Ford Kuga v Hyundai Tucson v Kia Sportage v Mazda CX-5 2016 Comparison

Ford Kuga Titanium v Hyundai Tucson Highlander v Kia Sportage Platinum GT Line v Mazda CX-5 Akera
Comparison Test

Recent updates have bolstered the value proposition of the medium five-seat SUV segment. Newcomers and new technology alike mean turbo-diesel all-wheel drive models such as those compared here are an appealing proposition for cashed-up family buyers. But with offerings so similar, and deals so close, it can be hard to see the trees for the forest. Here we test four of the best circa-$50k family haulers head-to-head, to see which best fits the brief for your brood.

It’s as clear as mud, really. The new Kia Sportage, updated Ford Kuga, Mazda CX-5 and Hyundai’s recently arrived Tucson (nee ix35) boast specifications so close that separating them is akin to splitting hairs. A test drive around the block might be adequate for some, but in truth the only proper way to sort the wheat from the chaff is to live with a car as a family would.

The reason for choosing this quartet? Simple: Based on feedback from our road test team and the results of recent comparison tests it was felt they represent the very best in their class – a point that didn’t make this comparison test any easier. Yes, it was genuinely very close.

Over a week we took the aforementioned foursome for a drive that covered city, freeway and rural roads; driving solo and with five on-board. We discovered which is the easiest to pack and which is best to park, and spent hours playing with all the gadgets and gear to see whose is the most user-friendly. After that, it was time to crunch the numbers and find which one offered the fairest deal.

Our four SUVs might share mixed origins, but their retail pricing is very close indeed. Tested here in high-grade, turbo-diesel, automatic and all-wheel drive guise, our five-seaters are priced within a band spanning just over $5000.

The least expensive model here is the Korean-sourced Kia Sportage Platinum at $45,990. It is topped by the Spanish-built Ford Kuga Titanium and its $47,190 asking price and the Czech-built Hyundai Tucson Highlander from $47,450. From there it’s a step up to the top-shelf, Japanese-made Mazda CX-5 Akera’s $50,610 impost.

All ask a premium for metallic paint, although Mazda wears the surcharge on all colours except Soul Red ($250). For the Ford you’ll fork out $450 for any colour other than white, the Kia next at $520 and lastly Hyundai at $595.

From here it’s important to consider the things you can’t see, and the after-sales schemes for each are indeed a minefield.

In ascending order the Ford offers the lowliest warranty coverage of the four SUVs, at three years / 100,000km. The Mazda is next with a three-year / unlimited-kilometre deal, followed by the Hyundai’s five-year / unlimited kilometre offering. Finally, and with the best warranty here, it’s the Kia with a seven-year / unlimited kilometre scheme that takes the cake.

When it comes to service intervals things are a little more straightforward. All are expected back at the service department annually, although all except the Mazda can travel up to 15,000km before a check-up. Mazda asks that the CX-5 is inspected annually or at 10,000km, whichever comes first.

All four vehicles feature capped-price servicing programs, again of varying value. Mazda’s website lists a five-year / 50,000km deal with a first-service charge of $321 – the cheapest here. Kia’s fixed-price service scheme covers seven years or 105,000km with the initial service costing $419, while Ford offers 33 years or 495,000km of coverage and a $385 opening check-up. Hyundai offers the longest ‘lifetime’ servicing arrangement, 34 years or 510,000km with $379 charged for the Tucson’s first service.

Roadside assistance is renewed annually at each service by Ford and Hyundai. Kia provides break-down service for seven years, while Mazda charges $68.10 annually for a membership to your state’s auto club.

Come trade-in time and it’s the Mazda that tops the podium, the CX-5 retaining 68.4 per cent of its new price after three years. Hyundai comes second at 62.7 per cent while Kia and Ford nearly split third-place with 56.9 and 56.6 per cent respectively.

