Hyundai Tucson review - Practicality, comfort and boot space

Four six-footers won’t have any trouble getting comfortable in the Tucson, thanks to a roomy cabin that’s near the top of the class space-wise. Room in the boot is competitive as well; with the back seats in place, there’s 513 litres on offer.

This swells to 1,503 litres with the seats folded, which is comfortably larger than the Kadjar’s 472 and 1,478 litres. However, it’s just a shame that the rear seat backs don’t lie flat when folded, robbing the Tucson of a few extra litres of space.

Even with the Tucson’s sloping roof, there’s plenty of headroom, and all the doors open wide allowing easy access. But that sloping roof and thick rear roof pillars do have impact on rear visibility – parking sensors are a must.

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Size

The Tucson is both longer and wider than its closest rival, the Nissan Qashqai, a car which isn’t exactly short on space inside.

The larger body naturally makes for more space inside than some of the Tucson's most competitive rivals, so you certainly won't feel claustrophobic when you're behind the wheel.

Leg room, head room and passenger space

Whether you're transporting three children or three adults, there’ll be no complaints about a lack of space in the Tucson. Even behind a long-legged driver, there’s still enough space for another adult, while the shallow transmission tunnel means there’s also a good amount of legroom for those in the rear, too. However, the centre rear seat isn’t the best in the class: it’s quite narrow and firm, meaning that the Tucson isn’t the most comfortable family crossover with three passengers in the back.

Boot

The 513-litre boot in the Tucson is 83 litres larger than the Qashqai’s capacity, while with the rear seats folded flat space increases to 1,503 litres. However, these capacities are for the petrol models. Go for a diesel, and the need to fit an AdBlue tank means boot space decreases to 484 litres and 1,474 litres respectively.

If you go for the Tucson 4x4, load capacity is affected again to accommodate the additional drive and the 48-volt hybrid system beneath the rear seats. Boot space decreases to 459 litres with all five seats in place and 1,449 litres with the rear seats folded. All cars have a space-saver spare wheel under the boot floor except for the 2.0 CRDi Mild Hybrid, which has a tyre repair kit.