2017 Hyundai Tucson vs Mazda CX-5

What's the difference?

The Tucson is an very capable all-rounder with few weak spots, particularly after a little tidy-up of the Active and Elite trims in the middle of 2016. It's a strong proposition in a very crowded part of the market dominated by a resurgent Volkswagen Tiguan and the Mazda CX-5 (with a facelift due for release this month).

The Active X is the best value for money Tucson as long as you don't need AWD (there are the occasional special editions based on its spec, though, like the Tucson 30th Anniversary) or extra grunt.

The Tucson's roomy, good-looking, well-built and rides and handles as well as anything else in the class. It's a difficult car to fault, even when it's been in our hands for lengthy periods. The fact it has squared up to the Japanese and Germans and held its own means it has to be very good, indeed.

The new CX-5 has certainly picked up where the old one left off, and is better in every way. The new diesel is a cracker and the safety package belongs on a much more expensive car. 

Mazda has lead the way for so long and the CX-5 was such an accomplished car, a face-lift barely seemed necessary. While it's not all-new from the ground up, this is the kind of thing Mazda has taken to doing really well - every time we drive a freshened-up machine, it's those little details that add up to the feeling a lot of work has gone on to build on a solid base.

And with this diesel engine, the big wheels and those sharp looks, the CX-5 has something for pretty much everyone.

The Tucson is a terrific-looking car. Hyundai's styling has matured hugely in the last few years and the Tucson is a pointer to the brand's future - classy, Euro-influenced and with a strong personality linked to newer Hyundais as they roll through.

The lines are sharp, the headlights slim and the unpainted plastic applied around the wheelarches is just right - it doesn't look either penny-pinching or self-consciously masculine. It's also a cohesive exterior design, with links between the front and rear, a strong feature line to draw the two ends together and some great surfacing. Upper-spec models gain some chrome, most obviously in the grille.

Perhaps the only real criticism (and this is obviously subjective) is the chintziness of the alloys and cheap exterior detailing on higher models.

As out interior images show, the inside is lined with mostly good materials and plastics. The leather trim is a moving feast, with a mix of real and synthetic upholstery depending on build location (South Korea or Czech Republic) and model level. There's nothing wrong with the synthetic stuff, which is quite soft and resists heating up too much in summer.

If the first CX-5 impressed with its understated good looks, the new one goes further by being a very pretty car. Mazda's 'Kodo' design language looks good at just about any size, but this latest evolution puts the CX-5 in genuinely beautiful territory.

The slimmer headlights work well with a longer-looking nose and a body that looks more pulled down over the wheels. Despite bearing more than a passing resemblance to the old car, all the panels are new and that's partly because a shift of the A-pillars of just 35mm was enough to make everything move.

The cabin has come in for a much bigger change. There wasn't a great deal wrong with the old one, but it was feeling a bit old, and some of the materials weren't quite there. As ever, the CX-5's first generation launched into a completely different, rather more sparse segment. With competition from all sides, the new interior had to deliver a more premium feel.

With improved plastics and fittings, a more cohesive design (something simple like consistent fonts go a long, long way to giving that impression) and the sort of detail improvements I've come to expect from Mazda, the new interior is lighter, feels better, and looks better. Job done.

Having said all of that, I can't really recommend the white leather. It looked pretty good with the red exterior and well-judged interior materials, but it's unlikely kids will be kind to it.

The Tucson range has slightly differing cabin storage options but they all share the same headline figures of 488 and 1478 litres of cargo space, the latter figure for luggage capacity with the rear seats folded. There are a couple of underfloor cubby holes in the boot space, too.

Beyond the boot size, they've all got four bottle holders and four cupholders as well as a good-sized centre console bin under the armrest. Beneath the air con/climate controls is a tray that will fit your smartphone without drama and also houses the USB port and two 12 volt outlets (although the Active X has only one 12 volt outlet). All have a 12 volt point in the boot.

In terms of interior dimensions, rear legroom is good for people over 180cm tall as long as the driver doesn't think they're Stirling Moss and have to sit as far back from the steering wheel as their straightened arms will allow. You can thank the 2.65m wheelbase for all that room. Those in the back also get a rare treat - air conditioning vents at floor level and additional knee level ones in the Elite and Highlander.

The Tucson is 4.475m long, 1.85m wide and 1.65m high (with roof rails).

Never a class-leader in the spaciousness department, this CX-5 is still at the rear of the pack, but it hardly seems to matter. Boot space is up by 39 litres to 442 (VDA) with the seats up, tripling to 1342 litres with the seats down. The seatback is split 40/20/40 and you can drop each section individually, which is unusually generous.

