Hyundai Tucson For?

She chills your spine by blowing air on you and you feel like getting swayed. Super a/c at work here. The quality and look aside, the nice-sounding audio system lets her hum one of your favourite tunes. You're mesmerized. She is more accomodating and versatile than the ones rivalling her. And then you ride her. Hard.

I hopped in and rested my bum on the ever-inviting lap of her's. She felt cosetting. The heat was already building in her heart and all I needed was a tiwst of the wrist to get her juices flowing. The power of 122 horses rushed through her and she leapt ahead with urgency. The turning force of 245Nm is proof enough of the engrossing performance that she offers aplenty. The solid clutch handles the torque with ease which kicks in abundance between 1800-2600rpm. The only reason for that scowl on our face was the gear shift quality. Though the gearing is precise and well spaced, the shift action is left much to be desired of. Shooting off the line, the Tucson dismisses 100 kays an hour in bit over 13 seconds. Pretty quick that, for a SUV! 160 is the reading on the speedo that sees this beast gasp for air. Being a diesel, you will have to forgive this engine though, for clattering the way it does.

Furgality is what comes to mind when the fuel type reads diesel. You must keep in mind that this is a 2-tonne behemoth, so figure like 11.5kmpl in arse to lip driving conditions is a number which demands respect. Also, the overall fuel efficiency stands at 13kmpl mark after the car ran 17 kays to a litre of diesel on the highway.

You expect a soft, cushy and smooth ride. You expect the suspension to handle the irregularities and bumps with pleasure. Fall back to mother earth now, will you? Ride quality is not what you'd expected. Soft huh? A bit too soft for a SUV I would say. The McPherson struts taking care at the front are complimented by twin-link rear suspension. This setup gives an acquiescent damping over smooth surfaces but the car rolls considerably when powering over rough roads. The much cheaper Tata Safari rides better than the Tucson. Though the ride not being particularly irritating, we would've liked the suspension to soak up the surface undulations better.

What impressed us was the way this 'car' handles. Yes, it was a deliberate use of the term 'car'. The Tucson will have you floored by the way she handles. Confidence is what you gain by each passing turn on that snaky road. Perfectly balanced and composed, she never falters and delivers an enjoyable experience. Handling is not what we Indians are used to when it comes to SUVs. The Tucson handles more like a car, which is a good thing. High speed composure also scores highly.

SUV - the term that conjures up thoughts of going into the unknown, into the wild. Though no treat like the Toureg or the Range Rover, the Tucson can hold its own against the likes of good 'India-centric' off-roaders aka Safari, Endeavour and also the X-Trail to a certain degree. The Borg Warner system sends torque to the back wheels when it experiences any slip at the rear. Normally driving the front wheels, the 4X4 character can be acheived by just a push of a button. The 4 wheel lock mechanism makes off-roading more fun, though steep inclines are not really taken with ardor. Oh, airbags, traction control and ABS are all there to help matters when going gets a little... tough!

The Hyundai Tucson comes across as an intelligent product from the Korean giant. Its styling and performance make it desirable too. 15-20 lakh being your budget, you annulled the Honda CR-V since it guzzled petrol and the Nissan X-Trail 'coz at this price you would instead buy the CR-V and still have enough moolah to run it till your next purchase. You decided against the Ford Endeavour because it is a blubber of an SUV that does not appeal to you since it looks and moves like a mini truck. Here is the Hyundai Tucson then: The best bet for you.

So at the end of of it all - Friday the 13th lest you forget - everything went just fine. It went on to be quite a fructuous day. And scored over triskaidekaphobia I did. Yipee!