2016 Hyundai Tucson long term review, first report

The soft-roader gets initiated into our fleet with two trips to Mahabaleshwar.

Published on Mar 29, 2017 08:00:00 AM

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2016 Hyundai Tucson long term review, first report

Sharp styling makes this is a car you’re proud to step into.

Short suspension travel limits off-road use.

A 5.30am departure got us smoothly out of a sleeping Mumbai and onto the busy Mumbai-Pune Expressway, where truck traffic was pretty thick. It’s here that the Tucson’s punchy 185hp 2.0-litre diesel played its part by serving up a thick slug of torque to slingshot past slow-moving vehicles. The Tucson is also a happy cruiser, the tall sixth gear equating a relaxed 1,800rpm at 100kph. However, the auto gearbox isn’t as responsive as the one in the Elantra and there’s a slight delay before it kicks down. Also, it’s best to select the Sport mode which holds on to a gear more tenaciously than the ‘Normal’ mode where the transmission has an irritating tendency to shift up a bit too eagerly, in the interest of fuel economy. Speaking of which, the Tucson delivered a very acceptable 11.4kpl over the 250km drive to Mahabaleshwar, which involved a fair bit of hard overtaking on the single-lane NH17 and a twisty 40km ghat.

Strong mid-range is a potent tool for highway use.

Branching off the expressway, onto SH92 to Pali, is a shortcut to NH17 that not many are aware of. As a result, there’s hardly any traffic, which lets you enjoy this delightfully windy and undulating 40km stretch that cuts through reserved forest land. But the Tucson is a bit of a dampener. It’s too softly sprung, especially at the rear, and it pitches uncomfortably over crests and dips. Some of the badly rutted and potholed sections on the drive exposed another of the Tucson’s weaknesses – a lack of sufficient wheel travel which the soft suspension often used up to hit the bump stops with a thud.

The Tucson isn’t a great car to corner hard either. The steering, though well-weighted and accurate, isn’t very quick or responsive, but the real killjoy is the way the nose-heavy Tucson understeers. It was best to drive in ‘family mode’ and ease the Tucson around the hairpins rather than barrel through them, which kept everyone in the car, except me, happy.

The return journey was on the longer but more relaxed (and boring) NH4 via Pune. It was also the Tucson’s natural habitat – the dual carriageway, long straights and smooth roads that play to this comfortable soft-roader’s strengths. It’s just that it’s a little too soft for me.