Year to date it’s the Mazda that leads the sales ladder. It has sold 12,593 examples to the end of June (2016), well ahead of the Hyundai Tucson (9609). The Tucson is a long way in front of Kia’s Sportage (5346) and a world ahead of the slow-selling Ford Kuga (2295).

All-paw power play
Pop the bonnet of any of the four SUVs gathered and you’ll find a transverse-mounted, in-line four-cylinder engine with direct-injected turbo-diesel power. Each is matched to a six-speed self-shifting transmission (the Kuga uses a wet-plate, dual-clutch transmission) and each drives the front wheels in most situations with the rear wheels summoned on demand.

It’s a fairly typical recipe in the class, and one that’s delivered with intriguing uniformity. The Ford Kuga produces 132kW at 3500rpm and 400Nm from 2000-2500rpm. It sits mid-way where power is concerned, behind the same-spec’d Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage (136kW at 4000rpm and 400Nm from 1750-2750rpm), but ahead of the Mazda’s 129kW at 4500rpm and 420Nm at 2500Nm.

As you’ll no doubt have noticed, it’s the CX-5 that wins the torque game – an important consideration where diesel engines are concerned.

Ford and Mazda draw closest where fuel consumption is concerned, with an ADR Combined figure of 5.6L/100km (and 147g/km of CO2) for the Kuga and 5.7L (149g) for the CX-5. Hyundai and Kia share bronze with 6.8L/100km (and 178g/km) apiece. In predominantly city driving, we’ll see how realistic these numbers are later in the test [see specification break-out below].

All are suspended by a strut (front) / multi-link (rear) arrangement [which is locally-tuned in the case of Hyundai and Kia], with ground clearance ranging from just 150mm on the Mazda to 172mm on the Kia, 182mm on the Hyundai and 193mm for the Ford – clearly an advantage for all the snow bunnies and boarder boys.

However, only the Hyundai and Kia offer a centre differential lock and hill-descent control.

All are arrested by four-wheel disc brakes and all are equipped with electrically-assisted steering. Turning circles range from 10.6m (Hyundai and Kia) through 11.1m (Ford) and 11.2m (Mazda).

Our mid-size mum-buses measure close enough to 4.5m in length, are 1.8m wide and 1.7m high, and all tip the scale at as near as makes no difference to 1700kg.

All ride on 19-inch alloy wheels, but only the Hyundai and Kia offer a full-size matching alloy spare wheel as standard; the others offer a space-saver. Tyre sizes measure 235/45 on the Ford (Continental), 245/45 on Hyundai (Continental) and Kia (Hankook), and 225/55 on the Mazda (Toyo).

Should you want to hook up the trailer, it’s the Kia Sportage that will haul the most, the model on test capable of lugging 1900kg (braked). Ford and Mazda rank next with an 1800kg (braked) towing capacity while Hyundai runs last at 1700kg (braked).

But it’s the Mazda that offers the smallest boot. With the rear seats in place the CX-5 is capable of carrying 403 litres of cargo, trailing the Ford (406), Kia (466) and Hyundai (488). The Ford, Hyundai and Kia are equipped with a 60:40 split-fold rear bench where Mazda offers 40:20:40 flexibility. With seats down the four elicit 1560, 1603, 1455 and 1478 litres for the Ford, Hyundai, Kia and Mazda respectively, while measuring the cargo floor from the ground showed a height of 730mm apiece in the Ford and the Hyundai, 740mm in the Kia and 745mm for the Mazda.

The Kuga is the only SUV in this company to offer strong, metal tie-down points in the boot (plastic elsewhere), though we preferred the roller-blind-style cargo cover of the CX-5 that lifts with the tailgate. Conversely, only the Hyundai and Kia offered a secure storage location for the cargo blind when not in use, while the Mazda was the only contender to offer remote rear seat releases inside the boot aperture.

The cargo bay for all except the Mazda are accessed via a remote, electrically-operated tailgate. Only Hyundai and Mazda offer a 12-volt outlet there.

