Hyundai Tucson Elite – Ticking all the boxes

– Article/photos by Rod Fuller – 

Never has there been so much choice when it comes to SUV’s. Large and luxurious or compact and capable, there’s a veritable shopping list of features to tempt you; with each manufacturer offering a ‘right vehicle’ to compliment your lifestyle.

Looking at medium sized SUV’s, the options are almost endless, with five or sometimes seven seats, AWD/FWD, petrol/diesel and even hybrid offerings available in this very competitive segment of the market.

Recently I drove the Hyundai Tucson Elite; five seats, AWD diesel with eight speed auto. And what impressed me with this car is how it just how well it did everything. It’s one of those cars that feels like it seamlessly blends into your lifestyle, complimenting it without intruding. You simply get in and go.

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Attractively styled, with a very well-proportioned and balanced look, it’s mildly aggressive grille and polished front end give it a strong road presence. Inside there’s leather seats with plenty of head/shoulder and leg space for all passengers. Dual zone climate control, rear privacy glass and premium finishes and materials also feature.

Apple Car Play/Android Auto is standard in Tucson and ‘Elite’ has an eight inch touchscreen to control all multimedia functions, including Sat Nav, Bluetooth connectivity, DAB radio and the eight speaker premium audio system. Plus to keep everyone’s devices powered, there’s two 12V’s and a USB in the front a USB for rear seat passengers and another 12V in the boot.

Cargo space is essential in a SUV and Tucson has bags of it (sorry about that pun), with 488lt capacity with the 60:40 split rear seats up and 1,478lt with them folded down. And if that is not enough space to carry what you need, it also has a 1,600kg braked towing capacity.

I found the Tucson Elite to be a very pleasant and enjoyable drive. Powered by a 2.0lt CRDi four cylinder diesel engine (136kW/400Nm) with eight speed auto transmission and AWD. The transmission features three modes Eco, Comfort and Sport, plus active on-demand 4WD, with a 50/50 front and rear lock mode for when the going gets a bit rougher.

City or country driving, with Hyundai’s engineers tuning Tucson’s suspension to suit Australian conditions, its road manners are impeccable, providing a responsive drive and very comfortable ride on its 225/55R18 Kumho tyres (plus there’s a full size spare provided as well). Fuel economy is quite good, listing as 6.4lt/100km (combined).

Safety and drivers assistance features standard on Tucson Elite include:-

• Forward Collision Avoidance Assist (with pedestrian/cyclist detection)
• Lane Keep Assist and Lane Departure Warning
• Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear Cross Traffic Alert
• Radar Cruise Control
• Driver Attention Warning
• Hill Start Assist
• High Beam Assist

Priced from around $41,700 drive-away, Tucson Elite provides a whole lot of motoring for your money. And with Hyundai offering a 7 year unlimited kilometre warranty on all new Hyundai passenger and SUV vehicles ordered and delivered by the end of this year, Tucson makes a very compelling offer.

In experiencing Tucson Elite, I feel it just does everything right. It’s comfortable, drives very well and provides the practicality and versatility a medium sized SUV should. Simply, it ticks all the boxes.

What does it look like as a Novated Lease?

This data is from the 2019 Novated Leasing Guide produced by Fleet Auto News.