STANDARD
FEATURES :
-
ABS
with EBD (Anti-skid Brake System with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution)
- electronic traction
control
- pollen-filtering
air-conditioning
- remote entry
central locking with alarm
- power windows
with driver’s glass one-touch lowering, electric door mirrors
- dual front airbags
-
16”
alloy wheels including the spare wheel, cruise control
-
-
a cargo area cover and elastic net
-
-
roof rails, front and rear fog lights
-
-
overhead
console with sunglasses bin and map lights.
- ADDITIONAL
FEATURES IN ELITE MODELS:
- front seat side
(thorax) airbags
- side window
(curtain) airbags
- a power tilt/slide
sunroof
- leather steering
wheel rim and gearshift knob
- trip computer,
tweeters,
- six-spoke alloy
wheels with wider and lower profile 235/ 60 Bridgestone Turanza tyres
- ambient light-sensitive
headlight control
- luxurious cloth
seat trim
- gloss brushed
alloy look centre dash surround and shifter plinth.
TECHNICAL:
- 2.7 litre all-alloy
twin-cam ‘Delta’ V6
- 129kW power
- 0-100 in 10.5
sec; 0-400 m in 17.2 sec
- Alloy wheels
16” x 6.5” (215/65); 235/60 Bridgestone Turanza (Elite)
- Safety rating:
US NHTSA 5 stars ; internally tested to EuroNCAP at 4 stars.
WARRANTY
2004
HYUNDAI Tucson
PRESS RELEASE
Tucson V6
Raises Sports and Safety Bar for Compact SUVs
A dynamic new all-wheel-drive
challenger from Hyundai
Hyundai’s all-new Tucson
V6 AWD (All Wheel Drive) raises the bar in Australia’s booming
compact SUV market with an armoury of exclusive amenities and safety
features, taut handling, new generation refinement and a crisp new style,
all offered for typically Hyundai benchmark value for money.
As the only V6 in its sub-class,
Tucson brings the torque, smoothness and quiet of a bigger engine with
six cylinders compared with its four- cylinder competitors, while electronic
Traction Control with ABS augments the extra road holding safety margin
of its on-demand, lockable all- wheel-drive system.
Tucson also offers unrivalled
interior seating flexibility for occupants and gear stowage—an
8’10” (2.7m) surfboard stows in-cabin, protective exterior
cladding on doors and wheel arches, lockable on-demand all-wheel-drive
with limited slip rear differential and on the Tucson Elite, power sunroof
and for the first time on a Hyundai, six airbags.
Appealing particularly to
young, active singles, couples or families, Tucson’s clean, sharp
sculpturing and stance on the road exude an appropriately subtle hint
of off-road toughness with short overhangs, high ground clearance, the
longest wheelbase in its class and consequent best or near best-in-class
aggregate legroom front and rear and finished off with dual chrome oval
tailpipes out back.
Adding further ease to the
enjoyment of driving Tucson is standard Selectronic adaptive automatic
transmission with clutchless sequential manual mode for when the driver
wants more gear selection control.
Tucson complements its slightly
larger Santa Fe stablemate in extending Hyundai’s SUV model choice
across more demographic groups of drivers and families.
Amenities in Tucson not normally
found on entry level models in this class include ABS with EBD (Anti-skid
Brake System with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution), 16” alloy
wheels including the spare wheel, cruise control, MP3-capable CD audio,
a cargo area cover and elastic net, windscreen wiper de-icer, roof rails,
front and rear fog lights, pollen filter and an overhead console with
sunglasses bin and map lights.
Urban-savvy Tucson touchstones
include a park-friendly 4.33 metre overall length, ideal step-in height
to moderately elevated seating, a plethora of storage facilities and
cupholders, good all round vision and ideal rear stowage access. Tucson’s
tailgate shelters from rain, requires less space and effort to open
than a spare wheel-laden offside-hinged door and in very tight confines,
boot space is accessible through its separately openable window and
a lift-up cargo cover panel inside.
Taut traction
On the move, Tucson’s delights with taut, responsive handling
allied with good ride comfort and a new generation level of interior
refinement and quietness. Australian Tucsons adopt a sportier suspension
calibration Hyundai specially developed for Tucsons marketed in Europe
and like- minded motoring nations which prefer driver-enjoyment dynamics
to a softer riding alternative offered elsewhere.
On more slippery surfaces,
Tucson’s Borg-Warner-sourced electronically controlled on-demand
all wheel drive system offers instant and automatic engine torque transfer
sharing from the front wheels to any of the wheels with the best traction.
