2018 Hyundai Tucson vs Nissan Qashqai

What's the difference?

The Tucson has given Hyundai its next step forward, especially when it comes to design. It truly is one of the nicest looking rigs on the road today. It doesn't overplay itself, but yet it also has a boldness and a confidence that makes it look good in any driveway.

It’s a shame, though, that the Active X – as well as most models in the Tucson line-up – miss out on important safety aids like AEB, lane keeping and blind spot warning systems.

Combined with sensible practical touches, clever speccing to get it to a good price-point and a low-key yet fuss-free drive train, though, the Tucson Active X is one of the highlights of the Tucson range.

Does the Hyundai Tucson tick your adventure boxes? Tell us what you think in the comments.

The Qashqai's MY18 update is subtle but effective. It had a good base to start with, so it was all about detailed improvements. Ride and handling are better, it looks a bit more modern, the safety gear is improved and the exit of the diesel won't upset too many people.

As for which Qashqai is best, it's probably the ST-L - a good mix of spec and price make it our pick. As a range, it's likely the Qashqai will continue to sell as well as it has, despite stiffening competition. It has a solid reputation, well-judged spec and it can carry people and things in comfort and reasonable style.

In this reviewer’s eyes, at, least, the Tucson is one of the most handsome cars currently on the road in any category.

It's a sign that Hyundai's design language has really matured under its European influences, and the Tucson has the rare honour of appealing across both genders and throughout the age spectrum. It's muscular yet still slender, handsome without being too macho, and very well balanced despite it being a relatively simple shape.

The interior is more workman-like than others in the category with evidence of hard plastics in plain view, while soft-touch materials are found under elbows and in other areas where body extremities can reach.

The relatively sombre grey black interior theme is cleverly offset by the subtle use of satin silver highlights, while the pale roof does belie its price point a little.

The exterior design has been left largely alone, with just a small amount of surgery to bring it up to date with current Nissan thinking. There's a new iteration of the 'V Motion' grille, revised headlights and more interesting bumper designs front and rear.

The cabin is largely the same - beautifully built, most of the materials are pleasant to the touch if not exactly an aesthete's delight. Everything is well laid-out, the dash is clear and the switchgear all perfectly pleasant. 

The space is well proportioned, too and with the big sunroof, flooded with light, so it doesn't feel the slightest bit tight or claustrophobic, quite a feat in a car this size.

The Tucson Active X is a great family rig with plenty of clever storage touches and useful items to get you through the day.

A deep phone and wallet recess in the centre console is designed to hold inductive charges in higher models, but works perfectly well as a secure phone holder. Cupholders of different sizes reside in the centre console, although a manual handbrake does take up more room than an electronic equivalent. Bottles up to about one litre in size can be stashed in all four doors, and those door pockets are divided to stop items sliding around. The centre console bin is tall but narrow, while rear seaters also have their own pair of cup holders in a pull-down centre arm rest.

No chargers or vents as mentioned are supplied for that second row, but there are two ISOFIX baby seat mounts.

Cargo room is good at 488 litres, even with the full-size spare that hides underneath the boot floor.

The rear seats, too, can be locked vertically to create a squared-off area for stacking boxes against it; it's essentially like a cargo barrier if you haven't got backseat passengers. Of course, each passenger can then recline the seat back to a favourite position, which is a nice touch.  There's plenty of head room and toe room back there, even for our tall teenage passengers.

Once the seats are flipped, there is 1478 litres of cargo space to drag along all of the accoutrements that a family collects over a weekend.

The Qashqai has five seats and in a pinch, you can fill them all without causing a riot or medical emergency. Sadly, there is no seven-seat option.

Rear legroom is good, with enough room behind my driving position for folks of up to 185cm. There is tons of headroom front and rear even with the panoramic sunroof of the higher model spec. The interior dimensions mean four adults can cheerfully fit, with its light airy design (evident in the photos) made even brighter if you've got the full-length sunroof open.

Cabin storage includes up to four cupholders (ST and ST-L miss out on a rear armrest, so no vessel holding back there) and four bottle holders. The glove box easily swallows the owners manual.

The Qashaqi's boot space is nearly number one in its class, bettered only by Honda's HR-V. With 430 litres, it has the luggage capacity for a family getaway and the size for every day needs such as shopping or carrying the kids and their gear around.

Drop the 60/40 split fold back seats and you're in dangerous territory if you live near an Ikea - the space almost triples to 1596 litres and somehow people put these two facts together and your weekends are lost - although I guess it depends how much you like helping people.

The MY18's launch will see four Nissan Qashqai models on the price list: the ST, ST-L, N-TEC and Ti. The N-TEC will be with us throughout early 2018 when the advanced safety technology of the Ti becomes available. The current plan is that the N-TEC will disappear when that happens.

