• Roomier than old model
• Hybrid batteries take up some space
• Competitive boot nonetheless

How much space is there?

The Tucson is quite well packaged and there’s space for four adults to stretch out. Knee-, leg- and headroom are all good, though the central rear passenger seat is more compromised than the outer two, with a raised transmission tunnel robbing some foot room. Despite this, the Tucson is easily on a par with the more spacious compact SUVs available, such as the Peugeot 3008.

Thanks to a set of switches on the shoulder of the front passenger seat of models with electric adjustment, either driver or rear passengers can adjust it while on the move. That’s a clever touch and one that you typically only find in luxury cars. Passengers in the back get a good view out too, thanks to large rear windows – it doesn’t feel claustrophobic. The rear seat back folds 40/20/40, so the centre section can be used as a larger armrest if required – and it also reclines to various levels, making it easier for rear passengers to relax.

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Boot space and storage

There are four sets of boot space numbers to think about with the Tucson. The largest belongs to the car fitted with the petrol engine alone – it fits in an impressive 620 litres of space, which is among the best figures in the class.

The self-charging hybrid model is next, and this drops marginally to 616 litres, thanks to the electronics under the boot floor. Go for the plug-in hybrid and space reduces further to 558 litres. Surprisingly, the mild-hybrid model has even less space, at 546 litres.

The boot has a wide opening, though, while top-spec Ultimate models also come with an electric tailgate. Storage solutions aren’t so clever – the door bins are quite small both front and rear – but the cupholders are large and well-placed and there’s a clever slot in the driver’s footwell that’s perfect for keeping your phone out of sight and out of mind.

Is it easy to park?

The Tucson isn’t an especially small car, nor is visibility exceptional – though the door mirrors are large enough, the rear window is rather narrow, while the top-hinged wiper doesn’t clear the bottom corners of the glass.

However, rear parking sensors and a reversing camera are standard equipment on all models, which makes life a lot easier. Add the Tech Pack to top-end models and you’ll get remote smart parking assist and a 360-degree parking camera.

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Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP rating
• Plenty of safety equipment
• Semi-autonomous kit on top models

Crash safety organisation Euro NCAP tested the Tucson in 2021, and it earned a maximum five-star rating. Among the scores was an 86% rating for adult occupant protection, 87% for child occupants, a 66% score for vulnerable road user safety and a 70% score for the car’s safety systems.

The list of safety kit includes lane-keeping assist, rear cross traffic alert, driver attention warning, adaptive cruise control linked to the navigation and autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian, cyclist and large animal detection.

Hyundai also smartly bundles several of these systems together into what it calls Highway Drive Assist. This can brake, accelerate and steer the car semi-autonomously on motorways and dual carriageways. It helps take a load off the driver, but it’s not self-driving and should be closely monitored at all times.