Hyundai Tucson 2004 Review

What we liked
>> Smooth engine/transmission combo
>> Roomy, flexible interior
>> Great value for money

Not so much
>> Styling's a personal choice
>> Poor-fitting luggage cover
>> Hyundai badge carries baggage

OVERVIEW
Korea's biggest carmaker, Hyundai, is having a tough time in Australia. It's been a rollercoaster ride for the cut-price king, selling nearly 60,000 new cars in 1997, only to watch that dwindle to barely half that in 2003. You could say Hyundai paid the price for being short-sighted. "Drive away" pricing and "$2000 cash back" do wonders for a brand's immediate sales future, but severely undermine its credibility -- not to mention its products' resale values -- in the longer term.

No longer. This is one company determined to start making the best decision for the long run. And one decision that's been a long time coming is that quality products are the key to any decent future. That's good news for consumers, who for the first time will be able to buy Hyundais because they're a good car, rather than just being the cheapest.

The Hyundai Tucson compact 4WD was first launched on the Australian market in August 2004, smack-bang into a raging battle for compact 4WD supremacy. This is one hotly contested market, and can be very lucrative for the company which gets it right. Hyundai believes the Tucson -- to mangle a hoary old cliché -- is just what the customer ordered, so let's take a closer look.

FEATURES
The Tucson, named after a city in Arizona, USA, is a compact four-wheel drive roughly the same size as a Nissan X-Trail. At 4.3m it's slightly shorter in length, but holds a 6cm advantage in height. It's a five-seat wagon with a V6 engine and four-speed automatic transmission, and is priced to appeal at $29,990 for the base model, stretching to $33,200 for the top spec Tucson Elite S.

All models come with air conditioning, a CD and MP3 player, electric windows and mirrors, remote central locking and an engine immobiliser with alarm. Alloy wheels are standard, as is cruise control and traction control. The Elite ($32,490) adds six-speaker stereo, an electric sunroof, leather steering wheel and gearknob, a trip computer and wider tyres.

Top model Elite S ($33,200) ditches the less than glamourous black bumpers and side mouldings for much better looking body-coloured ones. All models come with Hyundai's five year/130,000km warranty.

COMFORT
There's no shortage of space inside the cabin of the Hyundai Tucson. Headroom's great for both rows of seats and there's plenty of leg and footroom in the back, even for six footers. The front seats are supportive and comfortable, though the seat squab is a little short for our liking.

The lack of telescopic adjustment on the steering column restricts the flexibility of the driving position, and we never quite felt comfortable. Vision, however, is great in all directions except backwards, with a letterbox-like narrowness to the rear window. There's also a major blind spot about the height of a small child immediately behind the vehicle.

There's adequate bootspace for a vehicle of this size, and the back seats split-fold for a flattish floor in the rear -- enough space, as our photos show, for a short surfboard. There's also three child seat anchor points in the rear.