A Road Test of the 2012 Hyundai Tucson

The 2012 Hyundai Tucson is considered one of the best values today in the crossover SUV market. It scored well in crash testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and regularly receives high marks from Consumer Reports for both reliability and comfort. Fuel economy is rated at 21 miles per gallon in the city and 28 miles per gallon on the highway. There are three available engines and two transmissions from which to choose.

For the road test, I chose a mid-level Tucson, the GLS model. The base price was $22,295 before incentives, impressively middle-range for the overall quality of the vehicle. It featured a front-wheel drive layout, basic silver paint and black interior.

Pre-test

The interior of the Tucson was well-laid out and comfortable, but felt like something was lacking. Even now, I have a difficult time putting my finger on quite what was unsettling about it. Getting into the SUV is easy. While some SUVs require you to bodily lift yourself into the driver's seat, the Tucson's seat was right where it ought to be. The rear seats are a bit tight for a adults, considering that they're supposed to fit three, but a trio of kids should have no problem.

Test

Driving the Tucson gave the impression of quality, but it couldn't have been mistaken for a luxury car at any price point. In all, it met the expectations I had of the vehicle as soon as I had laid eyes on it. It has good handling characteristics and doesn't tend to wallow through curves too harshly, but by the same token, I wouldn't want to spend too much time behind the wheel of the Tucson on a twisty country road if I had a sports car available. Acceleration and braking were good, and I didn't see any real benefit to the larger engine. The top-of-the-line engine has only 11 more horsepower than the base engine, and doesn't really add to towing capacity or the truck's ability to navigate traffic. Of course, the fuel economy benefit of the smaller engine is equally as negligible compared to the larger engine, so it really comes down to which engine you can get for the least money.

Conclusion

The 2012 Hyundai Tucson is a very good vehicle for the money, though I might have liked to see a little better ride quality. Even though it wasn't meant to be a Lexus, leaning a little more in that direction would have suited this vehicle well.

Sources:
Motor Trend: 2012 Hyundai Tucson: www.motortrend.com