The age-old line goes something like “my mother always said if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Yeah, well, most mothers probably weren’t given the task of reviewing the Hyundai Tucson. Mom, if you’re reading this, go watch Animal Planet instead. This isn’t going to be pretty.
Flawed
Hyundai’s entry level SUV has a whole host of problems. The first one becomes apparent the moment you lay eyes on it.
The Tucson may just have the worst design in its class. The Toyota Rav4, Honda CR-V and the Suzuki Grand Vitara look like Pininfarina designs compared to the Tucson. Even the quirky Honda Element in SC trim comes out leaps and bounds ahead of the Tucson, design wise. The Hyundai has so many odd bulges and shapes to it; it’s hard to know how to describe it. Fortunately, that’s why we have photos below.
The overall shape of the car is just plain awkward, but at the same time it reminded me of something. After several days of driving the Tucson, it finally hit me. It looks a bit like a turtle with its head popped out, though I’m not so sure it isn’t more like a turtle that’s been partially run over by a Freightliner.
Only once before have I been embarrassed to be seen driving a car. The first day I drove the Honda Fit Sport, I couldn’t stop laughing. It felt like I was driving a clown car. There’s really nothing to laugh about with the Tucson. It gives you more of an “I better slouch down in this seat as far as I can so no one sees me” feeling.
There is no rule that says cute ute’s must be ugly, appliance vehicles. When Hyundai goes to redesign the Tucson ‐ sooner rather than later I hope ‐ they must wipe the slate completely and disavow all knowledge this design was ever green-lighted. An evolutionary design will not cut it. We need a revolution, baby.
Got cassettes?
Climbing inside the Tucson, things don’t get much better. I almost laughed out loud to see that this vehicle was equipped with a cassette player. I don’t know about you, but the last time I bought a tape was around 1991. I think it was a DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince album. (What? I was 12!)
Once you peer past the out-dated sound system, you’re left with acres of hard plastic to look at. Now, hard plastic isn’t an immediate cause for damn-nation. There are ways to make it look good. One only has to look as far the CR-V to see an interior with hard plastic that sports several different, attractive grainings. On the plus side, Hyundai does add a bit of nice, contrasting silver trim pieces around the center stack and gearshift. However, things get weird again with the gauge cluster. A large, silver ringed, speedometer is the prominent feature looking back at you through the steering wheel. The speedo is so dominating it almost makes you feel like you’re staring down a Cyclops. And I left my trident in my other pants.
Instead of spending the money to put a tape player that no one will ever use, Hyundai probably should’ve spent that money on higher quality material for their interior. A better sound system would also have been a good idea. As it is, you get a 6-speaker system that has the sound quality of a Campbell’s soup can.
Three strikes
If you were holding out hope for a nice driving experience from the Tucson, don’t. The steering is bad, the ride is poor and the acceleration is anemic.
Powering my Tucson Limited was the 2.7L, V6 which is good for 173hp and 136 ft-lbs of torque. Right away that’s a problem because Honda and Toyota get nearly the same horsepower, and more torque, out of their 4 cylinder cute utes. So to put it nicely, the Hyundai is underpowered. When you factor in that this breathless V6 is connected to a 4-speed transmission, things get even gloomier. You learn quickly that you better have plenty of room before turning into traffic. Highway merging and passing are also maneuvers that will give you pause. Realistically, Hyundai’s V6 ought to have at least 40 more horsepower, 70 more pound-feet of torque and at least one more cog in the slushbox.
If there is one thing this vehicle does well, it’s stopping. Which is great, because then you can get out of it and walk away. Under firm braking, the Hyundai tracked straight ahead and was very controllable. Though, while the brakes are great, they brought to light another problem; massive amounts of body pitch. The nose of the Tucson dips so much under braking that you’ll expect to hear Sean Connery in the back seat yelling “Dive! Dive!” In an emergency situation, I’m not so sure you wouldn’t scrape the lower, front fascia on the pavement. Add in the equally excessive amounts of body roll and you may never need to go to an amusement park to ride a roller coaster again. Overall, the body movement made me feel like I was in a car that was less safe.