The 2018 Qashqai introduces a number of new features as standard across the range. All of them now have forward collision warning, auto emergency braking and lane departure warning. These are in addition to front and rear parking sensors and the reversing camera carried over from the 2017 models. 

Pricing hasn't moved very much, meaning how much you pay for a Qashqai has only changed due to the new spec level and the end of the diesel models. The ST is up by $500, the ST-L and N-TEC don't really have obvious counterparts given the demise of the diesel and the petrol Ti is $1000 more. Having said that, the ST-L is $1000 cheaper than the old TS.

Pricing for the ST range opener kicks off at $26,490 for the manual and $28,990 for the CVT auto. Rolling on 17-inch alloys, the ST has a six-speaker stereo, cruise control, cloth trim, keyless entry and start, air-conditioning and a space saver spare tyre.

The ST's sound system is powered by a 5.0-inch touchscreen and features an AM/FM radio, CD player, MP3 player and you can connect your iPhone or Android device via USB or Bluetooth. Sadly - and this goes for the whole range - there is not yet Apple CarPlay or Android Auto support.

Next up is the ST-L, starting at $32,990. On top of the ST spec you'll get 18-inch alloys, roof rails, fog lights, electric and heated folding mirrors, GPS sat nav, partial leather seats, heated seats, electric drivers seat and around-view cameras (as well as the normal reversing camera).

The infotainment screen is pumped up to 7.0-inches and DAB+ digital radio joins the list.

The gadgets list expands with the N-TEC, which will stick around until the Ti's arrival. Priced from $36,490, this one includes 19-inch alloys with fatter tyres, LED headlights (in addition to the LED daytime running lights), dual-zone climate control to replace the standard AC, auto headlights and wipers, panoramic sunroof, rear centre armrest, auto parking and mood lighting. The safety list expands with blind spot monitoring, high beam assist and reverse cross traffic alert.

The $37,990 top of the range Ti will land sometime before the middle of 2018. Compared with the N-TEC, the Ti is basically the same but adds nappa leather interior, lane keep assist and active cruise control. 

Should the N-TEC be wildly successful, would it stick around? We asked, but Nissan wouldn't speculate. The reason for the Ti's late arrival is related to production availabilty of the lane keep assist and active cruise combination.

Those looking for more exotic colours like orange or gold will sadly miss out.

As for the colour choices, there are now eight colours for the Qashqai. As before, 'Ivory Pearl' (white) and 'Pearl Black' are no extra cost. The remaining colours - 'Platinum' (a light grey silver), 'Gun Metallic' (dark grey), 'Night Shade' (a sort of purple blue) and 'Magnetic Red' all cost $495. The new 'Vivid Blue', which is exactly what it sounds like, is new to the range and is also $495.

Those looking for more exotic colours like orange or gold will sadly miss out and the earthy tones of brown are also unavailable.

For a more detailed comparison, see our model snapshots.

Hyundai's in-house 2.0-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder combines well with Hyundai's own traditional torque converter-equipped, six-speed automatic gearbox.

While the outputs of 121kW and 203Nm are relatively modest, the engine is honest, seamless, and very linear.

The 1580kg Tucson does feel the strain when it's loaded up, and steep inclines aren't its best friend, but on the whole, it's a very dependable, very faithful drive train to this category of car.

The petrol vs diesel decision is no longer part of the equation - as President Trump might say, diesel's ratings were low, with just under 10 percent of cars sold drinking the DERV.

Despite its availability in overseas markets, all-wheel drive is not available in Australia, perhaps because of the X-Trail's popularity (and close relationship to the Qashqai).

The only available engine is Nissan's 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated petrol developing 106kW/200Nm. This neatly side-steps any turbo problems as it's a fairly straightforward sort of engine. As far as engine size goes, it is consistent with its Mazda rival, the CX-3 which also runs a 2.0-litre petrol.

The manual gearbox is a six-speed (just three percent of buyers choose to change their own gears) and mated to the same (MR20DD) engine. For those interested, this engine employs a chain rather than timing belt.

For CVT-equipped cars, the towing capacity is 1200kg for a braked trailer and a very specific 729kg for unbraked, so you can haul a decent load. 

As with 4 wheel drive, an LP gas fuelled Qashqai is also a non-starter from the factory.

Engine specs across the segment aren't remarkably different - some are smaller turbo engines, but most around the 1.8 to 2.0-litre mark. The Qashqai's acceleration performance figures for the 0-100km/h dash are around ten seconds (CVT). Kerb weight ranges from 1343kg for the manual ST to 1429kg for the Ti.

Oil capacity is 3.8 litres and the recommended oil type is 5W-30.

Hyundai rates the Tucson Active X auto as consuming 7.9 litres per 100km on the combined fuel economy cycle – it’s the thirstiest Tucson in the range by a small margin.

Over our 320km test loop, we recorded a dash-indicated 9.1L/100km, and a fuel top-up of 28 litres works out at 8.75L/100km.

