New Hyundai Tucson vs Kia Sportage
These family SUVs have a lot in common, including frugal hybrid engines. But in their latest guises, what are the differences between them and which is best? Let’s find out...
The contenders
Hyundai Tucson 1.6 T-GDi Hybrid Premium
List price £38,150
Target Price £34,620
Revamp for Hyundai’s family SUV includes revised suspension and an updated hybrid engine option, but the biggest news is a new interior
Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi HEV GT-Line
List price £35,985
Target Price £33,798
The same tweaked hybrid engine makes its way into the Sportage – which means our current family SUV champion is still going to be hard to beat
Sitting still is not something car makers can afford to do; they have to move with the times if they want to survive. But some evolve at a faster rate than others – and one of the brands that’s setting a scorching pace is Hyundai. Whichever way you turn, it seems to be doing something bold and innovative, from the fast and entertaining Ioniq 5 N electric hot hatch to the novel Inster city car.
With its dramatic looks, the Hyundai Tucson family SUV might appear to fall into that camp too, but the truth is that it has always had to play second fiddle to the closely related Kia Sportage – our reigning Family SUV of the Year and one of the best-selling cars in the UK. Fine car though the Tucson was, it wasn’t as well rounded as its stablemate.
In an effort to change that, the Tucson has been given a substantial update. It may not look much different on the outside, but a redesigned interior promises to be more user-friendly and upmarket than before, while suspension tweaks are aimed at improving the ride.
Has Hyundai done enough, though? To find out, we’re putting the latest Tucson (in second-rung Premium trim) up against an equivalent Sportage GT-Line, with essentially the same hybrid engine option. This engine has been tweaked for 2024 to meet ever-tightening emissions regulations, resulting in a small drop in power.
Driving
Performance, ride, handling, refinement
With a turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine and electric motor producing a total of 212bhp in each of our contenders, it’s no surprise that they sprint from 0-60mph at a similar rate. The Tucson edges ahead with a time of 6.8sec, while the Sportage takes 7.1sec.
There’s plenty of punch for those times when you need to build speed to join a motorway, too, with these cars going from 30-70mph in an identical 6.2sec. The only slight frustration is that their six-speed automatic gearboxes can be quite slow to change down when you plant your foot to overtake a slower car or nip into a gap in traffic.
Being hybrids, our contenders are able to drive on electric power alone for short distances around town, and they can keep up with other traffic without firing up the engine, provided the battery has enough charge. There’s hardly any electric motor whine, so progress is hushed when the engine is off. And when it does fire up again, the Tucson’s engine is less vocal and coarse than it used to be, fading into the background as quietly as it does in the Sportage. Neither car kicks up much wind or road noise at motorway speeds, although you’re slightly better isolated from the outside world in the Tucson.
Previously, the Tucson’s soft suspension meant it was more jarring over potholes and sharp ridges than the Sportage, and less settled at motorway speeds. Now it’s far more controlled, and it’s only along really bumpy roads where the Tucson struggles to contain vertical body movements (with a minor amount of float) and takes a little longer to settle back down again. With its slightly firmer set-up, the Sportage still has the edge when it comes to balancing ride comfort with tight body control, although the difference between the two is now very small.
The Sportage remains more precise and confidence-inspiring when it’s time to head down a country road, with less body lean through corners and more naturally weighted steering. Although the Tucson doesn’t pitch into bends as much as it used
to and there’s plenty of grip available, it’s still best enjoyed
at a more laid-back pace.
Both contenders have regenerative braking to help recover some electrical energy when you decelerate (with the strength of this being adjustable in the Tucson), but coming to a smooth stop is easier in the Sportage, thanks to its more immediate brake response. That said, the Tucson can come to an emergency stop sooner from both 30mph and 70mph.
Behind the wheel
Driving position, visibility, build quality
You’ll have no trouble getting comfortable in either of our contenders; each offers a wide range of adjustment for the steering wheel and driver’s seat – the latter moving electrically in the Tucson and with the aid of elbow grease in the Sportage. What’s more, both include adjustable lumbar support to help reduce back ache on long journeys.
You can sit a little closer to the ground in the Tucson, if desired, but as in the Sportage, a low dashboard means you can still see over the bonnet easily. The view over your shoulder is clearer in the Tucson, though, thanks to larger and longer rear side windows. While both cars have shallow rear screens that compromise your view out the back, each comes with a rear-view camera to assist with low-speed manoeuvres, while front and rear parking sensors provide audible guidance.
