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Owner's take on a Hyundai Tucson GLS 2WD CRDi facelift

8th June 2021, 13:07 by Chirag Moro

Of course they are improving day by day though they are far from being satisfactory to drive a sedan with peace of mind of not scrapping their underbelly.

BHPian LONG_TOURER recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Our hunt for a new car had started when my mom's 2016 Grand i10 Asta (O) AT started showing its niggles one after another. The i10 we had was problematic from the beginning itself. The car had steering alignment issue after just 10 days of its purchase and this issue could not be addressed till the time we had it with us. Anyway, this calls for another day and another thread. Let’s focus on the topic, shall we.

I already own a 2013 Elantra 1.8 SX AT which I primarily use and I had a wild plan. Why not swap my Elantra with mom's next car? So our hunt for a new car started.

I was very keen on getting a diesel car this time as I miss the low-end torque of diesel car which our i20 (2011 to 2016 uber cool i20 it was) used to offer. And of course it had to be an SUV/Crossover thanks to our national highways. Of course they are improving day by day though they are far from being satisfactory to drive a sedan with peace of mind of not scrapping their underbelly.

So, the price range was initially kept between 10L to 30L.

Requirements

The car needs to be a SUV/Crossover
Punchy diesel Engine
Automatic gearbox (must have if mom wants to drive it occasionally)
Exclusive vehicle (should not be too common on road)
Should be compact (BOF SUVs are too bulky to my liking)
Should have a strong body with minimum 6 airbags with additional safety features
Should have decent number of features.

Shortlisted cars

Ford Ecosport: I have always liked the look of the EcoSport since the time it was launched. One of my friend owns it and despite having high GC, it handles pretty well. Went to the showroom and enquired about the diesel AT version to which the SA replied that they don’t have any AT diesel variant on offer at all. Felt disappointed and didn’t feel like checking the petrol or manual diesel as they did not meet my requirements.

Tata Nexon: The facelifted car is a looker for sure and has 5-star safety rating on offer as well. But no proper Diesel AT. Did not even bother to check the AMT variants. I believe AMT is not at all an automatic and is nowhere near to conventional ATs. (No offence to the AMT owners).

Kia Seltos/Hyundai Creta: There are sea of Creta/Seltos on our roads, I mean literally every other car we see on road is either a Creta or a Seltos. These cars may be great value for money but its a big no to me as you don’t get any exclusivity owning one of these. Also heard about DPF clogging issues in earlier Seltos models which definitely raised eyebrows. I feel Diesel vehicles having DPF + LNT configuration have this issue of frequent DPF clogging. IMO, diesel vehicles with DPF+SCR are better than DPF+LNT.

Tata Harrier: This car is a looker!! I mean, you look at the car from any angle and you would fall in love with it. It has great build quality and offers good safety kit and good number of features as well. The FCA sourced engine is punchy and is well calibrated with the AT box. You can feel the 170HP on tap anytime you want. Excellent mile muncher IMO, also has DPF+SCR configuration to meet BS6 norms, hence lesser chance of DPF choking. Almost ended up booking the car but my friends suggested me to move away from it due to poor after sales service reported by them (they are owners of Tata vehicles) and long-term reliability is a hit or miss for Tata cars. Also while test driving it, I felt the steering to be on the heavier side (hydraulic steering?). Hard steering + large dimension would make it a task to manoeuvre through city traffic.

Jeep Compass: I was always keen on owning a Jeep sometime in life and this buying opportunity allowed me to step into the Jeep showroom in Guwahati ( the only showroom in Assam or may be entire northeast). This was the time when Jeep was offering huge discounts on their inventories due to lower sales in later months of 2020. I was interested in the Limited Plus 4x4 AT with all the bells and whistles and safety front checked and the car also offers an exclusivity in our roads. The car had plenty of space for 4 people and the ride quality was best in the class. However, I was totally disappointed after the test drive of the car due to its too lethargic gearbox. The 9-speed AT sounds good on paper but its tuning with the 170 hp engine was terrible. Otherwise the car is best due to sorted dynamics on road. You can do triple digit speeds with this car for hundreds of km without breaking a sweat. Overtaking would require you to do some planning due to its poor gearbox performance.

Hyundai Tucson: I didn’t even know that this car was on sale in India. I thought it was discontinued long ago with Elantra as their flagship at the moment. Even the SA at Hyundai don't bother to sell this particular vehicle. I was told by the SA that this car got a facelift in July 2020 which gave it some new features and a new gearbox in the diesel variant. The car looked great from the outside unlike newer Hyundais that are coming nowadays. The statistics on paper were good and I was mind blown after the test drive. The car's engine and gearbox combination are to die for. I mean I have an Elantra SX AT and a Grand i10 AT and never thought Hyundai has come this long a way. The 8-speed AT and 400 Nm torque makes it the fastest SUV under 30L. Went ahead and booked the car after a thorough discussion with family.