With a fuel tank capacity of 62 litres, it’s got a theoretical range of around 780km on a single tank, and it’s perfectly happy with regular unleaded fuel.

The offical combined cycle fuel economy figure for the 2.0-litre are 7.7L/100km for the manual and 6.9L/100km for the CVT. On test, which was partly highway and a good chunk of Victorian back roads, our fuel consumption figure was a neat 8.0L/100km.

Fuel tank capacity is 65 litres.

In daily use, the Tucson Active X really excels. Its relatively small capacity, 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine matches well with Hyundai's in-house automatic six-speed transmission for seamless forward motion.

The engine can feel strained when pushed, but around town, it works perfectly well, especially in conjunction with the Tucson's front-wheel-drive layout. Its steering is firmly weighted, too, and easy to manage.

Hyundai goes to some lengths to tweak the suspension of its cars to suit Australian roads, and the Tucson is no exception. As a rule, the local tune generally imparts a slightly firmer ride quality with less body roll, and this suits the Tucson perfectly. There's great visibility out the front with a sloped bonnet, as well as all around the car.

The Tuscon's doors open wide allowing for easy access, too. It's just basically a lovely, simple, no-fuss car that does everything right and pretty much nothing to annoy you or your passengers.

The Qashqai has always been near the top of the class when it comes to ride and handling if not quite there for off-road ability - front-wheel drive and the absence of hill descent control pretty much nixes any muddy fun ambitions. Nissan doesn't quote a wading depth, so that should also tell you it's not for rock-hopping.

Front suspension is by McPherson struts while the rear is a multi-link set-up, something you expect from the next segment up. The MY18 features firmer springs, retuned damping and stiffer anti-roll bars. Out on the flowing country roads outside Daylesford, the new set-up wasn't remarkably different to the old, but the body felt slightly better-controlled without ruining the excellent ride.

On 18-inch wheels, road noise seems lower. Part of that comes from additional sound-deadening and some thicker glass in the rear. The wing mirrors still whistle faintly, but it's nothing the stereo can't handle, and you'll really only hear it at speed.

Switch to the 19s as fitted to the N-TEC (and Ti), and all those efforts seem defeated - there's some tyre roar at highway speeds, attributable to both the lower profile of the tyres and their extra width. The ride doesn't seem to suffer though, and it's a pleasant place to be in suburban and city traffic, soaking up the bumps quietly and smoothly.

Unladen ground clearance measures 186mm, which is among the higher-riders in the class and it was quite at home on a deeply-potholed back road. It was perhaps a little firmer than expected over the gravel, but the surface was very poorly-maintained and resembled the Ypres battlefield. Despite only driving the front wheels, it felt secure, the torque vectoring system helping keep it on the straight and narrow. The turning circle is usable if not tight at 10.7 metres.

It rides well, but what's the engine like? I won't lie, I'd like a bit more horsepower, but in a drag race, the Qashqai is going to be pretty much neck and neck with most of the cars in the segment. 

In the cruise it's a quiet engine and the CVT keeps the revs low until you floor it for an overtake, which you will need to do. Then the engine winds up with the CVT keeping it on the boil to make the most of engine specs. Around town both engine and gearbox are unobtrusive.

All Qashqais leave the Sunderland UK factory with at least six SRS airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, forward collision warning, reversing camera, forward auto emergency braking, front and rear parking sensors and lane departure warning.

You can fit a baby car seat for your child using either one of the three top-tether anchor points or two ISOFIX points.

ST-L buyers pick up around-view cameras with moving object detection.

The N-TEC adds to the safety list with rear cross traffic alert, blind spot warning, park assist and drowsiness detection. Finally, the Ti's specifications include 'Intelligent Lane Intervention', which helps keep you in your lane if you drift towards the edge.

The safety rating is five ANCAP stars, regardless of model. It was last tested in 2014.

Hyundai offers a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty for the Tucson, as well as a free 1500km service and 12 months of roadside assistance. Service intervals are at 12 month or 15,000km intervals.

Five-year fixed price servicing costs for the 2.0-litre engine equals $1525.

Nissan offers a three year/100,000km warranty and your dealer will almost certainly try and flog you an extended warranty. 

Those worried about service costs will be pleased to note that the MY18 Qasqhai capped price servicing regime is the same price as the previous year's. Service intervals remain at 12 months or 10,000km, with service prices bouncing around from $224 to $532 and averaging $307 over 12 services.

The Qashqai's resale value appears to be performing well and is as good as any in the compact SUV class. A good guide is to expect around 60 percent of the car's value to be retained over three years.

Owners seem to score it well for reliability, with few common faults reported. Searching for gearbox problems, clutch problems, cruise control problems or injector problems produce few results. As there is no longer a diesel option, searching for diesel problems is redundant.