Hyundai Tucson review

The latest version of the Tucson has raised its interior game, with a duo of 12.3in screens aligned across the top of the dash. One is for the touchscreen infotainment, the other is the digital dash panel. All works as you’d expect, with wireless Apple/Android connectivity as standard and wireless phone charging to boot. 

It all looks very smart, but you might be left confused as to what you’re actually driving – for some reason Hyundai has got rid of all of its badges inside the Tucson, which leaves it all very low key. Likewise on the back of the car the logo has been hidden on the bottom of the rear windscreen, which must make replacement glass that bit more expensive.

Are there buttons for the aircon?

Sadly the climate controls aren’t buttons (boo) but they are fixed and not hidden deep within a sub-menu (hurrah). The touch sensitive panel of aircon controls isn’t tour favourite solution by any stretch, but it’s a reasonable compromise. You also get a number of shortcut buttons on the dash and steering wheel that you can configure almost how you like.

What's it like in the back?

There’s a decent amount of space inside the Hyundai – cubby holes aplenty, ready to swallow all of your various devices – with solid room for four and space for someone in the middle who doesn’t mind feeling cosy. 

In fact, those in the back have really been thought about deeply, with features on higher spec cars including heated outer rear seats, tri-zone climate control, integrated sun blinds on all cars except the entry trim and a ‘sleep mode’ that separates front and rear audio come nap time. The two USB-C plugs will also come in handy. 

The rear seats split 40/20/40, allowing more options for opening up bootspace. The standard ICE car has the most luggage space, with 620 litres seats up and 1,799 litres with the seats folded. The mild hybrid car sacrifices 43 litres, the hybrid loses four litres over the base car, while the PHEV  is the most compromised with 558/1,737 litres available. How badly do you need that e-range?