The Hyundai Tucson is a very popular five-seater family SUV and it's easy to see why when we put this latest version in the Elite spec through our BabyDrive testing…
Firstly, I could fit three Infasecure child seats across the back seat of the 2021 Hyundai Tucson. The Infasecure Optima forward-facing and the Infasecure Serene rear-facing both fitted with the Versatile Folding Booster beside them. I couldn't fit three full-size child seats but the Versatile folding booster would fit. They all fit really nicely across and installing them was easy. If you want to learn more about the child seats used in this review then you can here.
There are three top tether anchorages, one in each of the rear seatbacks that are easily accessible through the boot and within clearly labelled plastic guides. The ISOFix points are in the two outer rear seats, and although they are not within plastic guides I still found them easy to connect to.
A 184cm driver could fit in front of a forward-facing child seat and a 184cm passenger could travel in front of a rear-facing child seat with good legroom.
There are air-con vents in the back of the Hyundai Tucson which is great for keeping little rear passengers cool while driving along.
There are also two USB ports which are great for charging devices kids are using while travelling.
Storage is good in the front of the Hyundai Tucson; the door bins are were well-sized to hold a large refillable water bottle and the cup holders in the front and back are practical and hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup, the glove box and central console box are both really generous in size for a small SUV.
In the back, the net map pockets are a bit of a letdown and the door bins will only hold a 600ml bottle.
Boot space in the 2021 Hyundai Tucson is good and will hold fourteen shopping bags from empty, which is one more than the Mazda CX-5 will hold and one less than the Toyota RAV4, Volkswagen Tiguan snd Subaru Forester that all hold fifteen.
All sizes of pram and stroller I tested will fit in the boot with varying amounts of shopping alongside them.
The boot floor was nice and flat, suitable for an emergency nappy change and there is a single shopping bag hook on the back of the right-hand seat in the boot.
Your family's medium size dog will easily fit in the boot and the boot floor is nice and flat, perfect for an emergency nappy change!
The media system in the 2021 Hyundai Tucson Elite is fantastic, it is full of all the features we love.
Sounds of Nature which is white noise at your fingertips and plays a selection of sounds, like snowy village, that really help to get little ones to sleep while driving.
Quiet mode is another good function that brings the sound from the rear speakers to the front, which is great when kids are asleep or on devices in the back.
It also includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It is really simple to connect your phone to and all the functions are easy to use.
The reversing camera has a beautiful clear quality image.
In the new 2021 Hyundai Tucson, You can now turn the parking sensors off with a button in the central console.
You can also turn on a rearview camera while driving, which is great for rear visibility when the back is loaded with three child seats I found my little rear passengers loved watching the rearview screen too!
I found the Hyundai Tucson a very intuitive car to drive, it is lovely and smooth and comfortable but I did find the engine a little revvy up hills.
For our family of four, the Hyundai Tucson is a very practical five-seater SUV and BabyDrive.
The new 2021 Hyundai Tucson is yet to be given an ANCAP safety rating but has seven airbags as standard and a lot of crash-preventing technology.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How big is the boot of the 2021 Hyundai Tucson?
The boot of the 2021 Hyundai Tucson will hold 14 shopping bags, which is one more than the Mazda CX-5 and one less than the Toyota RAV4, VW Tiguan and Subaru Forester, all of which hold 15.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Kid’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
The twin stroller fits in the boot of the Hyundai Tucson with six shopping bags beside it, which is really impressive boot space for a five-seater SUV.
The tandem modular pram fits with five shopping bags beside it.
The single pram fits with seven shopping bags beside it.
The compact stroller fits in the boot of the Hyundai Tucson with eleven shopping bags beside it.
The boot floor of the 2021 Hyundai Tucson is nice and flat and carpeted which is perfect for carrying your family pet dog or for an emergency nappy change! There is an indent on either side behind the wheel arches which are great as little nooks for things you don't want moving about in the boot. The retractable roller blind was light and easy to use.
How good is storage in the 2021 Hyundai Tucson?
Storage in the front of the 2021 Hyundai Tucson is really good.
There are two cup holders in the central console, they hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup and a large refillable water bottle fits in them too.
In front of them is a wireless phone charging tray, with two USB and a 12V socket.
The front door bins are quite a good size, they will hold a large refillable water bottle and there are storage wells in the handles too.
The central console storage box is a nice big practical size.
The glove box is generous in size and will hold my wallet with the manual and sunglasses because there is no sunglasses holder in the ceiling.
In the back, the storage is a little less generous. There are net map pockets in the back of both front seats that will hold but not conceal an iPad.
In a fold-down armrest in the central seatback are two cup holders. They will hold a re-usable and disposable coffee cup.
The door bins in the back are smaller than in the front and will only hold a 600ml water bottle.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the 2021 Hyundai Tucson?