The CX-5 has four cupholders (a pair up front and a pair in the rear centre armrest), a tray for your phone, bottle holders in each door and vents for the rear seat. Courtesy of a new higher centre console, the storage bin is deeper and also hides two USB ports.

The new car isn't any bigger, so the rear door aperture is still on the tight side compared to, say, Volkswagen's Tiguan or Hyundai's Tucson. It doesn't seem to bother owners I've spoken to, but it's worth noting. 

Once you're in, there is plenty of leg and headroom for rear passengers, providing the driver or front passenger isn't a Canadian Redwood.

The GT sits towards the top of a typically complex Mazda range that includes front or all-wheel drive, petrol and diesel engines, and a choice of manual gearbox or auto transmission.

Only the fully-loaded Akera is pricier. Kicking off at $44,390 for the petrol auto, the price rises $3000 to $47,390 for the diesel we had over Christmas.

Standard for your money is a 10-speaker Bose-branded stereo with digital radio, 19-inch alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, reversing camera, keyless entry and start, a whopper of a safety package, front and rear parking sensors, cruise control, electric front seats, LED foglights, active automatic LED headlights, sat nav, auto wipers, head-up display, leather trim, electric tailgate, powered and heated folding mirrors, power windows, a sunroof and space saver spare tyre.

Few things are missing in this spec, but the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is frustrating (although not uncommon in the segment). Mazda's 'MZD Connect' multimedia is reasonably good, however, and with 10 speakers and basic-but-useful smartphone integration, you should get by. 

Presumably, the lowish-res 7.0-inch touchscreen is part of the reason Apple and Android aren't along for the ride.

The only option is the gorgeous 'Soul Red' paint finish of our test car, an entirely reasonable $300.

Hyundai provides a choice of petrol and diesel engines but no full gas or petrol/LPG option.

In terms of engine specs, the Active, Active X and Elite FWD are available with the 2.0-litre four-cylinder GDI developing 121kW/203Nm. Pretty handy diesel specs. You've a choice of six-speed manual or automatic of Hyundai design and manufacture, but they're FWD only.

Early versions of the Active and Elite ran the older GDI engine until specifications changed in mid-2016.

Elite and Highlander AWD petrols pack a 1.6 litre turbo four-cylinder producing 130kW/265Nm, driving all four wheels through a seven-speed dual clutch transmission, again a Hyundai design. These are good power and torque specs for this engine size and is related to the Veloster Turbo's powerplant, but much more refined in the Tucson. Just a shame it isn't available in FWD Tucson models, even as an option.

All petrol engines get by with standard 91 RON unleaded and fuel tank capacity across the range is 62 litres.

A startlingly good feature across the entire range is the ride and handling.

The Elite and Highlander CRDi AWDs are powered by Hyundai's R-Series 2.0-litre four cylinder turbo-diesel, producing 136kW and a strong 400Nm, which is channelled to all four wheels via a six speed automatic transmission.

None of these engine and transmission combinations have stop-start technology to reduce consumption, but competitors, like the CX-5 and Tiguan, do.

It would be fun if the AWD system had more of a rear-wheel drive (RWD) feel, but alas, you can't have it all.

Towing capacity ratings are identical from Active to Highlander - 1600kg braked, 750kg unbraked.

The 1.6 and 2.0 petrol engine specs  have an oil capacity of 4.0 litres, the 2.0 diesel 7.6 litres. The specified oil type is mineral, with a 15W/40 rating for both fuel types.

The 2.2-litre 'SkyActiv' diesel is the only turbo in the range, for now at least. Developing 129kW and a very decent 420Nm, it has a portly 1744kg to move. Power reaches the road through all four wheels via a traditional six-speed automatic.

The diesel is also fitted with technology to reduce the clatter reaching the cabin, start-stop tech and Mazda's 'G-Vectoring Control'.

Towing capacity is rated at 1800kg for braked trailers and 750kg unbraked.

CarsGuide's Richard Berry is running a Tucson Active auto with the 2.0 GDI on long-term test and so far it's returning 9.5L/100km against the claimed 7.9L/100km (manual and auto) in a mix of long highway runs (Melbourne to Sydney) and city running. For those who prefer to invert the standard measure to km per litre, that claim is 12.7km/L.

The Active X has the same claimed combined figure of 7.9L/100km. I ran a Tucson Active X automatic for six months and never bettered 10.5L/100km on standard unleaded in a mix of regular 80km/h running, lots of suburban battling and a little freeway work.

Hyundai reckons you'll get 7.7L/100km on the combined cycle with the 1.6-litre turbo GDI, and on our most recent test in a Tucson 30th Anniversary, we got 9.2L/100km, despite a 145kg weight increase over the GDI. Richard also managed 9.1L/100km in an Elite AWD 1.6 turbo.