Drive to the rear wheels is via an electro-mechanical multi-clutch plate
ITM (Interactive Torque Management) unit mounted immediately ahead of
the rear differential, which itself is a Torsen-type mechanical limited
slip unit to optimize rear wheel traction when needed to supplement
drive to the front wheels.
On very slick or heavy going
surfaces, the driver can lock in 50/50 front and rear drive and disable
the Traction Control (to preserve wheelspin and momentum) with the touch
of two adjacent dash buttons. As car speed accelerates from 30 to 40km/h,
the 50/50 lock progressively reverts to on-demand AWD
Pricing
Tucson V6 AWD debuts at $29,990*, the only V6-powered SUV under $30,000
and a sequential-manual mode automatic at that. As well as the standard
features above, this also includes standard pollen-filtering air-conditioning,
remote entry central locking with alarm, power windows with driver’s
glass one-touch lowering, dual front airbags, electric door mirrors
and a raft of other detail conveniences.
Tucson Elite V6 AWD is remarkable
value at $32,490*, adding front seat side (thorax) airbags, side window
(curtain) airbags, a power tilt/slide sunroof, leather steering wheel
rim and gearshift knob, trip computer, tweeters, dressier six-spoke
alloy wheels with wider and lower profile 235/ 60 Bridgestone Turanza
tyres, ambient light-sensitive headlight control, more luxurious cloth
seat trim and a gloss brushed alloy look centre dash surround and shifter
plinth.
Tucson Elite S models are
distinguished by their prestigious all-body-coloured bumpers and side
cladding finished only in Aqua Silver (light- medium green mica) or
New Mid Silver (light gold metallic) from September and are priced at
$33,200*.
Tucson is offered in seven
sophisticated exterior colours and grey or beige interior trim matched
with them. Noble White and Ebony Black are both solid tones while the
three metallic and two mica finishes add $215 and $225 extra respectively,
Elite S excepted.
*recommended retail plus on-road costs
Like all Hyundais, Tucson
offers owners the quality assurance of Australia’s best continuously
offered factory new car warranty, five years or 130,000km.
Tucson tu-morrow
Tucson spearheads the next stage of Hyundai’s revitalization in
Australia, the marque already selling 45 per cent more cars, SUVs and
(again) people-movers in the first half of 2004 than in the same period
in 2003, some months claiming fourth passenger sales spot after the
biggest local makers.
“Hyundai’s new
‘Future Driven’ philosophy is exemplified by Tucson in every
respect,” said Theo van Doore, Director of Sales & Marketing
for Hyundai Motor Co Australia.
“Tucson is the most
thoroughly researched car we have ever launched, and both European and
Australian motorist clinics warmed to Tucson, preferring its style,
size, powertrain and intelligent interior flexibility to CRV and RAV4
four-door.
“Our main target for
Tucson is 25 to 30 year-old singles and ‘DINKs’ couples,
urbane, successful and with the active lifestyles that will be best-in-
class catered for by Tucson’s exceptional user-friendliness.
“For these buyers,
as their first-new-car-as-SUV, Tucson is the best package on the market
and it just happens to cost less as well.
“Everyone who has driven
some distance in a Tucson is extremely impressed with its detail design
delights and its very refined yet rewarding driving experience,”
Mr van Doore said.
Global concept
Tucson has been conceived to satisfy the compact, road-oriented SUV
market which is the boom segment in SUVs worldwide, especially across
Europe where buyers highly rate sensible exterior size and economy of
operation as much as their acknowledged style sense and artful enjoyment
of skilled driving.
Hyundai expects to sell around
200,000 Tucsons by 2006, with up to 65,000 of these destined for the
European markets. This demand will have some initial effect on supply
to Australia, restricting sales to around 200 per month for the first
few months at least.
Hyundai’s slightly
larger Santa Fe V6 AWD will be re-positioned above Tucson when refreshed
soon, and will mainly target families and slightly older 40s buyers.
Exterior
The exterior challenge of the Tucson was to combine the expressiveness
that SUV buyers associate with traditionally larger vehicles, with urban
style.
The result is a crisply modern,
cleanly styled car with well defined character lines, yet retaining
some traditional Hyundai styling cues.
At the front, two pronounced
ridge lines converge slightly as they run forward along the hood and
waterfall down framing the black mesh grille aperture. The front bumper
continues the line downwards to establish the width of the lower air
intake grille mouth. Circular foglights are set into the flat bumper
surface directly underneath the headlight assembly.
