Part 3 – Living with the Car
This car wants for nothing when it comes to standard kit. It includes (take a deep breath) leather trim, powered front seats with electric lumbar adjustment, 2 position driver seat memory (also adjusts door mirrors), easy entry / exit (driver seat moves back electrically when you exit and then assumes driving position when you get back in and close the door), heated front and rear seats, ventilated (cooled) front seats, 3-zone climate control, 360 degree camera, all round parking sensors, ambient lighting (64 colours), powered panoramic sunroof (tilt and slide) with separate powered blind, rear sun blinds, wireless phone charging pad, 19” alloys, privacy glass, acoustic double glazing to front windows and windscreen, matrix (adaptive) LED headlamps, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, keyless entry and locking, smart electric tailgate, head-up display, premium sound system, lane assist, lane departure assist, speed limit warning, wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto, 12.3” digital instrument cluster plus 12.3” infotainment system with over the air updates, blind spot monitoring system (cameras under door mirrors project views on to instrument cluster, plus door mirror and head-up display warnings), highway drive assist, heated & power folding door mirrors with auto tilt in reverse, auto dimming rear view mirror, rain sensor, dusk sensor, heated steering wheel, AutoHold, parking collision avoidance assist….and that’s just the things I can remember off the top of my head. I’ve no doubt missed quite a few things 😂
This was a big attraction for me. We’ve had to spend thousands in options on previous cars to get the kit we wanted (albeit the APs were much lower then), but if you have to do an early surrender for any reason you only get back the AP (pro rata) but nothing at all for the options, so this time we didn’t want to do that. Having a car that had absolutely everything that we wanted as standard was a big draw.
So, after 1,000 miles what do we really like about the car?
Build Quality – I never thought that I’d top a review of a Hyundai with this, but I can honestly say that it does not feel like a step down from our BMW – and I feared that it would.
Refined drive – As above. The BMW had a whisper quiet engine but suffered from some road noise. The Tucson is quieter, and not only when running in electric mode. Road noise is far less. Suspension is just right. Neither too firm or too soft.
Switchover between EV and Petrol – Completely imperceptible, which is not the case with all PHEVs. You simply cannot tell that it’s changed from EV to petrol other than by looking at the rev counter. No lurching, clunking or noise whatsoever at switchover. The only giveaway that the engine is running is if revs rise above 3,000 rpm, when it’s not as refined as the BMW, so the trick is to keep it below that.
Driving Position – I struggled a bit with the drivers seat at first (I felt that it was pressing on my shoulder blades) but constant fiddling with the electric seat has now got that sorted.
Physical controls – In a reversal of a very bad recent industry trend, Hyundai have thankfully put back buttons (albeit touch sensitive in some cases) for things like climate control, heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel, certain infotainment controls, drive modes etc, so no dangerous faffing about with touchscreens when driving.
Infotainment System – Having test driven a number of latest generation BMWs, IMHO they have ruined what was widely acknowledged as the class leading infotainment system. I now find it way too complicated and, as a result, no longer intuitive. By contrast, the latest generation Hyundai system is brilliant. There are what feel like hundreds of things that you can set up to personalise the car just how you like it and, best of all, it all works really well, although it’s a bit of a stretch if you do need to adjust anything when driving.
Blind Spot Assist System – this is just genius and I absolutely love it. When you indicate, a camera under the door mirror projects a live image of the blind spot on the instrument cluster (like a reversing camera). Added to that the head up display has red warning zones that flag vehicles either side of you in your blind spot, as do the door mirrors. If you manage to miss all of that, and start to turn towards a vehicle, the car will take over and prevent it!
360 degree camera – the resolution is great (it was poor on the pre facelift model)
Heating and Cooling functions – Heated seats are a must on all cars IMO, but the cooled seats are nice if the car has been parked on a hot day. This is the first car I’ve had with a heated steering wheel and last winter I wished I’d had one, so I’m almost looking forward to winter 😂
Sat Nav – It’s a great system (I was worried that it wouldn’t be after the brilliant BMW system). I’m not overly keen on the mapping style, but the traffic warnings are effective, I can get most destinations easily by voice control and I’m still discovering new features. I was staggered the other day when driving on an average speed section of the M5, as it constantly monitored my average speed throughout the whole section that the average speed applied. Clever stuff.
…and finally AutoHold. Boy am I glad to have that again! It’s far more relaxing than keeping your foot on the brake or having to apply the handbrake every time you stop!
There are lots of details that we like, but the above are the main things that come to mind. Conversely, what don’t I like? Thankfully, it’s a smaller list of mostly quite minor things;
Retractable tonneau cover – As I have to load and unload a wheelchair, I prefer rigid tailgate shelves that rise up with the tailgate, as I put the wheelchair seat pad on them. I can’t do that with the Tucson without having to faff about with the retractable cover, so I don’t bother.
Lack of driver grab handle – Given that this car has absolutely everything as standard, why on earth did they not fit a drop down grab handle above the drivers door? This bugs me 😂
Rear wiper – The wiper is bigger than on the pre facelift model, but still doesn’t clear as much of the rear screen as I’m used to with previous cars.
Bings and Bongs – It’s a bit of a ‘nanny state’ car in that it bings and bongs about everything. Thankfully, things like speed limit warnings (which bing four times even at just 1 mph over the limit 😡) can be muted, but you have to remember to mute them every time you drive the car, which is a bit irritating.
KRELL Premium Sound System – to be clear, it’s not bad at all, but in all honesty I wouldn’t describe it as a premium system. I’ve never had a premium sound system before, but I can’t say that it’s noticeably better than the standard system in the BMW, although it’s fair to say that it’s made up for by the quieter ride so, in truth, audio probably sounds better due to that. I can access Amazon Prime Music wirelessly but it’s temperamental.
Bluelink App – For some reason, even though I’ve got it configured to display values in miles, it keeps on stating the EV range in km and also shows the petrol range as km, even though the numerical value is the correct miles. To explain, at present the car has a full tank of petrol and a full charge and the correct ranges (as displayed in the car) are 38 miles in EV mode and 481 miles on petrol, so a total of 519 miles. The app incorrectly shows 62km electric range and 481km petrol range, giving a total of 543km. I have contacted Hyundai about this, who asked numerous questions, but it’s got me nowhere and is still wrong 😡
……Part 4 (the final part) will be living with a PHEV & running costs