For the 2.0-litre R-Series turbodiesel, Hyundai claims 6.8L/100km on the combined cycle. CarsGuide's last week long test yielded an impressively close 8.0L/100km, which is pretty good mileage, especially when bashing around town.

The sticker on the windscreen reckons you'll get 6.0L/100km on the combined cycle while exhaling 158g/km of CO2. With a 58-litre tank, that suggests a range just short of 1000km. And you know what? You might be able to do that if you don't spend too much time in traffic.

Mazda's 'i-stop' technology meant that over three weeks, we averaged 7.8L/100km in mostly urban and suburban driving. While that's a bit above the combined figure, it's not far off the urban number, 7.0L/100km.

The Tucson is a good car to live with. Like most Hyundais it is unusually easy to set the right position behind the wheel, with an excellent relationship between the pedals, wheel and the hip-point of the driver's seat. There's tons of adjustment to ensure you hit the spot.

Vision is good in almost all directions, apart from over the shoulder on the driver's side where the closing glass line tightens up. It's not an especially high car but feels high enough that you're above the traffic.

Although this isn't specifically an offroad review, ground clearance is 182mm with nothing on-board and you could almost u-turn in a normal suburban street with a turning radius of 10.6 metres.

A startlingly good feature across the entire range is the ride and handling.

Like Mazda, Hyundai has punted on buyers liking a multi-link rear rear suspension. It means a better balanced chassis (when done right) but more importantly, impressive ride compared to a couple of the segment's other cars which have cheaper, more compact torsion beam rear ends.

Multi-link-equipped cars cost more, but it's worth it. Australian Tucsons have individual spring and damper settings from Hyundai's very own local suspension tuning team.

Each Tucson has its own distinct driving character according to engine and transmission combination.

The only bugbear with the FWD cars is an over-enthusiastic propensity to centre the steering wheel if you give it a little too much throttle exiting a corner.

Each Tucson has its own distinct driving character according to engine and transmission combination.

The Active and Active X are roughly the same from behind the wheel, with just nuanced differences to do with the different wheel sizes. In both cases the six-speed automatic is a good choice, with a finely-judged shift quality and the ability to work out what you're up to. As it's only FWD, it's not an off-roader, although the curious inclusion of hill descent control suggests it might be. Then again, on the supplied tyres, perhaps not.

The GDI motor is quiet unless provoked to the redline and returns fair fuel economy around town, lacking as they are in stop-start or energy recovery. In fact, no Tucson features stop-start, the only real glaring spec omission. Performance figures aren't particularly quick, the GDI managing a 0-100km/h time of 10.2 seconds.

Moving up the range, and with the addition of a 1.6-litre turbo petrol and seven-speed dual clutch transmission, are the Elite and Highlander AWD models. The 1.6 turbo is very much at home in the Tucson, with a small bump in power from the Active X's 121kW to 130kW but a 20 per cent jump in torque to 265Nm. While the front drivers are the best handlers, the turbo 1.6-powered cars have the best engine.

It's a smooth, happy unit, hauling the Tucson around with vigour. The dual-clutch transmission isn't perfect, with hesitation at low speeds and a frustrating inability to quickly shift from D to R to D when you're in a hurried three-point-turn manoeuvre.

Apart from that little drama, this combination does turn the Tucson into a more relaxed car in traffic as that nice stream of accessible torque means fewer revs needed to make things happen and it's less sensitive to heavy loads.

The turbo petrol cars also very effectively mask the weight increase of around 145kg over the FWD models, with stronger acceleration from step off and in the gears. Four fatter tyres handle getting the power to the road and all the good bits of the Active X's ride and handling are transferred to AWD petrols, meaning a good change of direction and best-in-class ride.

The final combination is the AWD 2.0-litre turbo diesel found in the Elite and Highlander diesels. Reverting back to the six-speed automatic found in the naturally aspirated front drivers, the diesel is a very strong performer and, like the petrol 1.6, is a relaxed car in daily driving.

Only the CX-5 matches the Tucson for handling but it can't touch it for overall ride quality or road noise levels.

It is almost 200kg heavier than the Active and Active X, but the 400Nm of torque - almost double - means you can load up and still get around swiftly. Performance figures from 0-100km/h are similar to the 1.6 petrol (just over nine seconds for the diesel, and a tick under for the petrol) but in the gears acceleration is mighty. The diesel is the one for towing.

As in the petrol, the CRDis have plenty of grip on loose or wet surfaces and handle well in the dry, with good steering and a keen change of direction for a mid-size SUV, especially consi dering the further weight gain of the diesel engine. The diesel only comes with 4 wheel drive and any of the all-wheel drivers will tackle moderate off-road challenges.

Only the CX-5 matches the Tucson for handling but it can't touch it for overall ride quality or road noise levels, despite a similar rear suspension set-up. The Tucson is also exceptionally quiet for a car in this class, especially for front seat passengers.

