2022 Hyundai Tucson v Toyota RAV4 Hybrid | Is the RAV4 Still King of the Family Car?

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Behind me is our reigning drive car of the year in the medium suv segment the toyota rav4 and there’s a very good reason that this is the king and the reigning champion in that segment sam behind you is a newcomer to the segment from an established brand this is the tucson and it’s an all new car we know how popular tucson has been over the years in this segment

As well so if there is a car that can potentially give the rav4 a bit of a shake up it is this thing i like how it looks i like the interior there’s a lot of space on offer in that car as well but at the same time this one drive car of the year overall a couple of years ago as well so we know how good this thing is which one’s better i don’t know it’s gonna be

Close we’re gonna have to find out i’ll tell you what i know which one’s got the edgier styling so let’s answer the question is the king still the king the two wheel drive hybrid rav4 gxl is priced from thirty nine thousand nine hundred and fifteen dollars and includes standard kit like 18-inch alloy wheels dual zone climate control wireless phone charging and

Keyless entry with push button start a 2.5 litre four-cylinder hybrid petrol powertrain uses a cvt gearbox and has a total of 160 kilowatts combined output because of the nature of the system a peak torque output isn’t specified this is the all new tucson and we’ve got the entry level grade here the asking price is thirty four thousand five hundred dollars before

On-road costs which is thirty five hundred dollars cheaper than the next level up that’s elite and it costs thirty nine grand this new tucson is two thousand three hundred and sixty dollars more expensive than the entry level in the previous generation or more if you include the manual transmission this new tucson is automatic only that powertrain by the way is

A two liter four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine which powers the front wheels only via a six-speed automatic transmission this new generation tucson gets plenty of new safety technology as well as an updated 8-inch infotainment display this specification also gets automatic headlights 17-inch alloy wheels folding side mirrors and led daytime running

Lights the headlights however stick with a yellowy halogen beam in this grade current conditions means it is difficult to source the exact specification we need for this match up so we have a base tucson lining up against a mid-spec rav4 gxl while these two medium-sized suvs do sit at slightly different price points we have taken this into consideration in the

Comparison and we have also put emphasis on the overall packaging comfort and technology on offer a couple of clear pointers here that you are in a base spec car number one you’ve got manual air conditioning controls on the dashboard here and number two no push button start you’ve got the good old-fashioned turnkey barrel there’s also no keyless entry in this car

Which is a little bit of a shame but i don’t think it takes away too much from the fact that this is a solid family car overall the tucson the interior design of this new model is really nice it’s got a little bit of a futuristic feel going on i like the fabric up here there are integrated air vents a lot of interesting design going on and it’s comfortable which

Obviously for a family car is very important now in terms of practicality storage and the like we’ve got a wireless charging pad down here now that does allow wireless apple carplay and android auto in this infotainment display that’s all good stuff you’ve also got a volume dial here you’ve got buttons on the outside now you don’t have native nav and you don’t have

A digital radio in this base spec so you will have to go up the ladder if you do want those things regulation cup holders here and the center console open that up that’s a pretty good size now what about power outlets you’ve got two usbs there the charging pad like i said before and one 12 volt so that’s all really good stuff and i think it drives home the fact that

This car even though it is a base specker there’s a couple of things you might not like about it but overall it’s really solid another thing to note is the steering wheel urethane steering wheels i think are a little bit of a thing of the past in base spec cars these days this one feels really nice where your elbows land the gear shifter that’s all pretty good so

You don’t feel like this is an absolute poverty pack vehicle when you’re driving it now is it better than the king of the segment toyota rav4 i’m not so sure but let’s ask trent to find out if sam’s just told you that the hyundai tucson is a pretty comfortable place to be up front guess what he’s right but so is the toyota rav4 even if it’s a little bit different

And you could argue it takes a slightly different angle to do exactly the same thing let’s first look at comfort from a driver and passenger perspective these seats are good hard wearing material i tend to think that the rav4 is a slightly more comfortable cabin than the hyundai tucson personal preference general comfort and room for passengers is fantastic there’s

Plenty of storage you’ve got cup and bottle holders here you’ve got bottle holders in the door that are useful you’ve also got dashboard storage as well in terms of the glove box there and another shelf then you move into the amenity of actually driving these vehicles you’ve got wireless smartphone charging which is not just handy it’s also useful because it stops

The phone from moving around there in the console so you put it in it’s getting charged and it’s not flying all over the place you’ve got usb and 12 volt up front you’ve also got two usbs in here as well as proper storage the cup holders i mentioned and then the amenity of the driving the screens the lcd screen in between the traditional gauges for the driver that’s

