2017 Hyundai Tucson Review

It's easy to understand the appeal of today's small crossover SUVs. These vehicles offer the admirable fuel economy and easy-to-drive demeanor you'd get from a similarly sized sedan but also have abundant cargo space and the availability of all-wheel drive to help out in wet conditions. The 2017 Hyundai Tucson is one of the small crossovers out there vying for your attention and has a number of traits that place it high on our list of recommended models.

Redesigned just last year, the Tucson grew in size and gained sharp, new styling and lots of modern technology. These upgrades, along with the new turbocharged 1.6-liter engine, made the Tucson much more competitive. With even more creature comforts and tech added this year, owning a Tuscon is even better. It's also worth mentioning that the Tucson, with its optional crash-avoidance technology fitted, received the highest possible safety ratings from both the government and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Of course, the Tucson is one of many available options for a small crossover SUV. Three of the Tucson's chief rivals are the Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4. They are all a bit roomier inside while offering excellent interior design and impressive fuel economy. Other options we recommend are the sporty Ford Escape and Kia Sportage, which offer similar equipment levels along with competitive pricing. And if you want a slightly smaller crossover, check out the Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-3. But overall, we like the stylish Tucson and see it as an ideal pick for a lot of crossover SUV shoppers.

Standard safety items on the 2017 Hyundai Tucson include antilock disc brakes, stability and traction control, active front head restraints, front side airbags, side curtain airbags, hill-hold assist and hill descent control.

In Edmunds brake testing, a FWD Tucson came to a stop from 60 mph in 121 feet, an average stopping distance for a compact crossover.

All trims provide a rearview camera as standard, while the SE Plus and Sport get standard blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. The Limited features all of those items, plus a couple optional items via the Ultimate package (lane departure warning and a forward collision warning and mitigation system with automatic braking and pedestrian detection).

The Blue Link telematics suite is standard on the Limited but unavailable on the other trims. It includes emergency safety assistance and other smartphone-based features via the Blue Link mobile app. If you upgrade to the Remote package, you also get stolen vehicle recovery, a car finder and electronic parameter settings (geo-fencing, speed/curfew alerts and valet alert) and remote ignition and accessory operation via a smartphone or even smartwatch.

In government crash tests, the 2017 Hyundai Tucson received five stars (out of a possible five) for overall crash protection, as well as five stars in front and side crash protection. Both the all-wheel-drive and front-wheel-drive versions of the Tucson received those top scores.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave the Tucson its top score of Good in the small-overlap front-impact, moderate-overlap front-impact and side-impact crash tests. The Tucson also received the top score of Good in the IIHS' roof strength and head restraint (whiplash protection) tests, plus the highest rating of Superior for the car's optional forward collision mitigation system.