The 2021 Hyundai Tucson Elite has a fantastic modern and easy to use media system with a nice big screen.
It is full of features that we find really useful with our family.
For example, quiet mode brings the sound from the rear speakers to the front at the touch of a button, which is great when little ones in the back fall asleep or are on devices.
There is also Sounds of Nature, which is a selection of different white noise options at your fingertips. Our daughters particularly like the Calm Ocean Waves to fall asleep to!
There is easy to use sat-nav built in too, on the Tucson Elite.
The reversing camera image is beautifully crisp and clear.
You can turn the parking sensors off with a button in the central console.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The 2021 Hyundai Tucson also has a rear view camera you can turn on with a button in the central console, so you have a great rear view while driving.
The indicators are nice and quiet in the Hyundai Tucson and would not disturb a sleeping passenger.
Its doors and windows are really nice and quiet to open and close too. They can both be locked from the driver's door control panel.
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!! SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)
There are seatbelt removal visuals for the rear seats in the ceiling where a glasses case would usually be, the front visors both have lights and are extendable which is great for shielding your face from the sun while travelling.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit on the Hyundai Tucson?
There are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats, they are not within plastic guides but are clearly labelled and nice and easy to connect to.
There are three top tether anchorages across the back of the rear seat backs. They are within clearly labelled plastic guides and nice and easy to connect to through the boot.
Because the sides of the 2021 Hyundai Tucson taper in towards the top, the third child seat needed to be slim like the Infasecure Versatile Folding Booster.
Legroom is great in the Hyundai Tucson. With a rear-facing child seat installed in the back, a 184cm passenger can sit in the front and with a forward-facing child seat a 184cm driver can sit in the front.
Posting bub into their child seat from inside and outside the car is really nice and easy in the 2021 Hyundai Tucson. It is easy from inside because the ceiling is high and there are lovely big open doors that give you plenty of room for posting Bub in from outside.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
There is room to feed bub in the back if you only have one child seat installed.
The seats are upholstered with panels of perforated and plain black pleather. The perforations would be hard to wipe clean as crumbs and spills would get stuck in them.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the new 2021 Hyundai Tucson? And How good is the 2021 Hyundai Tucson to drive?
In the front of the 2021 Hyundai Tucson Elite we tested, the seats are nice and comfortable and they could be heated which was lovely on crisp spring mornings!
The headrests are not adjustable in all directions but I could still wear a ponytail!
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
For a mum travelling in the back with Bub, the seats are super comfortable and there is ample headroom in the central seat.
The central seat is slightly raised and there is only a small hump in the footwell in the middle that was comfy to rest your feet on or to straddle. The rear seats are comfortable to travel in and you can feel the hard central backrest because of the fold-down armrest with cup holders.
For the first year of my daughters lives when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Bub so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The steering wheel was fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
The cruise controls are on the right side of the steering wheel, they are nice and easy to use and the cruise control was accurate at low speeds on undulating roads as well as on motorways.
There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central ones and one at either end.
There are rear air vents in the back of the central console box that are easily reachable from the front while driving and there are two USB sockets below them too. These are great fr ids charging their devices while driving.
You can control the aircon through the media screen or the are clear and easy manual buttons to control the climate settings too, located on the central dashboard.
There are lit vanity mirrors in both visors in the front and the visors are extendable too. There is no glasses case in the ceiling.
There are handles above both rear doors which are well-positioned to hold a baby toy for rear-facing passengers.
The rear interior light is too far back for me to reach it while driving
I have found Bub does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.
Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
Visibility in the back of the 2021 Tucson for rear-facing passengers is good. Visibility for the driver is affected by having three child seats in the back so the rear view camera is really good while driving.
The Tucson is lovely and bright inside and using the mirrors and camera parking was fine.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Bub has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Tucson was simple to park as it is quite small and the rear view camera is so good!
The Hyundai Tucson is a no-brainer car for a family of four and there is room for that third child set in the back too. It is spacious enough for everyone to fit and legroom is great for the adults in the front too.
The 2021 Hyundai Tucson does everything well, especially the media system and cameras. It has a modern and comfortable interior, it is a get in and go, easy to use car with your family and it's great to drive around town, for school runs and on the motorways too, my only complaint is the engine was a little revvy going up steep hills.
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
How safe is the 2021 Hyundai Tucson?
The 2021 Hyundai Tucson is yet to be given an ANCAP safety rating.
When it comes to safety features the 2021 Hyundai Tucson has seven airbags; there is dual frontal, side chest and side head airbags, driver and front passenger side curtain airbags for 1st and 2nd rows, centre airbag and roll-over sensor.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Bub’s asleep!
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About Tace Clifford
Tace Clifford founded BabyDrive in 2017 after discovering a huge information gap in mainstream car reviews that left new parents and expanding families in the dark when it came to one of the biggest purchasing decisions of their lives.
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