Hyundai Tucson ownership observations from Fortuner & ex-Octavia owner

I haven’t got an opportunity to take it to highways and till now all my drives have been in city conditions.

BHPian rutvij recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I am happy to share that I have taken delivery of Tucson Diesel Signature – Amazon Grey. Initially, I had booked the Platinum trim level. However, the waiting period was killing me and this opportunity came up. The colour was of my choice and so I took the plunge and brought home this beauty in the highest trim level.

In the last 15 days, I had driven about 400 km in Tucson. I haven’t got an opportunity to take it to highways and till now all my drives have been in city conditions. My earlier regular drive was Octavia Diesel DSG. We also have Fortuner in my garage. Coming from this background, here are my initial observations:

Engine – Transmission

• Powerful is the word that comes immediately to my mind when I think about Tucson’s engine. At the same time, it is very silent. You hardly hear any harsh sound or feel any vibrations from the engine. It is butter smooth. Compared to my Octavia, it is more silent and has fewer (no) vibrations. I have not been able to take it out on highways, but in the city conditions power is phenomenal. In fact, one has to be cautious while accelerating as one will immediately run out of open space. Coming from Octavia, no complaints here.
• Transmission is very smooth. You hardly feel any shifts. Shifts feel very predictable. I have not driven it aggressively or on highways so I have not experienced how kick-down happens under hard acceleration. In various cars owned by me, I would rate Octavia’s DSG transmission as No 1 and Tucson will come very close after that.
• When I was searching for a new car to replace Octavia, it was a tough task purely because of Engine – Transmission combo in Octavia that I had. It was deadly and I thought that it will be very difficult to beat this combination. I am very happy with what Tucson is offering.

Interiors

• Wow is the first word that will come to mind after entering the car the first time. Quality is really top-notch. All touch points are soft and feel premium.
• The car is very spacious. It can easily seat 5 people. The rear space is perhaps better than my Octavia.
• The boot is huge and in good usable shape. It can easily do airport runs. A retractable parcel tray adds to the convenience.
• The seats and central console are very light. It can easily get soiled. I have already ordered Sonax Interior Cleaner. I can foresee tough times ahead for maintaining clean seats.
• Though it offers ambient lighting, it is limited to Central Console only. I wish they had included them indoors, in footwells and in the upper part of the front console also.

Infotainment and Instrument Cluster

• I am getting used to various features in the Infotainment system. Some adjustments can be done via the BlueLink app also.
• I haven’t tried the built-a navigation system. But it looks very responsive. It buzzes a lot, but gradually after several attempts of changing settings, I have come to a situation where it does not buzz anymore!
• I do not like some of the graphics/layouts of the Infotainment System. The layout / Graphics shown when Radio is being played is very gimmicky. I do not like it. I don’t think I can change that. I hope Hyundai comes up with an update to change that.
• Android Auto works fine. In fact, this is the first car in my garage where I am using Android Auto. (Android Auto in my dad’s Jazz is pathetic) It also shows Pulser Music App from where I play my music. It also allows me to change the playlist from the screen itself. Very useful. Other cars half of Tucson’s price come with wireless Android Auto and I can visualize how convenient that would be. At this price point, I wish they had offered Wireless Android Auto.
• The speaker setup is very good. Initially, I was not very happy with the whole setup. I was comparing it with my Octavia and I thought that Tucson was not up to the mark. All changed one late night when I was out with my son where we explored various settings. We also removed plastics pasted across all 4 speakers. After that, the whole experience changed. Now I can safely say that I am happy with the music quality of Tucson.
• When connected via Bluetooth, the music quality is equally good. Every time something is played via Bluetooth, a random image comes up on the infotainment screen. This image gets changed with a change in a song.
• I haven’t tried connecting a Pen Drive and playing music from it. But I guess, that would also be good.
• The instrument cluster is digital and offers good information. I have gotten used to the interface and do not have any problem accessing the information. Drive Modes change the layout of the instrument cluster and you can change your default layout also.

ADAS

• Initially, I booked the Platinum variant. Apart from the higher cost of the Signature Variant, another factor that influenced my decision was the fact that ADAS was not well received by users in India. And Platinum trim level did not come with ADAS.
  In fact, one of the cars in which I took a test drive was damaged from the rear. On inquiry, I came to know that this happened because the car suddenly braked and someone hit it from behind.
• After using it in the city, I can certainly relate to it. I had one incident when the car braked suddenly because some moron was coming from the wrong side. The way the whole auto braking happened shocked me. I was in complete control of the situation before that and there was enough space available for that moron to easily pass my car without any incident. But the car suddenly decided to brake. Luckily no one was coming from behind and no damage was done.
• After that incident, I started disabling Auto Emergency Braking to Warning Only. But one has to do it every time you restart the car. This is becoming very inconvenient.
• I called up the Service Guy at ASS to share my experience and request he finds a way to save the setting to Warning Only permanently. He shared with me similar incidents faced by other customers. He also informed me that at present there is no way that this setting can be changed permanently and I have to change it every time I drive it.
• This has become an irritant for me purely because of the inconvenience that I have to face every time when I drive, by disabling Auto Emergency Braking. I am sure this feature will be very useful on Highways. I hope Hyundai is listening and comes out with an update to allow users to save desired settings permanently.
• Apart from Front Collusion, there are other warnings and active assistance also. I have shifted all of them to Warning Only mode.
• Warning Only Mode is not possible for Auto Emergency Braking and Rear Cross Traffic Collusion Assistance. By default, it is on and you have to disable it every time you drive it.
• Initially while driving, every now and then some beeps were coming up. It took me some time to realize the purpose of each beep. Over a period of time, I have reached a situation where I have silenced them or lowered the beep sounds of all as they felt very distracting.

Random

• You can find plastics pasted to various surfaces and places in the interior as well as the exterior. It is a hell of a job to remove plastics from all these places. It also suggests the level of care and caution that Hyundai is exercising while building this car.
• One irritating thing that is happening is that every time I come near to car with the key in my pocket, the rearview mirror opens up. I have not been able to find a setting to disable it.
• I have disabled the welcome feature in seats where the driver’s seat goes back every time you enter the car.
• I am yet to get the accessory items that were purchased from the dealer.
• Here is a picture of the car taken before delivery when it had gone for washing.

Parked in my garage.

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