Hyundai Tucson TL Go (2018-2026)

Wouldn't Spend this much for Hyundai SUV – There are so many SUV choices out there and the Tuscon is on the radar. As with all SUVs, they are roomy and nowadays, people drive it not to take it off road but to look good. The blue colour was sharp but it ends there. Hyundai has come a long long way since it's excel and Hyundai sonata days and they are make a positive effort in the car market. But having driven European and Japanese cars, the Tuscon has ways to go. I'll pay AUD$27k max brand new for the 2019 and probably 15k for a second hand 2018 model A tuscon looks like a mx5 with no individual character. Interior is weak and just like Mazda's durability is an issue. I'm not looking for more than 2 years before selling. The plus though is that for the price, it has most of the gadgets you'll find in more expensive SUVs. This is a real bonus, so you are getting a bang for you buck.

Hyundai Tucson is the best SUV on value and safety if you get the Smart Sense package – We recently purchased a Hyundai Tucson Go, a mid-size SUV. Despite it is bottom of the range in the Tucson line-up, it has pretty much everything we wanted at a fantastic price. Whether it is the car for you and your family depends on what you are after. So, let me start from my criteria: 1. Meek looking 2. Taller for better visibility 3. Safety 4. No CVT or DCT 5. Price / value for money

It is intended to be the car for my wife and to be driven and parked at train station on daily basis. For that reason, we didn't want to get a thief magnet. We just wanted a decent looking, not an over the top Transformers inspired car like the Toyota CHR. I wanted it white and I didn't even mind steel wheels so we don't have to worry about grinding the polished alloys on the curb. The trade-off is rust in the long run and heavier weight of steel compared with aluminium.

I wanted a taller car to improve visibility. Kona, another contender, whilst a SUV is a cross-over and thus small and not that tall. Plus it is really plasticky inside. I mean all hard plasticky inside. While smaller car is easier to drive, and to park, Kona was a bit too small hence we went for the mid-sized Tucson. Might as well go for i30 if we were to go with Kona. i30 has much bigger boot space.

Safety was the most important thing and Hyundai Tucson really delivered here if you get the Smart Sense package. Without it, the car comes with minimum safety features including traction control, 6 air bags, high tensile steel frame, reverse camera and isofix points. With Smart Sense added (for $2200), you pretty much get everything under the sun! But first, you must get the auto transmission to be eligible. With the Smart Sense package, you get auto emergency braking, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, blind-spot vehicle alert, rear cross traffic alert. You even get driver attention warning and a bunch of non-safety related stuff like glove box cooling, dual zone climate control, electronic park brake, electric folding mirrors and adaptive cruise control. The console around the gear stick and handbrake is completely different! So much more fancy and more spacious without the imposing manual handbrake handle. The only things it doesn't have include rain sensing auto wipers (it does have auto lights), passenger door auto lock on incoming traffic and occupant sensor for back row, all are included in Santa Fe. I would have loved to have the auto passenger door lock feature. May be I will use old style child-lock instead.

The next point is contentious, I did not want CVT or DCT. Let me explain in reverse order. I love manual gear box and have been driving manual for over 30 years. In fact, this Tucson will replace our manual car and I sorely miss that. That said, I don't want my wife to have to be conscious about how DCT works and not be allowed to creep at walking pace because that means slipping the clutch resulting in wear and expensive repair in time. Good old auto transmission uses torque converter and is essentially driving on fluid and doesn't have this problem / limitation. I hate the concept of CVT, it is not a new technology and was first applied to a car in 1896 and was used in farming equipment since 1950s. It works by having a belt at really high tension against two cones. High tension! Sorry not for me. Yes, many modern motorcycles use belt, but they have teeth so they are more like chains. With record players, there is an endless debate about whether a direct drive is as good as a belt driven mechanism. Belt drive mechanism yields less noise but belt is unreliable hence the emergence of direct drive, the quest for better drive mechanism. And you probably know that self propelled lawn mowers are all belt driven and the belt requires replacement after about 50 hours some say. So you understand why I dont like CVT.