Skoda Karoq: No diesel variant on offer and was a CBU. So 'Skoda + CBU' means wait for months to get a spare part in case of eventful breakdowns/accidents.

Used 2016 or later Skoda Superb: Sedan and no right cars were available at the time of making this purchase.

Booking experience

The booking experience has been smooth with Mukesh Hyundai, Guwahati. The SA was very helpful to fetch all the details about the car and even sent me two to three PDFs describing the car and its comparisons with other vehicle in its class including BMW X1. The token amount of 1L was charged at the time of booking and delivery date was 4 weeks from the time of booking. Booking was done on 3rd December and delivery was assured by 1st week of January. We kept the Grand i10 with us till the car arrived. The i10 was later sold to a relative of ours. The colour and variant we chose was Polar White GLS 2WD. The top portion of the car was black due to all glass roof and I felt black and white would make a killer combination.

Buying Experience

Fast forward to last week of December, probably after Christmas. VIN of the vehicle was allotted and I was told that I can take delivery by 29th December itself. On checking the VIN, I found out the car was manufactured on 22nd December 2020. The car, being a CKD, didn’t take long to get to the Guwahati stockyard from their assembly plant in Chennai. I hope this happens with their spares as well, fingers crossed. However, I had to delay the delivery of the car by 2 weeks as I was diagnosed with COVID-19. At the same time, there was news that Hyundai is going to hike the prices of their fleet from January. Didn’t want to spend any extra amount as I was anyway buying on the higher side of my budget. Hence, did all my formalities like loan and upfront payment before 31st December. The car was invoiced to me on 31st December itself making me immune to the price hike of January. After my recovery, we took the delivery on 9th January. Happy moments as it was our first SUV.

Likes

Excellent driveability due to the engine and gearbox combination makes it a great mile muncher
It is a looker
Punchy and refined diesel engine with 400 Nm. Best in class
Fastest accelerating SUV under 30L
Spacious interiors
Reliability. Backed by large Hyundai Service network. Free 3 years maintenance
62L of fuel tank gives it a range of 800+ km

Dislikes

It is an older generation model. New model being launched already world wide
Rear windows are small. Thanks to the large panoramic sunroof, you won’t feel claustrophobic though
Lesser features compared to Creta. Not bare bone by any standards though
No wireless Android Auto/CarPlay
Ground clearance is on the lower side
Soft stock Nexen tyres are prone to sidewall cracks/ruptures. Odd size of 225/55/18 means limited replacement options. Period.

Exterior

The car carries the design philosophy of fluidic 2.0 of yesteryear's Hyundai design language meaning that this car looks good from outside and not polarising as the present-gen Hyundai's design philosophy. The car has subtle bit of chrome on the side with a massive chrome grill at the front. I will give car design a 8 out of 10. The wheels, though 18-inches, looks smaller when viewed from the side. The front bumper houses the DRLs while the headlamps comes with five LED projectors (two for low beams and three for high beams) and a LED strip which is the pilot lamp. The headlamp also houses the LED indicator lamps and has cornering function too. The rear is sweet and houses LED tail lamps while reverse parking lamp and indicator lamps are halogen only. The registration lamps at the back could have been LEDs though. The door handles are finished in chrome and gets a request sensor as well LED pocket lighting at both the front door handles. The LEDs look great at night. The ORVM houses the integrated LED turn signals and also the puddle lumps. Looks classy at night.

Massive front chrome girlle and the front bumper makes it a looker. The front bumper also houses the Halogen fog lamps and front parking sensors.

Clean rear profile. Not too much of chrome highlights at the back of the car.

Side profile looks great to me. 18-inch wheels look a bit smaller though. International variant gets massive 19 inch as standard and 20 inch as option.

The rear LED combination lamps are in action. The registration plate lamps could have been LEDs. They are halogen. Notice the shark Fin antenna too!

Penta projector LED headlamps in action. It has got cornering function too. The strip at the upper portion is the pilot lamp. Notice the puddle lamp on the ORVM too.

Notice the front pocket door lamp and puddle lamps on the ORVM. These lights glow automatically when you go near the vehicle with the key in your pocket. Pressing the unlock button on the remote key will switch on the headlamps along with these lamps. Looks very classy at night.

Ground clearance is not that great by SUV standards but will not scrap its belly on massive humps. Not an off-roader by any means though. The Tucson in India also has a AWD variant but its not for off-roading at all.

Interior

In order to get inside the vehicle, you do not need to climb inside as you do in BOF cars. You just have to walk inside the car. However, for a short person of height 5.3 feet or less, getting inside would be little tough. You can buy aftermarket footboard for added convenience. The moment you close the door, you notice that the cabin is well insulated with all black interiors. Some people love black interior including me while some may not like it. Although I can guarantee that you won’t feel claustrophobic due to presence of large panoramic sunroof. The doors shut with a soft thump rather than Thud. The doors feel heavy though.