Finally, the steering. Right away I wondered why I was working this hard to turn the steering wheel of a small SUV. I would expect a small, family oriented car to be fairly easy to drive, but, for reasons not known to me, the wheel is needlessly heavy. Perhaps with the aforementioned body roll, Hyundai would prefer you turn the Tucson as little as possible? Color me confused.
Why you’d buy it
For the price, the Tucson does give you a lot for your money. With no extra options, the Limited model I drove with the V6 motor, leather and four wheel drive comes in at $24,515. Honda’s top end, four wheel drive CR-V EX-L will be about $2000 more and have 2 less cylinders. The range topping, Toyota Rav4 Limited with its V6 and 4WD will cost you $2500 more than its Korean competitor. Even with that added $2500, Toyota will still have you sitting on fabric.
Then we come to the Hyundai’s shinning star; the warranty. Should anything go amiss with the powertrain, it will be covered for 10 years/100,000 miles. Almost every other component in the car will be under Hyundai’s watch for 5 years/60,000 miles. Needless to say, this warranty far outpaces the offering from Honda or Toyota. The Tucson may not be a looker, but 41,476 people decided to buy one in 2007. This exceptional warranty probably swayed a majority of those people to sign on the dotted line.
Why you wouldn’t
You have the slightest sense of style or, at the very least, functioning eyes.
Past that, you should consider power. Sure the Honda and Toyota are significantly more money, but what are you getting for that money? The CR-V will have more get up and go and its got less cylinders. The Rav4 will be heaps and heaps quicker. Is it worth the extra scratch? Quite possibly.
Want a good sound system? Factory satellite radio or navigation? The Tucson is not for you.
The Hyundai of old
Overall I think, and hope, the Tucson represents the old way of thinking at Hyundai. This brand made entry into the U.S. in 1986 by offering some of the cheapest possible cars you could buy; quality and style be damned.
These days, Hyundai seems to have figured out the quality portion of the equation quite well. Within the last year or so, they even seem to be showing signs of life in the style department. The Veracruz interior is nothing short of great and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe may just be the first Korean car that forms a cult following.
Learn from your mistakes, Hyundai. Four gears and a tape player ain’t gonna get it done. Then again, maybe some of you just don’t want to give up that mix tape your girlfriend made for you in 10th grade.
Price as tested: $24,655 (with destination, carpeted mats). See our full pricing guide for details.
Words and photos by Chris Doane. (Special thanks to the Michigan State University Tollgate Education Center for use of their grounds for the photo shoot.)
05/30, 12:51 PM
posted by:
HemiRoadRunner
I like how they included the cow in the photo, which adds to the fact this thing looks like a peice of cow $H!T.
05/30, 12:54 PM
posted by:
NoNameDenton1
Let’s hope the next version is better styled, have better engines and a much better suspension.
05/30, 1:19 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
‘If there is one thing this vehicle does well, it’s stopping. Which is great, because then you can get out of it and walk away.’
2008 award winner for best supporting line in a comedy or automotive travesty. Cheers Chris.
05/30, 1:36 PM
posted by:
A4
are you sure youre still not 12?
05/30, 2:23 PM
posted by:
hateful83
Isn’t styling a matter of taste? In which case I wouldn’t spend 5 paragraphs bashing the styling. I get the point, you don’t like how it looks. In my opinion the CR-V looks far worse. Also, it’s not like there isn’t a CD player to go along with that tape player. God forbid, a tape player. Given the choice I wouldn’t mind having both.
05/30, 2:23 PM
posted by:
NoNameDenton1
Maybe the next Tucson will take cues from the Genesis, least then it will make a styling statement.
05/30, 2:25 PM
posted by:
Impulsive
Granted, this thing is ugly … but so is everything mentioned with which it competes … the CR-V is just as ugly, and so is the Rav4 … price wins here.