In easy reach and it’s easy to see as well and then the controls on the steering wheel might look you know not so much a generation old but maybe a little bit more basic than some of the competition but i like that because they’re easy to understand they really make sense you can identify that that one’s for the phone and that one’s for the volume and they’re

Really easy to work out in terms of which control does what so if you’re wondering whether this is a comfortable and practical easy to interact way of moving the family around it absolutely is in my opinion one of the most important things in a medium-sized suv is space in the second row and i feel like the tucson is really strong in this regard as you can see here

That’s my driving position up front i’ve got lots of legroom i can fit my feet under the seats as well and there’s plenty of headroom now i’ve had my kids in the back here you’ve got iso fix points on the outboard seats and looking at the back of this seat here it’s actually not covered in footprints from the kids kicking it all the time and that tells me there’s

Actually a fair bit of room here for kids in their seats as well now another thing is air vents you’ve got them in this car and you’ve also got usb outlets that’s probably for when the kids are out of their seats and into their phones a bit more in terms of general comfort this is good visibility is fantastic and i’ve also got tilt in the backrest here something

The rav4 can’t do there’s also another couple of cupholders there and an armrest and you can also fit a bottle in each of the doors now one small thing i’ve noticed with this car is the use of piano black materials around the place there’s a lot of it up front there’s also a little bit in the second row here as well it looks good but it shows up dust and smudges

Really quickly so you’ll be finding yourself cleaning those fairly often not the end of the world but something worth noting so trent i’m throwing down the gauntlet i’m saying that in the second row this tucson is more spacious and more comfortable than the rav4 i really hate to agree with sam and i try to do it as little as possible but i’m going to have to on

This point now the fact that the tucson has more room and is a little bit more comfortable than the rav4 doesn’t mean that this is uncomfortable so let’s get that out of the way first but if you’re saying which one’s better i have to agree with sam i think the tucson’s just a little step forward now first of all my driving position is a little further away from

The steering wheel than sam so the leg room back here is going to seem like there’s less because of where the seat position is but it’s actually not too bad i’m sitting behind my own driving position and it’s actually pretty comfortable the backrest is not too upright so you don’t feel like you’re sitting forward which i think is a good thing especially for road

Trips you don’t feel like the roof is too far down on you either so that’s good there are air vents there are two usb ports now that’s important for the kids on road trips because whether we like it or not they are going to be charging phones and ipads and the like so you need those outlets there i think the fact that the floor is pretty flat is good i can get

My feet under the seat in front of me pretty comfortably i’ve got bottle holders in the door i’ve also got this fold down armrest with some cup holders and we talk a lot about the importance of these vehicles from a family perspective the front row is obviously important when you’re driving and when mom and dad are up front but you want the kids to be comfortable

In the second row you want them to be practically seated back here so that they can spend longer periods of time if you do head out on road trips and the rav4 ticks that box nicely rav4 gets a regular rear view camera while with the hyundai tucson you have the option of a higher view top-down rear view camera the toyota rav4 has 580 litres of boot space with the

Floor in its lowest position and the seats fold almost flat to open that up to 1 690 litres the tucson measures in at 539 liters in the boot using the same vda measurement and you’ve got 1860 liters available when you drop the second row we reckon full-size spares are incredibly important for australian buyers and on that note the hyundai tucson gets a full-size

Spare while the rav4 in this model grade gets a space saver spare tyre the tucson’s powertrain makes 115 kilowatts and 192 newton meters in this specification and that comes with a claimed fuel consumption of 8.1 liters per 100ks on the combined cycle definitely for me one of the best things about this tucson is the ride quality it just tends to soak up bumps

And speed bumps rough surfaces around town all that sort of thing really nicely and it makes the driver and occupants very comfortable steering is nicely weighted also it’s fairly light but not too light and this thing isn’t a sports car at the end of the day but you can feel where the car is going it handles well there’s nothing weird going on there it makes the

Tucson easy to drive around town although i have to say i need to turn the driving aids off when i drive this car lane keep assist and lane departure warning they can be a little bit onerous at times and that you can feel this sort of tugging at the wheel and you’re not sure what’s going on just turn that off there’s a button here on the steering wheel hold it down

The thing is a little bit more enjoyable after that you can get a more powerful 1.6 liter turbocharged engine for this car and it’s probably the one to choose this two-liter naturally aspirated engine it’s fine most of the time but it does feel a little bit gutless as well you can tell that hyundai has tuned the throttle response to feel a little bit perky off the