Of course we’ve reviewed all of the vehicles assembled individually before – and recently the Hyundai Tucson and Mazda CX-5 side by side (spoiler alert, the Tucson won it).

But testing cars comparatively will often show differences not noticed in isolation. With the new Kia Sportage recently joining the fold, it's these small variances that become more pronounced – no more obvious than when we compared the Sportage to the Honda CR-V  (again, spoiler alert, the Sportage won).

On the safety front it’s a pretty close call. All score a five-star ANCAP rating and front, side and curtain airbags. Only the Ford adds a driver’s knee airbag. Electronic chassis controls including trailer-sway control are standard on all four vehicles.

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring, forward-collision warning and lane-keeping technology are standard on the Hyundai, Kia and Mazda, and available optionally on the Ford (as part of the $1600 Technology Pack). The Ford’s SYNC 2 system  does, however, automatically dial 000 in the event of an accident (assuming your phone is connected via Bluetooth and you’re within cellular range).

All are equipped with head restraints and three-point seatbelts in each seating position with top-tether and ISOFIX child seat anchor points in the rear.

Rain-sensing wipers, dusk-sensing headlights, LED daytime running lights, LED tail-lights and front foglights are common to all four SUVs. The Ford and the Kia use bi-xenon headlights while the Hyundai and Mazda feature LEDs. The Ford, Hyundai and the Kia offer rear foglights and front static cornering lamps to boot.

The Kia and the Ford are capable of parking themselves. All, however, offer front and rear acoustic parking sensors and a reversing camera with guidelines.

On the infotainment front, it’s the Ford and Hyundai that offer a larger 8.0-inch touch screen. The Kia and Mazda feature a 7.0-inch unit. Hyundai and Kia offer a six-speaker audio system where Ford and Mazda provide nine. All include AM/FM radio, Bluetooth telephony with audio streaming, and USB connectivity.

Only Ford and Mazda persist with a CD player. Ford adds DAB+ digital reception and both Kia and Hyundai offer Apple CarPlay technology in the range. Like most on test, Mazda’s MZD Connect system offers access to internet-based music apps including Aha, Pandora and Stitcher. Ford and Mazda include voice control, while all score sat-nav and steering wheel remote controls.

We also find leather upholstery, driver-seat lumbar support (electric in case of all bar the Ford), electric seat adjustment and seat heaters common to our four rivals (Hyundai and Kia add front-seat ventilation). Rear privacy glass and a sunroof are also common to the four (all except the Mazda receive a panoramic glass roof), and all of the usual assorted vanity mirrors, cup-holders, keyless entry and push-button ignition. We note, however, that the Mazda does not include ventilation outlets on the back of the centre console.

Ford and Mazda offer fuel-saving idle-stop technology and radar-based adaptive cruise control (optional in the case of the Ford; Hyundai and Kia offer standard cruise control). Hyundai and Kia counter with brake-hold technology, an extended function of the electric park brake. All models include a full-function trip computer and digital speedometer repeater.

Testing each of the SUVs five-up (i.e. with a driver and four adult passengers on board) gave us the chance to sample not just ride quality when loaded, but to see how suitable each SUV's accommodation really is – musings we would later confirm with the tape measure. We also sampled the car with both a baby capsule and child booster seat in place, and with a dog in the boot.

Seat comfort won praise in the Hyundai and Kia, with both noted as more supportive and deeply cushioned than their rivals. The CX-5, however, was marked down for its firm, narrow rear centre seat, while the Kuga’s rear seat was observed to be shallow in the seat cushion across all three rows.

With the baby capsule and child seat in the rear outboard positions, the Mazda and Ford offered more centre seat width (315mm each), ahead of the Kia (290mm) and the Hyundai (275mm). Overall, the rear seat measure was widest in the Mazda (1310mm), which pipped the Kia (1290mm), Hyundai (1280mm) and Ford (1180mm).

