Hyundai Tucson wears the N Line badge with swagger

The Citizen Motoring really likes the Hyundai Tucson.

It’s a well put together offering that looks good and drives well. It offers loads of spec at the price and has been given the N Line treatment. It retails for R799 900, which is better than most its rivals. Story over. Job done.

But it’s not quite that simple. Although this is not an in-depth comparison versus all the rivals of the Tucson, and there are many including the cheaper havoc causing Haval and Chery Chinese offerings, I do need to tell you what N Line means. And if the R35 000 price premium over the Elite model is worth the spend.

In the styling department the unmistakable parametric jewels upfront sit on a grille, alongside an N Line badge, that is longer and wider than on the other Tucson derivatives. It’s in the details where these same jewels have been elaborated with edges, creating additional reflections depending on the angle.

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Sporty Hyundai Tucson

Under the sparkly grille sits a rectangular-shaped bumper and a refined air intake. This is taller and bigger than on the standard Tucson for a sportier look.

The new bumper treatment is carried over to the rear. Both offer a bright silver skid plate. The lower part of the bumper offers fins, a red reflector band, diffusor and twin exhaust tips that promise added performance.

The sides feature mouldings in body colour with a thing called daylight opening in glossy black, Phantom Black side mirrors and 19-inch N Line specific alloy wheels riding under body colour wheel arches.

The N Line treatment carries over to the interior, with N-branded sporty seats with black suede and leather seat coverings and red stitching.

Red stitching is woven on the door trim and armrest, while the grey cloth crash pad is garnished with red accents. A dedicated steering wheel comes complete with an N logo as does the leather gear shift knob. A black headliner and metal foot pedals and doorstep inserts complete the sporty N look.

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Proved diesel power

But not all the changes are cosmetic. Ticking the N Line box means this Hyundai Tucson offers a retuned electric power steering, adjusted suspension settings, riding on springs that are 5% firmer in the front and 8% in the rear. This is done to add a bit more of a direct and sportier feel to the steering and drive. I liked what it did, in sharpening up this family SUV.

Now, if you were expecting more oomph from those twin exhaust tips, then you are going to feel a little short-changed. But to be honest, the tried and tested 2.0-litre turbodiesel on offer with 137 kW of power and 416 Nm of torque on tap does more than an acceptable job of keeping you on the move.

It has a claimed top speed of 201 km/h and the 0 to 100 km/h sprint time is 9.4 seconds. Nothing wrong with these numbers and averaging under 7.0 litres per 100 km in terms of fuel consumption during the test week, is probably the best number of the lot.

Driving modes

Where you will become impressed again is with the fact the Tucson N Line comes with Hyundai’s easy shifting eight-speed automatic and HTRAC All-Wheel Drive (AWD) system. This is a multi-mode system and provides an electronic, variable torque-split clutch with active torque control between the front and rear axles.

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You can select from Normal, Eco, Sport and Smart drive modes along with Terrain Mode that the HTRAC AWD brings to the driving experience with three further settings; Snow, Mud and Sand. I cannot begin to claim how great they are as just like so many others, I didn’t go anywhere near off-road. But I have no doubt they will do exactly as promised when required.

Is it worth the R35 000 price premium over the Elite model? All day, every day.

The Hyundai Tucson N Line comes standard with a seven-year/200 000 km warranty and a six-year/90 000 km service.