Hyundai Tucson Facelift Review : Now with 8-speed AT

Review : Hyundai Tucson Facelift with 8-speed AT

2.0L turbo-diesel produces the same 182 BHP and 400 Nm in BS6 guise. The talking point is the new 8-speed AT (instead of the old 6-speeder).

With the brake pedal pressed, hit the starter button and the diesel engine comes to life. The first thought that comes to your mind is that the diesel is refined. You don’t get any clatter inside the cabin at idle, and vibrations are very well-controlled too. Slot the gear lever into D and lift your foot off the brake pedal, the car crawls forward at 7 km/h. On pressing the accelerator, you will find that it is quite sensitive; with the low end torque of the diesel, the Tucson will lurch forward and might catch some drivers by surprise. Urban driveability is overall excellent. The tall seating position, good all-round visibility, light controls and smooth gearbox make the Tucson very easy to drive in the city.

On the open road, once you stretch her legs, the Tucson impresses. It accelerates quickly, and with the good insulation, you may not even realize the high speeds you are doing. Expressway performance is overall impressive. However, the diesel does not revv all the way to the redline. Even in kickdown mode, the AT shifts up anywhere between ~4,000 - ~4,500 revvs. In Manual Mode, you cannot take it any higher. Coming to cruisability, at 100 km/h in 8th gear, the engine is spinning at a lazy ~1,450 rpm and at 120 km/h, it is just above 1,750 rpm.

The 8-speed torque converter transmission is smooth-shifting. Drive with a light foot and it will shift up at just over 1,500 rpm. It’s overall a very refined experience & your passengers won't even notice the changing gears. Want to overtake? Floor the accelerator & the gearbox responds in a reasonably quick time. The transmission is never jerky, even if you get aggressive with it. The gearbox works well on the highway as well, since the AT downshifts eagerly when you step on the throttle. I didn’t encounter a single situation where the gearbox got confused or was hunting for gears. This is an extremely competent gearbox. Manual mode has been provided, but what we really missed are steering-mounted paddle shifters! It's the only fly-in-the-ointment of an otherwise flawless AT.

The Tucson gets 3 driving modes: Comfort, Sport and Eco. These different modes alter the gearbox behaviour, steering weight and throttle sensitivity.
• Comfort Mode: This is the default setting when you start the car. Throttle response, steering weight and gearbox behaviour are just 'regular' in this mode.
• Sport Mode: Throttle response is sharpened. The steering gets a tad bit heavier, and the AT holds on to gears a little longer before upshifting.
• Eco Mode: Throttle response gets dulled and the gearbox upshifts earlier.

NVH levels are excellent. Unless revved hard, engine noise doesn’t intrude into the cabin. It’s only over 4,000 rpm that the motor gets loud. Coming to wind and road noise, both are very well-controlled, even above 100 km/h.

Click here to read Team-BHP’s detailed Official Review