Each of our contenders places a digital instrument panel right next to an infotainment screen in one long housing on top of the dashboard. The Tucson’s 12.3in instrument panel is not only slightly larger than the Sportage’s 11.0in equivalent but also features crisper-looking graphics. Neither of them is particularly configurable, though.
Adjusting the climate control is more straightforward in these cars than in many others in the class. That’s because there’s a mixture of physical and touch-sensitive controls on a separate panel, rather than being located on the infotainment screen. Having said that, the Sportage’s slim panel can be slightly fiddly to use, because the icons are on the small side and double up as media controls. The Tucson’s control panel is not only larger but also has the climate and media functions permanently on display, while the physical knobs are larger in diameter and easier to grasp than the Sportage’s.
The GT-Line Sportage’s seats are partly covered in a suede material that helps to hold you in place better through corners than the Tucson’s cloth equivalent. Elsewhere inside, both contenders feel solidly put together and feature plenty of squishy plastics, woven fabrics and padded areas on the doors and upper section of the dash, while all the buttons and switches are well damped. With the upgrades made to the Tucson’s interior, it’s now level pegging with the Sportage for quality, and ahead of many other rivals in this class.
Infotainment systems
Hyundai Tucson
A larger, 12.3in touchscreen is now standard on all Tucsons and matches the Sportage’s for size. Newer software has resulted in a slightly more user-friendly layout, bringing some icons closer to hand, while a row of physical shortcut buttons on the panel below is handy for hopping between functions. Phone mirroring via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard in both cars, but the Tucson adds wireless connectivity for added convenience.
Kia Sportage
The Sportage’s 12.3in touchscreen looks sharp and responds quickly enough to inputs, although some of the icons could be larger to make them easier to aim for. Thankfully, there aren’t too many submenus to sift through to find what you want. The standard six-speaker sound system isn’t very immersive and sounds rather flat compared with the upgraded eight-speaker Krell system that you get with the Tucson in Premium trim.
Space and practicality
Front space, rear space, seating flexibility, boot
There’ll be no complaints about a shortage of space in the front of either of these cars; they offer plenty of head, leg and elbow room for 6ft-tall occupants. Some will prefer the higher console between the seats in the Sportage, because it creates a slightly cosier feel, but the Tucson’s two-tier layout opens up a huge amount of storage space, including an extra pair of trays lower down. There’s also a storage shelf on the dashboard ahead of the front passenger, above the glovebox.
In the back, another pair of six-footers can sit comfortably behind those up front, with plenty of head room in both cars and just a touch more leg room in the Sportage. There’s a bit more shoulder space in the broader Tucson when you need to squeeze in a middle passenger, but they’ll have to sit with their legs straddling a hump in the floor in either car.
To boost long-distance comfort, each car comes with reclining rear seatbacks and a fold-down centre armrest that contains a pair of cupholders. However, the Sportage is alone in including separate air-con controls and vents for rear occupants, as well as hooks on the backs of the front seats on which you can hang small items.
Only the Tucson comes with an electric tailgate, and its boot is longer than the Sportage’s, but in practice they can hold similar amounts of cargo. Each can accommodate eight carry-on suitcases under its load cover (with more space left over in the Tucson), making them among the most capacious in this class.
Both cars have height-adjustable boot floors. In the higher position, the floor sits level with the sill at the entrance and the lowered rear seatbacks, so sliding bulky items in or out is relatively easy. In the lower position, there’s a small lip to lift items over, and the floor slopes upwards towards the seats.
Both cars come with 40/20/40 split-folding rear seatbacks, which are more versatile than those with a conventional 60/40 split, and you can release them remotely by pulling on levers inside the boot. In the Tucson, this function was previously reserved for pricier versions.
Boot space
Hyundai Tucson
Boot capacity 616-1795 litres Suitcases 8
Kia Sportage
Boot capacity 587-1776 litres Suitcases 8
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
These hybrids attract slightly lower benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax rates than equivalent mild hybrid petrol versions, but because of their higher list prices, the amount that company car drivers will pay in monthly salary sacrifices works out virtually the same. For anyone in this situation, a plug-in hybrid (or fully electric car), with its lower BIK rates, makes far more sense.
The Sportage’s lower price makes it more attractive for private buyers looking to buy outright with cash. However, if you’re prepared to haggle with the dealer or buy an in-stock car via our online New Car Deals service, you can score a bigger discount with the Tucson, meaning the difference in price becomes much smaller.
