Crossovers and SUVs are like ice cream. They come in a seemingly endless variety of flavours and almost everyone can find at least one to love. If we compare compact crossovers to these tasty treats, the Hyundai Tucson for sale is the equivalent of vanilla, a plain yet widely satisfying flavour.

Despite being significantly outsold by competitors such as the Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Rogue, the Hyundai's holistic sophistication and on-road refinement are noteworthy, as is its mid-cycle refresh for 2019 that brings more distinctive front-end styling, a redesigned upper dashboard, more standard infotainment features, and driver-assistance technology. Although the superficial changes barely notch up its curb appeal, the updates help make the Tucson even more compelling than discerning tastes might expect.

Stacking up Tucsons

The Ultimate model tested here is the cherry on top of the Tucson lineup. It includes as standard automatic high-beam headlamps, ventilated leather front seats, heated steering wheel and rear seats, and rain-sensing wipers. Additional standard highlights include a 360-degree camera system, adaptive cruise control, and a panoramic sunroof. Every Tucson has automated emergency braking and lane-keeping assist, but SEL models and up add blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

We had already tested a Tucson Ultimate with all-wheel drive, so we decided to see how the front-drive version stacks up. Both share a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter inline-four—good for 181 horsepower and 237Nm of torque—mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. The engine is responsive to throttle inputs and never rises above a dull moan even when its accelerator is buried in the carpet. The transmission goes through its motions with similar refinement, despite feeling a beat slow to downshift when executing passing maneuvers or accelerating out of corners. The differences in driving behavior between front- and all-wheel drive are negligible, yet our testing does reveal subtle performance variations. The front-drive version's 8.8-second zero-to-97-kmh time is 0.4 second slower than the AWD's and that, despite it weighing 112 pounds less and rolling on the same 225/55R-18 Michelin Primacy Tour A/S all-season tires, the front-drive model needed an extra 4.5m to stop from 112km/h (56m). Still, both test cars posted the same 80-to-112-kmh time of 6.4 seconds, which is an insightful metric that simulates passing on the highway.

The Hyundai Tucson trades as a more affordable and fuel-efficient choice, with the EPA estimating that the Tucson Ultimate FWD will earn 10.6km/l combined, 22 in the city, and 28 on the highway; all-wheel drive drops those figures to 9.7 km/l combined, 21 city, and 26 highway. More significant is that the front-driver returned an impressive 13.6km/l on our 120km/h highway fuel-economy test versus just 26 mpg for the all-wheel-drive model.
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Article source: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a28799488/2019-hyundai-tucson-fwd-by-the-numbers/