2016 Hyundai Tucson review, road test

The Tucson sports the company’s Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 design and is embellished with a number of family design elements. The front is dominated by the now-familiar large hexagonal grille flanked by the high-set, narrow headlamp units. Below the grille is a prominent horizontal line running across the width of the car, splitting the fog lamps and the daytime-running lights. On to the side, there’s the window line that sharply rises towards the rear as seen on other Hyundais. This familiar design treatment prevails at the back too, with horizontal tail-lamp units split across the tailgate and rear fender.

The Tucson shares its platform with the Elantra, the international i30 and the Kia Sportage, so you know it’s made for a wide variety of global markets. With each successive generation Hyundai has made large improvements and this holds true for the third-gen Tucson too. The monocoque now uses 51 percent advanced high-strength steel compared to the previous generation’s 18 percent; there is also a large use of structural adhesives at high-stress points. All of this makes the body a lot more rigid and that improves the crash worthiness and refinement levels, and also allows the suspension to work better. The Tucson uses McPherson struts at the front and a multi-link coil sprung at the rear. The platform has both a two-wheel-drive and a four-wheel-drive layout. India, however, will have to make do with the two-wheel drive for now.