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A higher 4.042:1 final drive (diff) ratio and changed engine/transmission programming to induce earlier lockup (from 50kph) to reduce slippage, combine to improve Tucson V6’s ADR 81/01 fuel economy rating to 10.9 litres/100 km but more importantly, it is now easier for most drivers to achieve closer to this result, which is a static, laboratory-based comparative-only figure averaging mostly urban with some highway usage.

Tucson V6 also picks up features introduced with the recently-launched Tucson City 2WD variant: an attractive new woven seat fabric and soft-touch dash and door trim elements, higher quality roof headlining, a retractable security blind covering the cargo area replacing the prior pressed board, slide-out extensions in the sunvisors and adjacent roof lights that switch on when the sunvisor vanity mirror covers are slid open.

The audio is uprated to deliver improved sound quality and clarity. Power output is now up to 45 watts (from 25) x four channels, WMA-capability augments that for MP3, the loudness function is improved, mid-level tone adjustment added as are four preset modes for rock, jazz, pop and classical. The buffer zone interval for electronic shock protection of the CD output when driving over rough ground is extended to 38 seconds from eight.

On the comfort-is-safety front, fore-aft adjustment is added to the front head restraints, which improves the protection they offer from rear-impact-induced whiplash injury. Also, the driver’s seat gains lumbar adjustment for better lower back support on longer trips, important for staving off fatigue.

Tucson Elite, Hyundai’s first six-airbag car when launched in 2004, has new, double-spoke design alloy wheels and the Elite S with its body-colour bumpers and side cladding is now available in black and silver as well as the existing mid-green and champagne metallics. Inside, Elite upgrades with leather side seat bolsters and a new moquette mesh fabric on seat centres and door trim inserts while the metallic centre dash and door switch panels adopt a classier satin alloy look.

Tucson is gaining popularity and has sold in record numbers in recent months, forging an increasing presence in the booming compact SUV market with its armoury of exclusive amenities and safety features, taut handling, top level refinement and a crisp, sophisticated style, all offered for typically Hyundai benchmark value for money.

Tucson brings the torque, smoothness and quiet of a bigger engine with six cylinders compared with its four-cylinder competitors, while electronic Traction Control with ABS augments the extra road holding safety margin of its on-demand, lockable all-wheel-drive system.

A key and unique feature of Tucson in its sub-class is the smooth and effortless performance delivered by its 2.7 litre, all-alloy, quad cam, 24-valve ‘Delta’ V6 engine, driving through an electronically adaptive four-speed automatic transmission with Selectronic sequential clutchless manual mode. Maximum torque is 241Nm at 4000rpm and power peaks at 129kW at 6000rpm. Indicative acceleration is 10.5 seconds 0-100kph and 17.2 seconds from rest to 400 metres.

Tucson offers unrivalled interior seating flexibility for occupants and gear stowage—an 8’10” (2.7m) surfboard stows in-cabin, protective exterior cladding on doors and wheel arches, lockable on-demand all-wheel-drive and on the Tucson Elite, power sunroof and six airbags.

Appealing particularly to young, active singles, couples or families, Tucson’s clean, sharp sculpturing and stance on the road exude an appropriately subtle hint of off-road ability with short overhangs, high ground clearance, one of the longest wheelbases in its class and consequent best or near best-in-class aggregate legroom front and rear and finished off with dual chrome oval tailpipes out back.

Amenities in Tucson not normally found on entry level models in this class include ABS with EBD, 16” alloy wheels including the spare wheel, cruise control, cargo area cover and elastic net, windscreen wiper de-icer, roof rails, front and rear fog lights, pollen filter and an overhead console with sunglasses bin and map lights.

Urban-savvy Tucson touchstones include a park-friendly 4.33 metre overall length, ideal step-in height to moderately elevated seating, a plethora of storage facilities and cupholders, good all round vision and ideal rear stowage access. Tucson’s tailgate shelters from rain, requires less space and effort to open than a spare wheel-laden offside-hinged door and in very tight confines, boot space is accessible through its separately openable window and retracting cargo cover blind.

Tucson’s long 2630mm wheelbase, its short overhangs and raised ground clearance bestow a purposeful presence on the road. Its cropped 810mm rear overhang allows an exceptionally steep departure angle for the class of almost 32 degrees.

Overall, Tucson shows extremely fine proportions which disguise the actual roominess of the interior.

Taut traction
On the move, Tucson’s delights with taut, responsive handling allied with good ride comfort and a high level of interior refinement and quietness.

