2014 Hyundai Tucson

PREVIEW

SPECIFICATIONS

1. Pricing starts at $22,305 and climbs to $31,205 fully loaded. 2. Engines include a 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter direct injection four-cylinder. 3. Those engines make 164 and 182 hp respectively. 4. Official estimates suggest 20/25/22 mpg city/highway/average. 5. Five-speed manual disappears for 2014 model year

Here’s the problem with most new compact crossovers: they’re too damn good. Subaru’s Forester will surprise you with its outstanding fuel economy, the Mazda CX-5 wins votes with its handling and the Jeep Cherokee’s looks are a real head-turner. OK that last one isn’t necessarily a compliment, but the point is that it’s hard to be a memorable quarterback when you’re sitting in a room filled with first stringers.

That’s a problem that Hyundai – like many others – is stuck dealing with. In its first generation, the Tuscson had several aesthetic similarities to the Ford Escape. It was sort of boxy looking albeit with chunkier body pieces than small crossovers streaming from the Blue Oval brand’s factories in Ohio and Missouri. 

Starting with the 2010 model year, Hyundai abandoned the old Tucson in favor of a model carrying the kind of streamlined style seen across the current product line. Its sales more than doubled in the first year. Now, more than ever, people buying compact crossovers have their pick of an incredibly competitive product range.

INTERIOR

The cabin also comes with new standard features like artificial leather trim on the door panels in all models, although Hyundai removed the leather-wrapped shift knob from the mid-grade Tucson, instead restricting it to the top “limited” trim.

Seat upholstery remains the same this year with cloth on the base car, a mixture of cloth and leatherette for mid-level models and leather for the highfalutin limited trim. That’s not all Hyundai keeps for its most expensive version, either. There’s also a technology package that costs $2,650 and adds the LED rear lamps mentioned earlier along with a panoramic sun roof, seven-inch touch-screen navigation system with traffic updates and a premium stereo.

The “infotainment” system is intuitive albeit weak at searching for destinations. Pre-programmed points of interest and intersections are one thing, but more obscure locations like a nightclub might be more challenging.

The panoramic sunroof is also disappointing. Half the fun of having a big-ass glass panel overhead is how much light it lets in, but the headliner cover is manually operated and split in two parts. You won’t be able to reach the back half while driving and to a certain extent that defeats the purpose. For the price, I’d steer clear of the tech package.

UNDER THE HOOD

Any real estate agent worth their “commish” will tell you that new appliances are another big selling point and Hyundai has that covered here, too. This year, the company scrapped its outdated 2.0- and 2.4-liter four pots in favor of direct-injected mills with the same displacement. The 2.0-liter “Nu” engine is one pony weaker with 164 hp, but gains five lb-ft of torque. Its 2.4-liter “Theta II” cousin offers 182 (six more than the old 2.4) and nine lb-ft of twist for a total 177. More importantly, the engines offer broader powerbands, meaning their output is more accessible than before.

Both of those engines come mated to a six-speed automatic transmission in front- and all-wheel drive configurations. That’s right, Hyundai dropped the five-speed manual for this year.

Now, you might expect the new engines to offer improved fuel efficiency and in the base 2.0-liter model that assumption is correct. Official estimates call for a single MPG improvement in the city to 23 while highway and average fuel economy remain at 25 and 29 MPG respectively. That still trails others in the segment like the Forster’s 27 combined MPG. Mazda’s 2.0-liter CX-5 does even better with an average 28.

Hyundai provided a fully-loaded “limited” model as the test car, and it came with the 2.4-liter engine and all-wheel drive. In that configuration, the friendly feds suggest an average 22 MPG, which is actually a downgrade by one mile per gallon over last year. In the city, you’re supposed to see 20 MPG while the highway stickers at 25. The bulk of our week with the Tucson involved short trips in the city and the car reported a regrettable 15 mpg, although that should come with a disclaimer. It rode on winter tires in weather cold enough to make Rudolph’s red nose call in sick. Only a few individual trips lasted much longer than the car took to properly warm up, so you can probably expect to beat that abysmal figure by a wide margin.