Hyundai Tucson

Our verdict

SUVs are meant to be aspirational vehicles, but outside of Korea nobody aspires to own a Hyundai. The Tucson isn’t all bad, but why on earth would you want one?

Comfort

As you’d hope from a car with all that extra ride height, the Tucson rides well, soaking up the bumps with supple suspension settings. It’s also spacious and airy enough inside to make you feel the benefits of its larger footprint.

Performance

The Tucson doesn’t have much to shout about here. Both 2.0-litre petrol and diesel engines are fairly lacklustre, while the 2.7-litre V6 petrol hardly outdoes either and offers dramatically worse fuel economy in return.

Cool

There’s absolutely sod all that’s cool about owning a small, budget SUV from Korea. Even if it was good, which it isn’t. You’d be better off spending even less on the Kia Sportage.

Quality

Korean cars are always improving in the quality stakes but there’s still some way to go in the Tucson. That said, although it doesn’t feel on a par with European fair, it’ll be well enough built.

Handling

There’s surprisingly little body roll in the Tucson and plenty of grip available from its wide four wheel drive track. Naturally biased towards front wheel drive, it’s a stable and reassuring car to push.

Practicality

The Tucson is relatively spacious inside, but no more than you’d expect from a car with all that height. The boot is big too, and triples in size when you fold the seats flat.

Running costs

New Hyundais have cracking warranty deals, and it’s cheap to start with. Fuel economy isn’t great though, especially in the raspy old 2.7-litre V6, so steer well clear of that.