Hyundai Tucson - Engines, performance and drive

The fourth-gen Hyundai Tucson uses an all-new platform and advanced hybrid technology – highlighting the manufacturer’s serious aspirations for its latest mid-size SUV.

The hybrid powertrain works well, both at motorway speeds and around town. We noticed that the six-speed automatic transmission is keen to shift up early, but as the engine becomes slightly thrashy when worked hard, that’s not such a bad trait.

You’ll probably want to keep the Tucson in its Eco drive mode most of the time. Choosing the Sport function modifies the throttle response and improves assistance from the electric motor, but it means the car hangs onto lower gears for longer and revs higher, which, ultimately, doesn’t sit well with the Tucson’s focus on comfort.

The hybrid model’s ability to cut engine power when you lift off the throttle at speed not only benefits refinement, but helps boost efficiency, too. It manages this in a particularly smooth and effortless manner, to the extent that you might not even feel the system working at all.

Hyundai has really succeeded in giving the Tucson decent agility through corners while keeping it controlled and composed over the typical broken tarmac of UK roads. You wouldn’t necessarily use the Tucson for a fun Sunday morning blast through country lanes, but it does provide relaxing, refined, point-to-point company.

The plug-in hybrid Tucson weighs around 200kg more than its conventional petrol or hybrid alternatives, but it’s also the most powerful model in the range. We didn’t find the extra weight had that much of an impact on the way it performs, and the Tucson PHEV does a good job of ironing out bumps, with lumps in the road being heard more than they’re felt. It’s hushed and refined at motorway speeds, and the Tucson’s light steering makes the Hyundai easy to manoeuvre in town.

0-62mph acceleration and top speed

The 158bhp 1.6 TGDi petrol-only model delivers a reasonable 0-62mph time of 9.9 seconds, while upgrading to the mild-hybrid version with a dual-clutch automatic cut that time down to 9.4 seconds for the two-wheel drive model, or 9.8 seconds for the four-wheel drive. The top speed for all is 119mph.

Full-hybrid tech cranks up the power output to 212bhp and trims the 0-62mph time to 8.2 seconds, although this version has a slightly lower top speed of 116mph. During our testing, we were surprised by how raucous the four-cylinder engine is, and it sounds coarse at high revs. 

The plug-in hybrid gets even more power – 249bhp and 304Nm – but it’s much heavier, so 0-62mph is dispatched in 8.2 seconds for the two-wheel drive or 8.5 seconds for the four-wheel drive version, while the top speed stands at 116mph. While the Tucson PHEV won’t win a game of Top Trumps, its electric motor can fill in for the 1.6-litre petrol engine under the bonnet when needed, with all its torque available as soon as you hit the accelerator. As a result, the car surges forward with a willingness unlike any other Tucson.