On more slippery surfaces, Tucson’s Borg-Warner-sourced electronically controlled on-demand all wheel drive system offers instant and automatic engine torque transfer sharing from the front wheels to any of the wheels with the best traction. Drive to the rear wheels is via an electro-mechanical multi-clutch plate ITM (Interactive Torque Management) unit mounted immediately ahead of the rear differential.

On very slick or heavy going surfaces, the driver can lock in 50/50 front and rear drive and disable the Traction Control (to preserve wheelspin and momentum) with the touch of two adjacent dash buttons. As car speed accelerates from 30 to 40km/h, the 50/50 lock progressively reverts to on-demand AWD

Smart seats
Tucson’s ‘Space Wizard’ seating is an inviting and intuitively innovative design and offers some uniquely convenient configurations. In the 60/40 split rear seat, each backrest folds forward to virtually flat and level with the boot floor in a single, one-hand action which also lowers the seat cushion underneath, thus providing between 1.635 and 1.855 metres of flat load length right up to the front seat backs, depending on front seat adjustment, enough for a 26” mountain bike to be laid on the all-wipeable load surface. No head restraints need be removed in any of these configurations. The rear floor also lifts out for washing down.

Even more in-cabin load length is available via another Tucson exclusive, The left front seat backrest also folds forward to horizontal, which then not only acts as a work table with its hard mostly flat surface and elastic net pocket, but greatly extends the in-cabin load length to a diagonal maximum of 2.7 metres (8’10” in Malibu speak) or 2.49m (8’2”) along the cabin left side, clear of the front passenger airbag door and with the rear seat still two-thirds erected.

Tucson’s 717mm step-in height is near ideal for most people and the seating pleasantly but not overly elevated for vision in traffic. Anatomically shaped and padded front seats offer good support on long trips and, with their four-way-adjustable head restraints removed, the backrests recline to flat, making a bed with the rear seat cushion.

The driver’s seat cushion adjusts for height and tilt and addresses a vertically adjustable steering wheel and a low dash panel with the instrument dials including a tachometer tightly binnacled in front of the driver, in which the large speedo is central, where it needs to be given the level of speed surveillance in Australia.

Stowage
Storage places abound, such as the small lipped trays under each door pull, just right for a mobile phone, the double bin in the centre console whose padded elbow rest top raises to accommodate tall front occupants. There are four retractable shopping bag hooks, two cupholders each front and rear, three 12v points, a flock-lined coin drawer and coin rack, pockets with bottle holders on all doors, an overhead sunglasses console, two wet compartments under the rear floor by the alloy spare wheel and a brolly shelf under the steering column, to name a few. The lit glovebox even has a slide-in divider as well as a book retaining elastic strap. And there’s a drawer under the left front seat.

Safety
Tucson’s active safety is provided by its agile handling, ABS-equipped brakes, electronic traction control, its on-demand AWD system and good vision.

Backing up is Tucson’s computer designed rigid cabin structure protected by impact absorbing front and rear ends, load diffusion paths, four body rollover hoops and door-stiffening side impact protection beams. Tucson has dual front airbags and front seat belt with pre-tensioners, load-limiters and height-adjustable upper mounts.

Tucson Elite ushered in a higher level of safety in the compact SUV sub-segment by also offering front seat side airbags and cabin side curtain airbags.

All five seating positions have retractable sash/lap seatbelts and vertically adjustable head restraints, those on the rear seat backs being wrapover low profile designs for maximized rear vision when retracted. All three child seat tether strap anchor points have their brackets already fitted ready for use under neat flap covers in the floor immediately behind the rear seat back base where intrusion into luggage space is minimized.

Tucson has been safety rated by the US NHTSA at five stars and EuroNCAP at four stars for its adult regime.

Pricing
Tucson V6 AWD starts at $30,990* with sequential-manual mode automatic. As well as the standard features above, this also includes standard pollen-filtering air-conditioning, remote entry central locking with alarm, power windows with driver’s glass one-touch lowering, dual front airbags, electric door mirrors and a raft of other detail conveniences.

Tucson Elite V6 AWD is remarkable value at $33,990* with the Elite S at $34,490*, both adding front seat side (thorax) airbags, side window (curtain) airbags, a power tilt/slide sunroof, leather steering wheel rim and gearshift knob, trip computer, tweeters, dressier double-spoke alloy wheels with wider and lower profile 235/60 tyres and ambient light-sensitive headlight control.

Like all Hyundais, Tucson offers owners the quality assurance of Australia’s best continuously offered factory new car warranty, five years or 130,000km.

*recommended retail plus on-road costs