2016 Hyundai Tucson review & road test | Auto Expert John Cadogan

New Hyundai Tucson is a Mazda CX-5 killer.

Tucson Highlander is $3000 cheaper than Mazda CX-5 Akera, and every bit as well equipped ($52,150 v $48,605) - and in practise, you’d negotiate the price down to $45k. And at that price it’s the SUV works burger bargain of the decade.

The new 1.6 turbo petrol engine (surgically extracted and transplanted from Veloster) is a great fit in the Tucson. It makes substantially more low-rpm power than Mazda’s 2.5 SKYACTIV petrol engine - in fact, the Tucson makes more power from 1500rpm to at least 4000rpm - we know that definitively from the stated peak performance figures. (Although the Mazda would probably still set the lap record if you drove it like you stole it.) The proof of the pudding here is in the driving, and at all the revs at which you’re routinely likely to drive, it’s the Tucson leading the Mazda, comfortably.

Handling’s good too. You get brilliant local suspension tuning by the team at Hyundai Oz and their un-named but very capable suspension tuner. The setup is excellent for our conditions - and you get just the right amount of roll and compliance for this kind of car. So if you want a reasonably refined taxi for mum and the kids, which dad can also enjoy having a go in, from time to time - this is an ideal package to suit both those agendas.

When you park a Tucson next to a CX-5, it makes the CX-5 look old and busted - even though Mazda did a great job with the 2015 CX-5 facelift - especially on the interior.

Hyundai has done a brilliant job on the interior, which was where the outgoing ix35 fell down most badly. Tucson’s interior is an ergonomic triumph - the air conditioning controls, centre LCD, brilliant packaging of the transmission selector with electronic park brake and sundry ohter driver-selectable features (like park sensors and centre diff lock) behind that - just fantastic. And in particular the steering wheel. That wheel is fundamentally awesome: Good to look at; better to use.

Don’t get me wrong: CX-5 is still a great SUV, and there are plenty of reasons to own one, but Tucson’s the one with the five-year warranty, the capped price servicing for life, and the full-sized alloy spare. Mazda can’t match that - and Tucson also lacks Mazda’s hateful i-Stop system.

Couple of caveats: The Mazda 2.0 atmo engine in lesser CX-5s is slightly underpowered and lower in peak torque than Hyundai’s equivalent 2.0 - they both have direct injection, but it is really a close-run thing. Mazda’s in front on power from its 2.2 diesel, versus Hyundai’s 2.0 - there’s five per cent in it there, as well as five per cent in peak torque.

As for Nissan Qashqai and X-TRAIL, Mitsubishi ASX and Outlander, Kia Sportage, and Subaru Forester … they can just about see CX-5 and Tucson duking it out for the yellow jersey, way up ahead. If you want one of these second-liners, make sure you drive the CX-5 and the Tucson - at the same pricepoint - and then identify exactly what it is about your second-liner that makes it a better option after throwing your specific situation and preferences into the mix. Everyone’s different, and there could be a good reason to choose a second-stringer.

But if you think you want the Rip van Winkle of SUVs Honda calls the CR-V, or the aptly nicknamed Holden Craptiva, or the absolutely not deathproof Volkswagen Tiguan, or a little something to just scare the kiddies into eating their vegies, like the Skoda Yeti - or any of the market’s twenty-something other SUV back-markers … talk to a trusted healthcare professional about changing prescriptions - because the meds you’re on: clearly they’re not working.

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