By The Time I Get To Tuscon…

by Jack Baruth

Published: February 17th, 2015

First, there was the five-seat Santa Fe, which in GLS V6 form was the ride of choice for our very own Bark M. back in the day. Then the Santa Fe went upmarket, so Hyundai created the Tuscon. Now the Tuscon is, apparently, going upmarket. It’s like what Chrysler did with Imperial, only in reverse!

The Sonata Eco 1.6L turbo powertrain is likely to be offered here in the United States; it’s a safe bet that the 2.4L NA four will also be available, most likely as the default.

As you can see, it looks very nice inside and out. Reports of ventilated seats might be for the Euro market only; their Elantra, for example, is available with more stuff than ours. Expect the new Tuscon to offer a 1982 Civic 1500GL’s worth of interior space at only twice the weight. We’ll have a chance to see it in the metal come the New York show in April.

Jack Baruth

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4 of 58 comments

Magnusmaster on Feb 17, 2015

The design of this new Tucson is a huge step down from the current down, particularly in the rear. Peter Schreyer is doing a great job on Kia, but he's completely ruining Hyundai.

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- 95_SC on Feb 17, 2015
  
  I think this looks way nicer than the current one.
  
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- Ect on Feb 18, 2015
  
  I agree with mkirk, but this is a subjective topic. I found it amusing when we carshopped in 2013 that the Hyundai people were quick to brag about the company having hired a head designer from BMW, and the Kia people bragged about the company having hired a head designer from Audi. True to form, the Hyundais were very busy, bulky designs (to my eye), while the Kias were sleeker. The Kias also drove much better than the Hyundais. As one example, the Tucson of the day only offered the 2.4 engine, while the Sportage could be had with the 2.0 turbo. What a difference that made! The Sportage also had much better handling, and a better range of options. We almost bought it. So, our verdict was that Kia got the better German designer. It seems that Hyundai brass came to the same conclusion, although it took them considerably longer to do so. ANOTHER company that could have saved themselves time and/or made a better business decision by hiring me - but didn't. Alas!
  
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AnotherMillenial on Feb 17, 2015

I think this Tuscon looks great, easily better-looking than anything else in it's segment, interior or exterior. From a visual standpoint '16 Mazda CX-5 comes in second, honorable mention to the Rav4's interior. Meanwhile, the Chevy Equinox looks (more or less) exactly the same.

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