• Impressive cabin design and quality
• Twin screens are sharp and clear
• Excellent usability with simple interfaces

How is the quality and layout?

Hyundai has really pushed the boat out with the interior design of the Tucson. It set a new benchmark for Hyundai cabins, with genuine design flair in places but little compromise in usability. There’s a band of silver trim running around the top of the dash that hides the outer air vents for front passengers and sits below a dash surface that’s totally flat, helping to make the cabin feel airy.

This has the added effect of lowering the instrument panel and removing the cluster hood. Despite this, the panel is bright enough that even direct sunlight doesn’t impact its usability too badly.

The layout is perfectly conventional, with the infotainment screen set low on the dash. Beneath that sits a climate control panel, which is nice to have – though it’s a shame it uses touch-sensitive switches instead of proper buttons. These don’t have the same level of feedback as physical controls and are harder to use on the move.

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Another quirk is that hybrid models have buttons instead of a gear selector to switch between Drive, Reverse, Neutral, etc. These are neat but they don’t really save any space over a conventional shifter. The cabin does come across as rather monochrome, however. You can choose from black or light grey leather, but even the latter doesn’t lift the cabin all that much.

Infotainment and tech

The Tucson’s dashboard looks high-tech, but it’s reassuringly simple to use. It’s driven by big, easy-to-hit icons and clear controls, and while you can become somewhat buried in the menu system, the path to the function you’re looking for is usually clear.

The ultra-widescreen layout gives plenty of real estate for menus, and means it can display a split-screen layout to make some tasks easier. However, this has the secondary effect of making the sat-nav map less useful than a taller one, with more view of the road ahead.

It also means that when you’re making the most of the Tucson’s standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone capability, the systems run in an offset window in a portion of the screen, rather than filling it. This is disappointing, especially when the systems are usually capable of scaling to a screen of any size or shape.

The digital dash is Hyundai’s latest system, and the brand has resisted the temptation to stuff it full of gimmicky features – you simply get two easy-to-read dials and other functions are temporarily overlaid on top.

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Hyundai also offers a service called Bluelink, which combines live services such as traffic, weather and parking with a companion smartphone app that allows you to remotely monitor the car and pair certain aspects of your phone through to the infotainment.

Comfort

• Wide seats are adjustable and comfortable
• Plenty of room in the rear for two
• Rear USBs and seat heaters

The front seats are supportive and offer a good driving position. There is plenty of adjustment and the view out of the front is commanding in a typical style associated with family SUVs.

Rear passengers benefit from their own USB charging ports, and heated back seats are offered on higher trim levels. This, combined with the reclining backrests and Hyundai’s so-called ‘Sleep Mode’ (which turns off the rear speakers), makes the Tucson a good bet for trying to catch up on some rest through longer journeys.