2017 Hyundai Tucson 1.6 Turbo Executive Sport - Quick Review

The Hyundai Tucson  is one of South Africa’s best selling mid-size SUVs and is much loved by those who buy them. A few months ago, Hyundai introduced a more athletic Tucson by the name of the Hyundai Tucson Sport, for those who want a little extra zest to make the daily commute to work or school a little more interesting.

The Tucson Sport sees the addition of an imported body kit matched to the vehicle's colour, a set of 19-inch black one-off alloy wheels, and an engine ECU tune, courtesy of Dastek and a Unichip. The 1.6-litre turbocharged powertrain receives an engine tune that is subtle, yet effective, bumping engine power to 150kW and 295Nm. The engine lets you know it was fettled with, letting out a pleasant burble through the four-exit stainless steel exhaust.

It makes for an enticing drive and is worth taking a look at if your spouse insisted you to trade in your hot hatch for something more family-friendly. Just remember that you will lose a bit of ground clearance, so taking the Tucson Sport far off the beaten track is not recommended, nor is climbing those high sidewalks when parking spaces are non-existent.

There will only be a limited amount of these Sport editions available, and at only R500 000, we reckon it’s well-worth the money. The Tucson is already so well-appointed and refined, and knowing South Africans’ affinity for special sports models (and costing only R50 000 more than the standard 1.6l Executive model), the Tucson Sport is a value proposition of note.