Admittedly, CVT makes the engine run most efficiently and both CVT & DCT yield better fuel economy than traditional auto transmission. But sorry, when I read DCT is expected to last at least 5 years and the hefty cost of DCT repair, they are not for me. If you have a convincing argument or article that might change my mind, please let me know. Thanks.

This bias towards standard auto transmission pretty much wiped out most other manufacturers - Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi and Subaru. Would have loved a Honda HRV because of its magic seat and large boot despite its compact size. However, CVT killed it for me, sorry.

We did add a few more things on top of auto transmission and Smart Sense, including tinting, front and rear parking sensors, dash mat, boot liner and floor mats. Fortunately, Hyundai was doing a factory special. After some haggling with the dealer, we were able to get the price of the Tucson inside our budget, close to the price of Go with auto trans and everything else thrown in for free, drive away. Very happy indeed.

A few side points, most SUVs' boot are level with the bumper. That makes the boot so much smaller than a hatch back. Therefore, quite often you want to roll-up the privacy blind and take advantage of the tall roof. The blind is such a great idea, so much easier to put away than the board most hatch backs provide. Given the boot window is tinted, we almost never have to draw the blind anyway. This is one reason I didn't mind the dark grey interior (cf two tones or light interiors) making inside really dark hence safe.

Here is a list of non-essentials that are worth mentioning. But first please note that we are iPhone users.

Interior design

Thank God our Tucson is a MY19 model with all new interior. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we think the Tucson dash is absolutely beautiful! The lines flow, there is a mixture of soft textures, stitching, and hard plastics. The controls are simple and intuitive. Without reading the manual or studying the buttons, we immediately worked out how to use all the controls, while test driving it. That's nice!

My only rant is that I would preferred a more substantial door handle on the inside for closing the door like what is in the Kia Sportage and I would prefer rear air vent in the center console, like the Kia Sportage have, together with a power outlet. Buttons on the door feel a little unrefined. I can't quite put my finger on why I feel this way. Thank God we have the Smart Sense package which means it has the mirror folding buttons and it makes it better.

There is a deep pocket for the phone which is a wireless charge station for Elite / Highlander variants. I feel there is enough space for a divider in that space. Right to the steering wheel, there is a big opening for accessing fuse box. I so much wish there is a little coin / key drawer there. There is enough room for it.

Infotainment system

Some hates having a tablet sticking out of the dash making it look like an after-thought. I have a different opinion. It is purposeful and I love that you don't have to take your eyes off the road while driving to read the map. Well done Hyundai.

Go doesn't come with SatNav. I actually prefer this so I am not tied to Hyundai for updating the map. Consider how often your Google Maps app updates, once a year map update at service time is insufficient. SUNA Live Traffic Updates would have been a good thing because it works on top of Google Map telling you if there's narrow road, congestion ahead, etc. The infotainment system is 7" not 8", but it is sufficient. Why can't Apply CarPlay just mirror the iPhone screen? Why limit to a handful of apps? Given the infotainment system has touch screen and iPhone only has one Home button, I believe the system would be loads more powerful if Apple CarPlay is a screen emulator. Specific to Google Map, I really miss zoom in and out.

The Apple CarPlay clock is too small. It is on the right pane of the LCD display, disproportional to the big app icons. Wish it were displayed on top consistent with where it would be if Apple CarPlay wasnt running. I find myself hunting for it at times and that's not good while driving. Perhaps a dedicated clock display would be good. Otherwise, an option to display the clock on the trip computer like how it displays the digital speedo.

Engine & transmission

Tucson Go is 2WD with a 2L GDI petrol engine. Given the car's kerb weight is between 1520kg & 1620kg, it isn't very gutsy at all. Kia Sportage feels more gutsy despite very similar specs. We dont plan to do off-road driving with the Tucson.

Boot space

I would have loved not to have a full size spare wheel. Instead, just a space saver and a set of alloy wheels so the car is lighter. Space saver spare will also allow boot floor to move down and increase boot size a fair bit too. After all, it is designed to do so! Some countries get space saver spare wheel while others only get an inflation kit.

