Hyundai Tucson 2005 review

Almost all of them are powered by four-cylinder engines. Buyers want something with a little off-bitumen ability but economical to run, plus they must be easy to drive and park.

Hyundai claims to be the only one with a V6 engine priced under $30,000 in this category, although 4WD Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.5-litre V6 meets that criteria when it is being discounted.

The Hyundai Tucson is a worthy addition to this AWD set. Its 2.7-litre V6 quad camshaft engine delivers 129kW power at 6000rpm and 241Nm of torque at 4000rpm. Tucson comes only with automatic transmission – a four-speed with sequential mode shift.

Tucson normally runs as a front-wheel-drive. As soon as front wheel spin is detected, torque is sent also to the rear axle via an electro-mechanical clutch mounted just ahead of the rear limited-slip differential.

For tricky going, the driver can hit a dashboard button to lock the torque to a 50-50 split front-rear.

As it accelerates from 30km/h to 40km/h, the 50-50 lock progressively reverts to on-demand AWD.

A second dash button allows the traction control to be disabled. This is handy when a certain amount of wheelspin is desirable such as in sandy beach driving.

Tucson is very pleasant to be in and drives easily.

It has a fresh, modern interior that is also practical.

Even the front passenger seat back can fold forward flat to be used as a shelf.

Ground clearance is 186mm and despite the mid-range Elite version having bitumen-biased tyres, the AWD system put it through light mud tracks and surprised with its competence on soft and cut-up beach sand.

The willingness of the V6 engine is evident compared with four-cylinder rivals, but then, fuel consumption is a drop more, too.