Line and they’ve done a good job of that it’s not too busy most of the time but it’s once you’re rolling on the highway going up hills asking a lot more of the car you can feel the six-speed gearbox start to change ratios quite often and you can feel the engine also working quite hard however this is a family car that’s going to spend most of its time around town

So that sort of highway driving is going to be a little bit less common so it’s not as much of a big deal and let’s face it for a family car around town this two-liter engine is good enough and overall the tucson feels quite good the tucson lines up against the toyota rav4 in gxl specification with the hybrid two-wheel drive powertrain unfortunately huge demand and

Long waiting lists for the rav4 means we could only get our hands on an all-wheel drive for this comparison if you’re wondering what the rav4 hybrid is like for family duties i can tell you one word comes to mind more than others smooth you could probably throw refined in there as well but the transition between electric and petrol is smooth the ride’s smooth the

Whole experience of driving the car is smooth and it’s pretty refined it’s comfortable in here there’s lots of room and it really does work well for family duties i think the other point that’s interesting to make once upon a time we would have said that you really do need all-wheel drive in these suv segments but the fact that these are front-wheel drive vehicles

Now doesn’t really detract from how good they are to drive they’re still safe with all the electronics that you get you get a lot of the benefits that you used to only get with an all-wheel drive platform and i don’t think you lose anything by buying a medium suv that’s front-wheel drive part of the smoothness comes from the way that the engine and gearbox work

With each other they’re very very well connected the other factor that really plays into that is the ride quality toyotas have always been very good at that and the rav4 is no different the bump absorption is excellent and it’s not trying to be a sports car masked as an suv this is first and foremost a very comfortable platform that does exactly what you expect

It to do and does it easily it doesn’t roll all over the road so it’s not horrible when you tip it into a corner but it’s not trying to be something that it isn’t and the ride quality in this thing is excellent now some hybrids have quite a harsh transition from electric propulsion into traditional petrol propulsion they have this weird sort of jerk or a hesitation

Or you really feel it move into the petrol engine phase but with the toyota system you don’t feel that it’s quite smooth it’s very unobtrusive you can roll around town most of the time without even knowing that it’s happening most importantly and this is a really big factor for family buyers you’re going to know about it at the bowser that’s the factor you’re going

To understand that this is an efficient drivetrain when you go to put fuel in it because at the moment around town we’re using mid 5 litres per 100 kilometers which is as close to probably half as what you could expect from a regular suv of this size but you don’t even feel what’s going on beneath you to deliver that efficiency will you love the rav4 hybrid if you

Buy one as your family run around reckon the answer is yes toyota and hyundai match each other with a five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty but the rav4 wins with cheaper servicing costs over the first five years it’s two hundred and thirty dollars per service up to one thousand one hundred and fifty dollars over five years or sixty thousand kilometers with

Twelve months and fifteen thousand kilometer intervals the hyundai has the same service intervals but is more expensive at three hundred and nineteen dollars per visit so that works out to be a total of one thousand five hundred and ninety five dollars over five years well suffice to say sam this is a pretty close run thing uh there’s a hell of a lot that that new

Tucson does very very well we’re impressed with it but on the flip side of that argument there’s not a lot that the rav4 does wrong is there that’s right that’s right i think two of the main things for this tucson is number one second row space it’s an advantage over that rav4 the rav4s hybrid battery system takes up a little bit of room there and also just general

Ride comfort this thing is really nice around town i think there’s a lot of sidewall on these tyres and it just makes it sort of smooth out the bumps really nicely but like you said it’s got to be really really good to take down this rav4 which is very good across the board yeah it is we bang on about drivetrain consistently and and listeners and and viewers and

Readers are probably sick of hearing about it but the drive train in this is particularly good and it’s efficient forget how it goes about what it does it’s efficient you know mid-fives per 100 around town is almost half what the rest of the segment does and that’s a big deal right and it’s got a bit more power on offer at the same time so you’re not really getting

Any disadvantage with this hybrid powertrain especially when you consider how smooth and seamless it is between those power outputs and it leaves this two liter feeling it’s fine you know it does the job pretty well yeah six-speed automatic it’s a fairly run-of-the-mill powertrain but in comparison to that this feels a bit underdone so safe to say the king hasn’t

Been dethroned quite yet i think it’s quite safe mate well there are our thoughts let us know what you think in the comments section below don’t forget to hit like if you’ve enjoyed the video and of course click on subscribe so you stay up to date with all of our latest video content and of course the comparison for these two suvs and just about every other medium

Suv you can think of is at drive.com.edu you

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2022 Hyundai Tucson v Toyota RAV4 Hybrid | Is the RAV4 Still King of the Family Car? | Drive.com.au By Drive.com.au