Tucson’s side profile
is dominated by a strong creaseline running straight back above the
door handles and the protective cladding on the lower doors and around
the wheel arches which integrate with the front and rear bumpers.
Clinics judged Tucson’s
tail a cute butt and the car’s best look, a nice touch considering
it’s the most viewed aspect of a car in traffic. A clean, sophisticated
look derives from the unencumbered tailgate and the composite taillights
with their jewelled faceted-reflectors while the dual chrome tailpipes
tell of Tucson’s V6 performance potential.
Alloy 16” x 6.5”
wheels feature on all Tucson models, the entry level model’s five
flat spoke design framed in 215/65 tyres while Elite rolls on a slightly
more ornate six-spoke wheel shod with meatier 235/60 Bridgestone Turanza
tyres.
Tucson’s longest-in-class
2630mm wheelbase, its short overhangs and raised ground clearance bestow
a purposeful presence on the road. Its cropped 810mm rear overhang allows
an exceptionally steep departure angle for the class of almost 32 degrees
and permits a 150kg towball mass, matching its 1500kg braked trailer
tow capacity.
The fixed mini-antenna on
the rear roof is specially positioned to offer optimum reception and
clarity, with minimum intrusion into the roof space.
Overall, Tucson shows extremely
fine proportions, which disguise the actual roominess of the interior,
key images being strong, sporty and urban.
Smart seats
Tucson’s ‘Space Wizard’ seating is an inviting and
intuitively innovative design and offers some uniquely convenient configurations.
In the 60/40 split rear seat, each backrest folds forward to virtually
flat and level with the boot floor in a single, one-hand action which
also lowers the seat cushion underneath, thus providing between 1.635
and 1.855 metres of flat load length right up to the front seat backs,
depending on front seat adjustment, enough for a 26” mountain
bike to be laid on the all-wipeable load surface. No head restraints
need be removed in any of these configurations. The rear floor also
lifts out for washing down.
Even more in-cabin load length
is available via another Tucson exclusive, The left front seat backrest
also folds forward to horizontal, which then not only acts as a work
table with its hard mostly flat surface and elastic net pocket, but
greatly extends the in-cabin load length to a diagonal maximum of 2.7
metres (8’10” in Malibu speak) or 2.49m (8’2”)
along the cabin left side, clear of the front passenger airbag door
and with the rear seat still two-thirds erected. The latter is longer
and flatter than in Outlander whose seatbacks don’t fold flat.
Tucson’s step-in height
of 717mm is near ideal for most people and the seating pleasantly but
not overly elevated for vision in traffic. Anatomically shaped and padded
front seats offer good support on long trips and, with their vertically
adjustable head restraints removed, the backrests recline to flat, making
a bed with the rear seat cushion.
The driver’s seat cushion
adjusts for height and tilt and addresses a vertically adjustable steering
wheel and a low dash panel with the instrument dials including a tachometer
tightly binnacled in front of the driver, in which the large speedo
is central, where it needs to be given the level of speed surveillance
in Australia.
Interior
The athletic appearance clothes a spaciously comfortable, but fully
functional interior. Traditional Hyundai virtues, such as high equipment
levels, exceptional value for money and long lasting quality, add a
further depth of appeal to an extremely versatile and stylish lifestyle
companion. It is also a further manifestation of Hyundai’s determination
to build vehicles with high “European Value”.
The feeling in the interior
is also very much a part of the Tucson appeal, with sophisticated fabrics
and quality materials combining to provide an atmosphere that is both
reassuring and comfortable, yet impressively practical for when the
going gets tougher.
Storage places abound, such
as the small lipped trays under each door pull, just right for a mobile
phone, the double bin in the centre console whose padded elbow rest
top raises to accommodate tall front occupants. There are four retractable
shopping bag hooks, two cupholders each front and rear, three 12v points,
a flock-lined coin drawer and coin rack, pockets with bottle holders
on all doors, an overhead sunglasses console, two wet compartments under
the rear floor by the alloy spare wheel and a brolly shelf under the
steering column, to name a few. The lit glovebox even has a slide-in
divider as well as a book retaining elastic strap. And there’s
a drawer under the left front seat.
Chassis and Performance
A key and unique feature of Tucson in its sub-class is the smooth and
effortless performance delivered by its 2.7 litre, all-alloy, quad cam,
24- valve ‘Delta’ V6 engine, driving through an electronically
adaptive four-speed automatic transmission with Selectronic sequential
clutchless manual mode. Maximum torque is 241Nm at 4000rpm and power
peaks at 129kW at 6000rpm.