05/30, 2:28 PM
posted by:
snoboardguy21
“The CR-V will have more get up and go and its got less cylinders.” Let’s try to remember that quality doesn’t only apply to interior materials, it applies to grammar as well.
05/30, 2:33 PM
posted by:
xyunya
I sort of find myself agreeing with hateful here. The design is subjective, and perhaps I am visualistic pervert but I see nothing wrong with looks inside and out. What is lucking here and article failed to address and analyze (excused it’s not Car & Driver or even NY Times) is that 70-80% of RAV-4 sold with I4. 4 cylinders CR-V & RAV have near 170 HP and torque in 165 range. V6 in this trucklette is about 180 HP and thirsty just like any 6 cylinder engine would be, make it thirstier then one in RAV-4, which is 270 HP. Furthermore, 90% of CR-V don’t have leather and Nav system, so compare it to typical CR-V which is around 23 large. Style aside drive those side by side and it becomes clear why not buy Tucson, except I hate styling of CR-V, but don’t mind RAV-4, which drives very close to CR-V, but cost couple large more then CR-EX with identical stuffing.
05/30, 3:31 PM
posted by:
Chris_Doane
Design is definitely subjective. I never expect everyone to agree with me.
Car reviews are basically opinion pieces. My opinion was that the design really doesn’t work. Others may like it.
-CD
05/30, 4:00 PM
posted by:
inline6
As a journalism major, I can safely say that this is the poorest journalistic feature writing I’ve ever seen. The author refers to himself multiple times. He misspells words, uses redundant adjectives, uses commas and hyphens improperly, and goes on for 5 paragraphs about how awful the styling is (which is subjective), but doesn’t tell the reader WHY it’s ugly, and why its competitors look better.
The writing style is also conversational, not journalistic, and it sounds like the author is 17, not 28 or 29. It groans under the weight of tortured metaphors, incomplete colloqialisms, and slang terms. Some are fine. But every sentence? And there’s no word on fuel economy or emissions.
My advice to the author would be that he should have someone else proofread his postings.
05/30, 4:03 PM
posted by:
TomF
Most of these LLN “reviews” are love letters to mediocre products. This one is unnecessarily harsh about a mediocre product. I think someone at LNN just wanted to get a “tough” review on the record and picked an easy target.
For the record, I don’t think the Tucson is that bad a vehicle.
05/30, 4:06 PM
posted by:
Impulsive
OBJECTIVELY, it is ugly. And so is the CR-V and Rav4.
05/30, 5:12 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
The main things stylistically that bugs me about this vehicle are the nose and front fenders. Other than that it looks fine and at least it is not an abortion like the CRV and Rav4.
Other than that it’s good to know Chris converted his last girlfiend’s mix-tape from 1996 to MP3 so he can play it on his iPod and dream about losing his virginity someday.
05/30, 5:22 PM
posted by:
Jordan
jesus christ, did chris have a bad week or something?
05/30, 6:08 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
Haha…what a joke of a review. I happened to drive my cousin’s Tucson in a dry-climate country and it was the complete opposite experience for me. The SUV has almost no body roll, fairly good acceleration (you want to talk about anemic acceleration, just drive an old-school Blazer, now THAT’S piss-poor performance!), better speakers than most cars I’ve been in, and above all it’s pretty soundproof (quiet) inside the vehicle. Styling is so-so IMO, it could be better of course but I’ve seen MUCH worse. So really, I don’t know if the author hates this brand or this specific vehicle, but my real-life experience was much different than his.
05/30, 6:40 PM
posted by:
sharpie
Agreed with inline6, fine you don’t like the car, but you can at least TRY to stay neutral and lend yourself more credibility in reporting your findings. Instead, I find this “review” utterly USELESS!
05/30, 8:05 PM
posted by:
nitehawk
sharpie on the contrary, I found this review very entertaining and gave me a good chuckle ;o)
05/30, 8:27 PM
posted by:
stick2clutch
Crazier than buying one of these things would be reading that long article. What a waste of time. Glad I didn’t read.