The front seats are both electrically adjustable, driver seat can be adjusted in 12 ways and passenger seat in 8 ways. Yes, even passenger seat can be adjusted for height and you no longer feel like you are seating under the dashboard. The seats very comfortable for those long trips.

The car has got organ type accelerator pedal and the pedals are decently spaced. The dead pedal is large enough to rest XL size foot. Downside? There is no footwell lamp at all.

The instrument cluster is analogue type which I really like. With advancement in technology, we see all digital instrument clusters on entry level hatchbacks too. But there shall always be an option of choosing between analogue and digital. I reckon there are many out there who prefer analogue dials over digital. Analogue tachometer is on the left while speedometer on the right. There is LCD screen between the two dials which shows various vehicle statistics like Trips, DTE, Tyre pressure on each wheel. You can set various parameters on this screen using the steering mounted controls.

The infotainment system on the centre is an 8-inch LCD unit which has now become floating type after the facelift in 2020. The system supports Hyundai's Bluelink Telematics by using an e-sim inside it. The Bluelink enables you to do various tasks using your phone like starting the engine, setting AC temperature, lock and unlock doors, etc. It also shows various driving data on your smartphone itself. The car has an 8 speaker audio setup which are of Infinity make. There are 6 speakers on the doors, one on the dashboard and a subwoofer in the boot. The system is pretty average and not up to JBL standards that we find in the Harrier.

The dashboard design is what I like on this car. You have got soft touch material on the whole dashboard which talks premium quality. AC vents are very effective and circulates air perfectly to the front passengers, you get rear AC vents as well. The AC is a dual zone unit but I really miss the seat ventilation that my Elantra has.

Coming to the back of the car, the floor is almost flat, hence you can sit three people comfortably here with enough shoulder room for each one. The downside, the back support for the middle passenger is very hard and is going to be uncomfortable for long journeys. The rear arm rest comes with two cup holders as well.

The boot of the car is decently sized and you can easily fit 1 week worth of luggage for 4 people. Note that the boot is fully electrically operated. You can operate the boot in three ways. Firstly, by pressing the buttons on the boot itself. Secondly, by pressing the boot button on the car key. Thirdly, by pressing a boot logo button on the driver side found under the right sight indicator stalk. Note: You need to keep the gear level to park to operate the boot in the third way.

Doors open wide. The driver seat gets 12 way electrical adjustment and lumbar support which is 2 way only. 4 way lumbar support could have been provided.

Passenger seat gets 8 way electrical adjustment but no lumbar support. Notice the 8 inch floating touch screen.

Infinity branding on all the four doors.

Driver side door pad has various controls for windows, locking-unlocking, ORVM adjustment. You can either shut the ORVM or keep it in auto means when the car detects key near the vicinity, the ORVM automatically unfolds. You can also keep the ORVM full time unfolded. One touch UP DOWN for driver side window only. We can expect all window one touch up down at this price point. The door pad is made with soft touch material.

Organ type accelerator pedal. Large size dead pedal. No footwell lamp here, at all!

The dashboard looks clean. No, the floating touch screen does not hamper visibility.

Two large size cup holders on the front centre console. Behind the gear lever, you have switches to operate the Electronic parking brake, Auto-Hold, various drive modes, parking sensors (front) and down hill brake assist. You get two 12V power outlets, one USB port and a wireless charging pad here as well. Kindly ignore my red colour USB cable.

This is how the switches illuminates at night. The power window switch illuminates on all the four doors as well.

There are two LEDs on the either side of the rear seats to illuminate the rear cabin at night. Looks classy and lit the cabin perfectly.

Switches to increase or decrease the intensity of lights in the cabin, Traction control on off switch, and the switch to operate the boot from driver side.

Indicator and headlamps switches are on the right side. Gets Auto headlamps.

Wiper controls on the left side stalk. Gets Rain sensing wipers both front and back.

The steering wheel has controls to operate the screen on the instrument cluster, cruise control, infotainment system and also phone controls. The horn pad is a bit difficult to reach though. It is little far from the thumbs.

TPMS in action on the instrument cluster.

Ignition switch is on the left side. Press it once without your foot on the brake to operate the infotainment system.

Heated ORVM offers good visibility at the back. Downside? No auto tilting left side ORVM while reversing.

Massive Panoramic glass roof covers the entire cabin of the car. Gives the car an airy feel for those who hate black interior.

Sunroof with sunshade on. Doesn’t let sun rays inside the cabin. Notice the rear LED cabin light on the right.

Rear passengers get their own vents and a USB outlet as well. No separate climate controls for them though.

Space at the back is adequate for three people. But the middle person won’t be comfortable for long journeys due to hard back support of the seat. Floor is almost flat.