Indicative acceleration is
10.5 seconds 0-100kph and 17.2 seconds from rest to 400 metres. ADR
81 combined fuel use is 11 litres/100km on standard unleaded petrol.
Tucson’s all independent
coil spring and gas damper suspension sports anti-roll bars front and
rear, MacPherson struts up front and multi-links at the rear. The European
calibration is biased to responsive handling and fuses on-road ride
comfort with sure footed rough terrain capability. Power assisted rack
and pinion steering via the tilt-adjustable steering wheel ensures precision,
complemented by ease of parking and a compact 10.8m turning circle diameter
between kerbs.
In terms of all round ability,
the Tucson is designed with minimal front and rear overhang, a prerequisite
for satisfactory off-road performance. However road performance has
been enhanced by the adoption of the state-of-the-art Borg-Warner Electronic
InterActive Torque Management four-wheel-drive system. This routes up
to 100 percent of the available power to the front wheels. As road conditions
or torque demand changes, the system automatically diverts up to 50
percent of the available power to the rear wheels. The system monitors
throttle position, front wheel angle and slippage and as surface conditions
change, power is automatically routed to the wheels with the best traction.
There is also a dashboard-mounted
4WD lock button that allows the driver to manually “lock”
the transmission into 4WD for a 50/50 torque split. In addition to this,
Tucson features switchable traction control and four-channel ABS with
EBD applied to power-assisted 280mm vented front discs with pad wear
sensors and rear 284mm solid discs to maximize safety and fully exploit
the potential and performance of this drive system.
Safety
Tucson’s active safety is provided by its agile handling, ABS-equipped
brakes, electronic traction control, its on-demand AWD system and good
vision.
Backing up is Tucson’s
computer designed rigid cabin structure protected by impact absorbing
front and rear ends, load diffusion paths, four body rollover hoops
and door-stiffening side impact protection beams. Tucson has dual front
airbags and front seat belt with pre-tensioners, load-limiters and height-adjustable
upper mounts.
Tucson Elite ushers in an
entirely higher level of safety in the compact SUV sub-segment and in
an Australian-spec Hyundai by also offering front seat side airbags
and cabin side curtain airbags.
All five seating positions
have retractable sash/lap seatbelts and vertically adjustable head restraints,
those on the rear seat backs being wrapover low profile designs for
maximized rear vision. All three child seat tether strap anchor points
have their brackets already fitted ready for use under neat flap covers
in the floor immediately behind the rear seat back base where intrusion
into luggage space is minimized.
Tucson has been safety rated
by the US NHTSA at five stars and internally tested to EuroNCAP at four
stars.
NVH insulation
To drive Tucson is to experience a new generation level of refinement
for a compact SUV. The car was conceived from the outset to offer maximum
insulation from NVH (noise, vibration and harshness). The rear wheel
arch panels and dashboard mounting panel incorporate a six- layer sandwich
system with vertical and horizontal reinforcements and padding. Insulating
pads were also used in most pillar connections, while special reinforcements
and curvatures were incorporated into the body floor to absorb vibrations.
New specially formed front and rear suspension components also further
reduce intrusive and unwanted noise.
In addition to extensive
development on both induction and exhaust to reduce engine noise, the
adoption of a larger fan has helped reduced wind noise from the cooling
system. Lowered wind noise is also achieved by triple sealing of the
door frames using one turn sealed weather strip.
Environment
As are all current Hyundai models, Tucson was conceived and built as
an environmentally friendly vehicle. Not only does it come from some
of the cleanest production facilities in the world, but it offers an
eco-friendly V6 engine and an above average recycling rate, thus building
further upon Hyundai’s tradition of environmental concern.
As a company Hyundai is always
striving to develop technology which brings cars and nature closer together,
as well as uniting people and nature so that everyone can live in a
healthier natural environment. The results of this thinking can be seen
in Hyundai’s environmentally friendly vehicle development program,
commitment to sustainable development and recycling and its deep involvement
in fuel cell alternative fuel research.
Hyundai’s FCEV (Fuel
Cell Electric Vehicle) program, which commenced in late 2000, was transferred
from Santa Fe to Tucson at its outset so that engineering development
could proceed on the new car parallel with its mainstream development.
Tucson FCEV now has a 300km range and a top speed upped to 150kph from
the Santa Fe FCEV’s 124kph and brings Hyundai a step closer to
its goal of developing an affordable zero-emission vehicle based on
fuel cell technology by 2010.
For all of these reasons
it can be said that Tucson is a road oriented SUV, a car which effortlessly
fits everyday life, while adding the capacity for sporting self-expression
combined with meaningful off-road capability.
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