop immidiately . Though , i would still give one more try to the braking of the car .

120kmph in Delhi??.. can you please elaborate which dealer you went to, and where did you test drive it?

[drifter]

Nice first impression. I agree the CRDi engine is the main selling point in this car. But yeah 16 lakhs in a bit too much. If it was 14 lakhs on road...we would have had a winner on our hands.

Drifter

[Dippy]

Great write up Beeemer. I might be test driving one soon too. There is no dounting the potential of that CRdi engine, thats the only thing I really like about Hyundai. But just charging a premium for that engine is not justified. Lower the price a bit and I'm sure it will eat into the CRVs sales. If not well good luck to Hyundai. Will update thois thread after my drive.

Dippy

[Scuderia]

The CRDi is definitely a gr8 engine.

But somehow i dont trust hyundai much n moreover 16 is a bit steep.. as drifter said, 13-14 would be decent.

'Course it may be a success as the masses have a good opinion of hyundai cars esp the lower side of the 10L band... lez c how it is for the other half.

One more advantage hyundai has is not having a competitor in the same segment having a diesel option

The front looks too timid .. havent had a close look though

Waiting for more details.. esp on aspects other than that of the CRDi, as in handling, body roll, braking etc

[Beemer]

Originally Posted by dceite

120kmph in Delhi??.. can you please elaborate which dealer you went to, and where did you test drive it?

Sure , why not ! I went to Hans Hyundai(moti nagar) and i took the car to the RIDGE ROAD to check the brakes and the power train . On the first run , i managed to reach 120-125 kmph(though for a short span) but unfort ,when i took a u-turn ,i found liitle traffic .

For sure , i will go again and would like to brake hard on the limit .

[Beemer]

[quote=drifter]
If it was 14 lakhs on road...we would have had a winner on our hands.

Drifter



I agree guys the price is on the higher side , should ve been a lac cheaper than the CR-V but however if you really love driving and hate your car seeing standing downstairs , you will save hell lot of money at the end of the month as its a Diesel and the CRDi would give you 10-11 in the city compared to Petrol , 6-7 kmpl of the CR-V .

[zulfikar]

guys,
no one will mind paying a lakh extra for a Diesel where it gives above 10 and where are a prtrol with 6-7...
i would anyday pay extra for TUCSON........

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by Beemer

The best feature i like in this car/SUV is the 4 wheel drive lock button , by pressing this you can enjoy the car on its 4 wheel mode , but unfortunatly it only works when the speed of the car is under 35 kmph , than after it's just like any other 2 wheel drive.

This feature, if I am not wrong, is there on the Tata Safari also, they call it 'Shift on the Fly' for engaging the 4wd while the vehicle is running. Dont know whats the speed limit for that though.

Btw Nice write up

[v_s_natarajan]

Let us wait for the Toyota fortuner. i hope it comes before December. If somebody starts manufacturing them instead of CBU/CKDU, ten the prices may come. i still dream of a Good SUV at around 10 lakhs.

BTB, How was the gear shift?
Did you test drive the XTrail, if not, you should do it.

[rahulmd]

Beemer, how is it the handling department? Body roll, understeer, oversteer....

like V_S_N said, im looking to see a good SUV for under 10L. Till such time, my vote goes to the old warhorse, the MM 540 :-)