Sound system

Go doesn't come with Infinity speaker system like its sibblings do, but we find the audio system sufficient. There is an equaliser. Hey, perhaps try to improve your music source instead of the sound system. I moved the centre a little towards the back and found that created a better sound stage. Well, I might feel differently if the car came with a Dynaudio / Bose / Naim audio system. Sorry for putting Bose together in the sentence with Dynaudio and Naim. In the case of car audio, given the heavy DSP Bose is famous for, combined with a very well controlled interior environment and fixed position of passengers, it may actually be comparable dare I say.

Seats

I actually prefer cloth seats which came with the Tucson Go. We and our passengers tend to slide on leather seats. Also, we have dogs, so we have water resistant seat covers and a rug on the rear seats and wont even notice the leather. In fact, I fear sand build-up between the rug / seat cover and the leather seat destroying the leather finish.

Please note that Tucson actually comes with 3 different seats - leather, cloth with electronic lumber support and cloth without lumber support. The Go variant comes with cloth seats without lumber support. I would have hoped that it came with at least a manual lumber support.

Fuel

Hyundai Tucson uses normal unleaded fuel 91 RON. Of course you can put more expensive fuel inside but that is a choice you make, not something you are stuck to.

Add-on's

We were not so careful here. Go doesn't come with front or rear parking sensors and we bought them as optional extras. To my unpleasant surprise, what was installed looks like an after market system. It has a separate LED display and 8 sensors. Thank goodness the sensors are colour matched to the bumper (in 2 colours - black & white). Unlike the factory unit, when front sensors detect an object, the LED flashes like an equaliser display, the closer the object, the more lights are lit. And it beeps once when the object is very near. With the rear sensors, there is a buzzer which beeps and beeps more rapidly when you get closer to an object. Because the buzzer is installed on the left rear end, it feels like it is the left sensor that is picking up obstacles, when in fact it is the right or center sensor triggering the buzzer. There is no LCD display of the car showing which sensor is detecting objects. The system comes with an on/off button for disable/enablement. However, it is installed / drilled into the dash at bottom right of the steering wheel rather than using one of the stud buttons meant for this very purpose. Face-palm.

The LED flashing display is installed in the middle on top of the dashboard wedged at the base of the windscreen. It keeps the dash mat from being fitted properly, lining up with such as air vents and the installer just left it there. How horrible! Had to trim the mat myself and add seam around the exposed edges. It is now perfect.

Warranty and after service

There is 5 years unlimited km warranty, fixed price service plan and RACV roadside assist. That said, the service doesn't include a lot of things and I was told Hyundai will try to such as clean air filter rather than replace it because service book doesn't recommend air filter replacement (like Kia does). It is important to note the little that is included in the fixed price service and many other maintenance tasks that may be requested at cost.

Hyundai vs Kia

Hyundai and Kia are made in the same factory and engine compartment looks identical. That said, Kia doesn't give you an option to add any safety features. You have to buy GT-line to get them. Sportage does come with alloy wheels, 8 infotainment screen and SatNav. But as explained, safety features were not negotiable. If safety features were on par with the Tucson we might have bought the Sportage instead. I also didn't like the non-symmetrical dash design.

Update [2019-12-16] Noticed recently the Go version has disappeared. Instead, there is a new variant called Active. Starting at $29k drive away, alloy wheels including full size spare alloy wheel, leather steering wheel and SmartSense comes standard! Amazing deal, right? Then I realised a number of things have been removed. They include:

* Electronic Park Brake (EPB) * Drive modes - Comfort / Eco / Sport * Blind-spot Collision Warning (BCW) * Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) using radar (camera is still there) * Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning (RCCW) * Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go (SCC) * Power folding exterior mirrors * Dual zone climate control with auto defog function * Puddle lights in side mirrors * Centre console - deluxe type

It is such a shame that SmartSense feature list varies between variants. No wonder it has to be standard across all variants. I am glad I bought the Go version and added SmartSense which came with all the aforementioned features missing in Active. After all, I was after all the model safety features. I am a little at lost with Lane Keeping Assist. What is the difference between LKA, LFA and LKAS? What does Tucson come with?