The gap is even narrower if you decide to opt for a PCP finance deal. Put down a £3500 deposit for a three-year agreement with a 10,000-mile annual limit and your repayments will be £507 per month for the Sportage. Meanwhile, the Tucson will set you back £510 per month on the same terms, helped by a larger manufacturer deposit contribution of £2000 (compared with £1500 for the Sportage, at the time of writing).
Overall, the Sportage will be cheaper to run for private cash buyers over three years and 36,000 miles, albeit by a margin of less than £1000. Although it will cost slightly more to insure, servicing bills will be smaller, and the Sportage is predicted to shed value at a slower rate than the Tucson.
There’s very little to separate them in terms of fuel costs. In our real-world economy test, the Tucson returned 44.4mpg and the Sportage 44.6mpg.
Both cars come with 18in alloy wheels, adaptive cruise control, climate control, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and full LED headlights. However, the Tucson has a few extra goodies to help make up for its higher price, including sunblinds integrated into the rear doors, as well as an upgraded sound system (see infotainment panel) and the electric tailgate and electric front seat adjustment mentioned earlier.
In the latest What Car? Reliability Survey, the Sportage ranked 12th out of 48 models in the family SUV category, one place ahead of the Tucson. The latter comes with a five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty as standard – better cover than
what most rivals offer in the class. Even so, the Sportage goes farther with its seven-year cover, albeit capped at 100,000 miles.
When our contenders were tested for safety by the independent experts at Euro NCAP, they achieved the maximum five-star rating. However, the Sportage provided slightly better protection in a frontal impact for front occupants, while the Tucson protected the driver’s chest more in a side impact. These cars come with plenty of safety kit, including automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition and lane-keeping assistance.
Our verdict
Previously, the Tucson couldn’t live with the Sportage’s smarter interior, superior refinement and more polished ride and handling balance. However, this revamped version has made impressive progress, to the point where there’s now almost nothing between it and the Sportage.
In fact, we wouldn’t blame you for choosing the Tucson. For a few pounds more per month on a PCP finance deal, you’d get a better-equipped car with a more user-friendly interior.
The reason why the Sportage wins this test is mainly down to costs. It’s a bit cheaper to buy and run for private buyers, and you’ll save a few quid per month as a company car driver. Plus, it’s still better to drive and has that longer warranty.
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1st – Kia Sportage
For Fine ride and handling balance; slightly more rear leg room; cheaper to buy and run; longer warranty
Against Climate and media control panel can be a bit fiddly to operate; rearward visibility isn’t great
Recommended options Metallic paint (£650)
What Car? rating 5 stars out of 5
Kia Sportage review >>
Kia Sportage deals >>
2nd – Hyundai Tucson
For Interior now matches Sportage’s for quality and is more user-friendly; quieter at motorway speeds; more standard kit
Against Ride still isn’t as well controlled as in the Sportage; sheds value at a faster rate; pricier to run as a company car
Recommended options Metallic paint (£700)
What Car? rating 5 stars out of 5
Hyundai Tucson review >>
Engine 4cyl, 1598cc, turbo, petrol, plus electric motor
Peak power 212bhp at 5500rpm
Peak torque 270lb ft at 1000-3600rpm
Gearbox 6-spd automatic
0-60mph 6.8sec
30-70mph in kickdown 6.2sec
Top speed 116mph
Braking 30-0mph 8.7m
Braking 70-0mph 46.4m
Noise at 30mph 55.9dB
Noise at 70mph 63.0dB
Kerb weight 1701kg
Tyre size (std) 235/55 R18
Fuel tank 52 litres
Test economy 44.4mpg
Official economy 49.6mpg
CO2 emissions 131g/km
Specifications: Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi HEV GT-Line
Engine 4cyl, 1598cc, turbo, petrol, plus electric motor
Peak power 212bhp at 5500rpm
Peak torque 258lb ft at 3500rpm
Gearbox 6-spd automatic
0-60mph 7.1sec
30-70mph in kickdown 6.2sec
Top speed 115mph
Braking 30-0mph 9.3m
Braking 70-0mph 49.7m
Noise at 30mph 56.3dB
Noise at 70mph 64.0dB
Kerb weight 1649kg
Tyre size (std) 235/55 R18
Fuel tank 52 litres
Test economy 44.6mpg
Official economy 49.6mpg
CO2 emissions 128g/km
Weather conditions 16deg C, dry
Cars pictured
Hyundai Tucson 1.6 T-GDi Hybrid Premium with Atlas White solid paint (£350)
Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi HEV GT-Line with Dark Penta Metal metallic paint (£650)