05/31, 2:38 AM
posted by:
olds307
In Soviet Russia, cow tips YOU!!
05/31, 7:51 AM
posted by:
Got Handling?
Granted, its no FX35, but the author’s abundant scorn would surely be better saved for the day he reviews a Ssanyong Rodius or something equally abominable. This Hyundai is an ungainly looking hector for sure, but hardly worthy of such a drubbing.
.
The “article” reads more like a blog entry than a journalistic review, and while our author may be impatient to display himself as the next Clarkson, he, like so many younger men, would appear to have shot his invective load early. Perhaps with experience he will develop the patience to keep his heated outpourings pent up until a more opportune moment.
05/31, 10:33 AM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
^ Easy on the thesaurus – we’re not in creative writing asshole.
Chris, some of the lines were tired and clicheed, but overall I agree that this thing is a nasty little design.
To inline6, no one cares if you’re a journalism major or someone that mops the cum off the peepshow floors (probably the latter) – this is a scratch blog. We post profanities incessantly and fight with each other like cats and dogs. Is the grammar in this review really our biggest problem? Douchebag.
05/31, 11:34 AM
posted by:
jamesfabin
I have to disagree with most of your review. As a person who also reviews vehicles, I found the Tuscon to be a decent entry level SUV. I personally have a 2007 Lexus RX 350 AWD – which still comes standard with a cassette player (I’m not sure why, but at over $52K fully loaded, Lexus still sees a need for it). I’ve also personally experienced the Hyundai Tuscon stereo and it is far better then a set of soup cans. I feel you took this vehicle with a chip on your shoulder, comparing it to what you wanted it to be (more powerful, different looking, higher end stereo, faster acceleration), instead of truly comparing it to its competitors and the expectations of the targeted consumer who would actualize purchasing one of these. While the styling is very unique, it comes down to a matter of taste. Finally, the comment on the amount of nose dive when breaking with a high amount of force is far from realistic. Reading your review I had the feeling you do not posses the experience and knowledge to properly and fairly review a vehicle.
05/31, 1:17 PM
posted by:
Impulsive
‘Deanster’, your perspective rules.
05/31, 1:44 PM
posted by:
beantownslut
Get an Escape
05/31, 4:21 PM
posted by:
Jimi137
About this cassette thing: i still use a cassette adapter for my ipod even today. I know i could pay like (£200 or probs $400 for u Americans) to get a new stereo with an ipod adapter but i would prefer to spend the money on something i use more than a few times a year. So i don’t think anyone should knock it for having that installed on it. And styling is a very subjective thing – personally i absolutly adore the Nissan 350Z but some of my m8s say that its the ugliest peice of **** to ever be built and would rather drive a 10 year old rusty vauxhall corsa than endure the torture of that. IMO the Tuscan aint to bad – it dosent make me want to vomit when i see one. And yeh the engine is a bit poor – but so what? U shud buy an off-roader for towing a caravan or for, wait for it…. off roading. I know that words probably sent the owners of SUVs shivering into a corner but its technically what they’re meant to do guys. If you want speed buy a sports car, or even a Ford Mondeo, but dont try and expect an off-roader to break any records.
Thats my 2 cents anyway!
05/31, 7:53 PM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
I don’t think the Tucson is a capable offroader, but I get your points. Well said ^
06/01, 5:54 AM
posted by:
Got Handling?
belive me TugJob, I was never in any doubt as to whether you thought this was a creative writing group. Does anybody have a clue what’s up with olds and the Soviet Russia fixation?
06/01, 2:39 PM
posted by:
Supermann1
olds is an old fart recycling old memories cuz his brain hasnt kept up with changing world since 1954…a trait shared by most gm huggers on this site.
06/01, 4:37 PM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
Ah fack off
06/01, 11:19 PM
posted by:
Impulsive
… it’s FACK AFF, but close enough.