Accommodation showed the Mazda’s back seat levelled its competitors longitudinally, the seat base measuring 510mm in the CX-5, Tucson and Sportage. Only the Kuga fell short with 480mm. Conversely, the Mazda fell shorter on knee-room and was the only SUV to not offer an adjustable recline for the second-row backrest. Head and toe-room were too close to call.

Littlies will find the Hyundai easier to see out of than the others (an odd point considering how poor rear three-quarter vision for both it and the Kia were from the driver’s pew), the lower shoulder-line assisting lateral vision. However, it was the Ford that offered the best view forward from the second-row, its stadium-style seats delivering a good view ahead. The young 'uns will appreciate the Kuga’s seat-back tray tables too.

In the front seat, we found the difference in seat comfort and support to be negligible. The level of adjustment on offer really seems to allow all sizes to find an appropriate seat position, although the ventilated seats of the Kia and Hyundai are an obvious boon. The Hyundai was noted as the easiest to enter and leave, with the lowest hip point on test (620mm versus 640mm for the Kia, and 660mm for the Ford and the Mazda).

Road trip!
The level of feedback and feel behind the wheel drew mixed results from our SUV foursome. As did ride quality, real-world performance and handling.

Our panel found the brake pedal more ‘organic’ in the Mazda, the CX-5 offering the most progressive pedal for achieving soft stops. The Kuga was likewise unforced in its approach, and although not as well assisted as the Mazda, was leaps and bounds ahead of the Hyundai, which was absent of feel, and the Kia, which was felt required more assistance.

Throttle response was noted (unsurprisingly) as very similar in the Kia and Hyundai, the pedal’s shorter throw seemingly in tune with the R-Series engine’s accessible low-end torque. The Ford required more input, and revved harder than the Hyundai or Kia to achieve similar results, while the Mazda demanded relatively extensive throttle input – matched with higher revs – for all but the most mundane manoeuvres. We also encountered greater throttle lag from the Kuga during roll-on acceleration.

We found the difference in steering assistance between the Ford and the Hyundai to be very close, although both were slightly heavier than the Kia. The Mazda was by far the lightest to steer overall, but conversely not as keen to return to centre without driver input.

On the NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) front we found the Kia to be quieter than its twin-under-the-skin from Hyundai, especially where tyre and wheel-well noise was concerned. At cruising speeds, the Ford was also rather quiet, but the engine seemed to resonate more under load, a trait the Kuga shared with the Mazda CX-5. A little vibration was present at idle in both Ford and Mazda (when disengaging the idle-stop system, obviously).

Predictably, given the closeness of engine performance, real-world acceleration felt very close with four people on board, although we recorded differences on the V-BOX when testing the SUVs’ performance one-up (i.e. with only the driver on board, see chart below). Both the Hyundai and the Kia felt less flustered uphill, the transmission more decisive and holding gears more intuitively than their rivals. The Mazda was better, but seemed more inclined to downshift at inopportune moments, while the Ford’s dual-clutch unit lacked discipline, seeming to ‘hunt’ occasionally, even when there was no change in incline or throttle input.

When it comes to the divide between handling and ride, it was felt the Mazda CX-5 fared best, pipping the Hyundai Tucson by the narrowest of margins. The Hyundai narrowly beat the Ford Kuga in this department while the firmer Kia Sportage fell to last place. It’s a brief summary of what was a very detailed process, and there are certainly differences in the way our four SUVs deal with the rough stuff.

In short, the CX-5 felt well balanced, finding a lovely compromise whether taking corners with gusto or isolating the passengers from the rough stuff, although our back-seat passengers said the rear-end was firmer than the Tucson’s. Over the same course the Hyundai felt fractionally firmer over small, hard-edged bumps, but improved greatly on lumpy surfaces.

