Our cars: Hyundai Tucson
Korean SUV does a great job of soothing out summer slogs
FOR this year’s summer holidays the Fowler family and the Hyundai Tucson criss-crossed the country rather than stay in one place. Part of that was down to not being able to book somewhere suitable for all of us to stay for a couple of weeks (must book earlier in future), but it also gave us a chance to take a trip down memory lane to Mumby in Lincolnshire.
It’s been a while since I’d visited the On Your Marques model car museum, set up by my late Aunt Jane and her husband Chris, but it was great to get back up there to see Chris, his dog Spangle and one of the UK’s best model car displays. It was great to take one of the UK’s best SUVs up there, too – and as usual the Tucson excelled.
Before we headed to Lincolnshire, we went to Cornwall for a week – and it took us almost that long to get home again. The journey down was great – my wife Victoria did the motorway driving (she’s an even bigger fan of the Tucson than I am) and I took over once we were off the motorways and onto Cornwall’s narrow lanes.
Although the Tucson is big enough for five adults to travel in reasonable comfort,
it’s not too big for the tight country lanes. Good visibility and the raised driving position help, but the way the Tucson drives was handy, too; it balances decent body control with good ride comfort.
Hyundai’s hybrid system impressed down in Cornwall, getting more action than when on the motorway. I could use long downhill stretches to build up battery power through the brakes and then try to eke out as much electric power as I could without the engine cutting in. You barely notice when it does, although it’s not the most cultured sound if you accelerate hard.
While the journey down to Cornwall took just four hours, the journey back was a tedious eight hours. But it’s testament to the Tucson’s comfort that the only complaints were about my choice of music.
I took full advantage of Hyundai’s Highway Drive Assist – Level Two autonomous tech, in other words. It keeps the car in lane and uses the cruise control to keep a set distance from the car in front – and on that journey home it really made life just a little bit easier and more bearable.
Our second week trip up to Lincolnshire meant an additional passenger: Sky, our now fully-grown Goldendoodle. That meant the boot – perfectly adequate for five people’s luggage the week before – had another use. So a roof box was required, along with roof rails. Hyundai dealers will sell you the former for £369 and the latter for £238, and it’s all a doddle to fit, with a stepping stool to help out.
It meant that all of our luggage went into the box and Sky had the boot to herself. And other than a bit more wind noise on the motorway and watching out for height restrictions at beach car parks, we wouldn’t have noticed there was a roof box up top.
Sky’s just about realised the boot is now within jumping distance; the flat floor is relatively low, while the beep as the powered tailgate lowers is her cue to sit down and keep her tail out of the way.
Our holiday travels – not to mention its popularity for pretty much any trip at home – have seen our Tucson’s mileage head towards 6,000 miles in just four months. In fact, things seem to be getting even better – including the fuel consumption which, at 46. 2mpg, I’m pretty pleased with.
Verdict
OUR favourite mid-size SUV continues to impress, taking everything the Fowler family could throw at it over the holiday period in its stride. Their love affair with the Tucson shows no signs of waning.