Rear seat passengers enjoy a good ride, although the middle seat is quite firm for backsides of any size.

The CX-5 has always been at or near the top of the medium SUV heap when it comes to the drive. The same couldn't be said for overall refinement. The old car suffered quite a bit from a classic (and fading) Mazda fault - cabin noise. The front suspension was the worst offender, with every bump, thunk and pop reaching your ears, along with tyre roar. 

It wasn't insurmountable - you could just turn up the stereo - but around town you got used to a cacophony of noise.

The new CX-5 - as with most major updates - has changed all that. While the underbits have barely changed (testament to the popularity of the car and the quality of its fundamentals), every spare gap has been filled with noise deadening materials, there's more carpet and just more stuff to reduce the racket. While it's not exactly silent, it's not far off the Tiguan, which is arguably the class benchmark.

As before, it's a lovely thing to drive. Easy-going but accurate steering, a firm but compliant ride (this car is not intended for off-roading) and a responsive transmission all combine to make life very relaxed behind the wheel.

The star of this car is the 2.2 diesel. Quiet, smooth and distinctly un-diesel in its aural character (inside at least), it makes the CX-5 a proper all-rounder. It cruises at speed in sixth, overtakes with just a little bit of toe pressure and is quite frugal, coming reasonably close to matching its claimed figures. Around town there is little lag to deal with and the power comes on nice and smooth.

The only complaint we had was that the blind spot monitor is perhaps a little over-enthusiastic, seemingly beeping every time we used the indicator to change lanes.

To achieve a five star ANCAP safety rating, Mazda fits six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, reversing camera, blind spot monitoring, reverse cross traffic alert, front and rear auto emergency braking (AEB) and speed sign recognition (which is easily fooled by, a) school zone signs, and, b) the appalling sign placements on Sydney's South Dowling Street).

Further to that package is a pair of ISOFIX points and three top-tether anchors.

The CX-5 earned its five star rating in September 2017. If you want lane keep assist and active cruise, you'll have to step up to the Akera.

Hyundai offers a fairly comprehensive after-sales agreement which starts with a five-year/unlimited km warranty and roadside assist for the duration, extendible to 10 years.

Hyundai provides capped-price servicing for the lifetime of the car, with the website listing every service up to 34 years/510,000km. Without wishing to be rude, it's unlikely it'll last that many years, but would probably survive that many kays in a shorter time period.

Service intervals and pricing differ depending on the engine and transmission.

According to the owners manual, the 2.0-litre in both MPI and GDI forms will bring you into a dealer every twelve months or 15,000km.

Service costs appear to be $269 until four years/60,000 when it jumps to $399 with subsequent services ranging from $269 to $480 up to 10 years/150,000km. After 15 years (!) an additional service level is available called 'iCare Essentials Plus' which is more rigorous and costs more if you so choose.

Most owners are pleased with the value of the car, the standard features and if there was a problem or complaint with their vehicle, it was quickly resolved.

For the 1.6-litre turbo, most services appear to be either $189 or $289 with the odd jump to $399 and $475 at the major 120,000km service. Hyundai wants to see you more often with this engine, every six months or 7500km, so it is more expensive to service.

The diesel bounces back to the 12 months/15,000km pattern of the 2.0 petrols, with services running at $379 until four years/60,000km when it spikes to $499. After that, expect to pay between $379 and $695 (eight years/120,000km).

All available engines make use of a timing chain rather than a timing belt, so there won't be any surprise replacement costs unless something goes very horribly wrong.

Resale value seems to be going okay for private sales. A 2015 Active X Auto sold for $32,990 and can fetch $23,200-$25,700 privately (70-78 percent). Dealer trades are less strong at between $18,900 and $21,400 (57 and 65 percent). It's still early days for the current Tucson, though.

The reliability rating of the Tucson seems good, with a dip into the usual forums here and overseas to explore common faults or issues yielding nothing concerning or widespread. In those same forums, most owners are pleased with the value of the car, the standard features and if there was a problem or complaint with their vehicle, it was quickly resolved.

There are no signs of automatic transmission problems but the dual clutch had a short-lived problem in the US that was fixed with a software flash for affected users and fixed in production. Australian-delivered cars were not recalled or mentioned as being affected.

There appear to be no turbo problems or clutch problems either.

Mazda's three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty is part of the CX-5 package, along with capped price servicing. Roadside assist is offered at $68.10 per year.

Your dealer will expect to see you every six months or 10,000km and will charge you between $317 on three of the five scheduled services, $387 for the second and $359 for the fourth. Extra items include $69 for the cabin air filter (every 40,000km) and $64 for brake fluid every 40,000km or two years.