Dynamically, the Tucson inspired confidence behind the wheel, as did the Kuga. Though it was felt the Kuga was a little more severe over short, sharp potholes and rough patches of road. Finally, the Kia Sportage, which although dynamically adept – showing considerable talent on flat, long-radius corners – was brusque over choppy surfaces, crashing through potholes and jarring the cabin severely on hard-edged creases.

In spite of its cooperative (and standard) driver assistance technologies, impressive fuel economy and performance, and sound dynamics, the CX-5 is now showing its age in this company.

Its higher price and poorer value-for-money equation simply don't add up, while the small boot and lack of convenience features see it narrowly out-classed by its contemporaries.

Third place went to the Ford Kuga. Despite its poorer warranty, its pricing is quite competitive. The engine is decent, and although the transmission lags behind in this company, the outstanding ride is worth considering. A shame, then, that it's at odds in this company because of its smaller boot and lightly-padded backseat.

The Kuga's infotainment system, while good on paper, is also more difficult to operate than all its rivals', and save for the voice control, is largely worth dismissing. And let's not forget, the majority of the electronic driver aids are an added cost.

Kia, on the other hand, offers acres of space and a very strong standard equipment list, which makes it exceptional value in this comparison.

However, when viewed alongside its rivals, the stiff ride is a major turn-off, and one we'd wager will deter many. It really is the thorn in Kia's side.

Which brings us to our winner, the Hyundai Tucson. The Hyundai's value is obvious here, as is its strong after-sales support. The ride and handling is exceptional and the engine’s torque effortless. It’s also relatively frugal, at least in this company.

There's real maturity in the Hyundai's design and packaging, and its infotainment array; and although it does omit some of the technology items found in its rivals, our judges felt these were trivial in the bigger picture, and that ultimately the kit list was worthy of the asking price.

If a family-sized SUV is on your shopping list, the decision is as clear as crystal.

2016 Ford Kuga Titanium AWD pricing and specifications:
Price: $47,190 (MRLP) / $49,240 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 132kW/400Nm
Transmission: Six-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 5.6L/100km (ADR Combined) / 10.4L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 147g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

2016 Ford Kuga Titanium AWD performance figures:
0-60km/h: 4.3sec
0-100km/h: 9.5sec
50-70km/h: 2.1sec
80-100km/h: 2.9sec
60-0km/h: 14.8m
Cabin noise: 63.6dB(A) at 80km/h

2016 Hyundai Tucson Highlander AWD pricing and specifications:
Price: $47,450 (MRLP) / $48,045 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 136kW/400Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.8L/100km (ADR Combined) / 10.1L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 178g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

2016 Hyundai Tucson Highlander AWD performance figures:
0-60km/h: 4.0sec
0-100km/h: 9.2sec
50-70km/h: 2.1sec
80-100km/h: 2.7sec
60-0km/h: 13.7m
Cabin noise: 62.4dB(A) at 80km/h

2016 Kia Sportage Platinum GT Line AWD pricing and specifications:
Price: $45,990 (MRLP) / $46,510 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 136kW/400Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.8L/100km (ADR Combined) / 10.4L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 178g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

2016 Kia Sportage Platinum GT Line AWD performance figures:
0-60km/h: 4.0sec
0-100km/h: 9.2sec
50-70km/h: 2.0sec
80-100km/h: 2.8sec
60-0km/h: 14.5m
Cabin noise: 61.6dB(A) at 80km/h

2016 Mazda CX-5 Akera AWD pricing and specifications:
Price: $50,610 (MRLP) / $50,610 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 129kW/420Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 5.7L/100km (ADR Combined) / 9.9L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 149g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

2016 Mazda CX-5 Akera AWD performance figures:
0-60km/h: 3.7sec
0-100km/h: 8.6sec
50-70km/h: 1.8sec
80-100km/h: 2.8sec
60-0km/h: 13.9m
Cabin noise: 61.7dB(A) at 80km/h