2025 Hyundai Tucson Review: Surprisingly Lovable Comfort

I just had to say goodbye to an air fryer. It was one of those air fryer/toaster combos and I had it for years. It was a dependable little workhorse that made countless pieces of toast and frozen waffles for my kids and reheated just as many of my prepped lunches. I was sad when it died rather spectacularly, as one of its heated coils caught fire mid-use. At least it went out like a warrior. My point is that sometimes appliances, no matter how mundane, can be lovable. And I imagine that’s what the 2025 Hyundai Tucson will be for many people.

The Hyundai Tucson is made for those who want their car to be an appliance like my gone but not forgotten air fryer. They want something that’ll reliably and comfortably do its job. The Tucson is that appliance. It’s boring as all hell to drive but that’s sort of the point. It fades into the background, never requiring a second thought, while always doing what it needs to and doing it well.

For 2025, the Tucson adopts Hyundai’s new interior design language, which makes it look and feel far more upscale than ever before. It also adds the same sort of tech you’ll find in more expensive models, like the new Santa Fe. So while the Tucson is still one of Hyunadi’s cheaper crossovers, it no longer feels like it. More importantly, Hyundai upped its ride quality game to help it stand out in the highly competitive crowd. 

The Basics

When you’re taking on well-established, popular cars like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, you better bring your A-game. And while the Hyundai Tucson was always a fine transportation appliance, it never really had something specific to hang its hat on. Now it does. Thanks to Hyundai’s new interior design, snazzy tech, and improved ride quality, it’s become the luxury car of the group.

From the outside, you probably wouldn’t know anything is different about the Tucson for 2025, but it indeed did get a facelift. The front grille is apparently new, as are the lower fascias and wheels, and the rear wiper is now 75 mm longer than before (!) but to casual eyes, the changes are pretty subtle. It still has a big checkerboard grille, stacked headlights, and so many lines, angles, and shapes in its body that it looks like the inside of a kaleidoscope. In my eyes, definitely one of the weaker-looking cars in the segment, especially in contrast to the handsome new CR-V and RAV4. However, I can see why some customers might enjoy its bizarre, bold styling. 

It does an about-face inside, though. Despite the edgy, youthful exterior styling, the new Tucson is handsome, mature, and refined inside. The thin three-spoke steering wheel is simple and elegant, the new, massive dual-12.3-inch curved screen setup feels high-tech, and the cantilevered armrest gives the center console an open, airy feel. Like the new Santa Fe, the armrest features a wireless charging tray with a nice rubber mat. Unfortunately, the latter is only available on the top-end Limited trim. Others ditch that armrest for a normal one and also get a tall mechanical shifter, rather than the Limited’s steering column shifter. So you get more space and practicality with the Limited but it shouldn’t be a dealbreaker for most customers.

The infotainment system is sharp and works quickly, and the climate controls are a nice mix of touch and physical switches. It feels much more upscale than any other Tucson before it and belies its relatively low price tag. 

Driving the Hyundai Tucson

Where the Tucson shows its budget car roots is under its hood. Unless you spec the hybrid model, you get a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. And… it’s an engine. With 187 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque, it moves the Tucson well enough but never does so with any enthusiasm. Unfortunately, it doesn’t reward that lack of enthusiasm with fuel efficiency, averaging around 26 mpg. While that’s about on par with its rivals, when an engine is this uninspiring to use, I hope for impressive efficiency to make up for it. Thankfully, it’s decently smooth but this is the best example of why cars without interesting engines should be electric. This Tucson would make a great EV. 

Let’s be real, tough. Few customers will ever notice its underwhelming powertrain. I drive far too many gutless crossovers with coarse, unrefined engines. They’re everywhere. Customers wouldn’t be buying these things by the shipload if that bothered them. Instead, what they care about is a quiet, tech-filled cabin and a comfy ride. And that’s exactly what the Tucson delivers.

I’ve complained about Hyundai ride quality for years, as they always feel too choppy. With the Tucson, however, it went almost too far the other way. The Tucson is downright soft and cushiony, to the point of feeling floaty. Don’t expect to take turns quickly, as the body roll will cause passenger nausea. Instead, calm, smooth driving is rewarded by a pillowy ride that will make everyone inside feel at ease. It’s also quiet, even at high speed. So despite its budget-car roots, the Tucson feels almost like a luxury car when you drive it as intended.

There’s a downside to its pseudo-luxury ride quality, though. It doesn’t much like highway driving. That soft suspension gets floaty at speed, making it feel ponderous and it struggles to track straight, requiring near-constant minor steering corrections. It isn’t horrible but what the Tucson likes instead is chill, around-town driving. It’s the appliance that will take you where you need to go without fuss, in comfort, and with enough tech to keep even the savviest owners satisfied, as long as you don’t push it too hard.

The Highs and Lows

Almost all of the Tucson’s high points are found inside. I really dig a lot of Hyundai’s new interior design touches. While the wireless charging pad seems like a trivial thing, I really like its placement here. I also really like the climate controls: they’re simple, have physical knobs, and the touch buttons are sensibly placed. No touchscreen nonsense here. The seats are comfy, too, and the build quality generally feels above average for its price point. 

The interior isn’t perfect, though. Rear seat space isn’t amazing, and its digital gauges look cartoony and cheap (style is subjective, though, so maybe you like ‘em). But the biggest issue is the boring engine that doesn’t even impress at the pump.

Hyundai Tucson Features, Options, and Competition

As you might expect from a budget crossover that starts at $30,000 on the nose, the base model Tucson isn’t as well-equipped as the loaded model you see here. However, that doesn’t mean its cupboard is bare. The base 2025 Tucson comes with the big 12.3-inch touchscreen as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 17-inch alloy wheels, blind-spot monitors, adaptive cruise control, and LED headlights. So even if you get the cheapest Tucson you can find, you won’t be left wanting for much.

Having said that, if you do splurge, you’ll be treated to many more goodies. The fully loaded Tucson Limited tester came with a panoramic sunroof, leather seats, a hands-free power tailgate, Bose speakers, heated and ventilated front seats, and the aforementioned upgraded center console. In Limited spec, it’s a lovely car to be in. And at $41,870 as-tested, it seems like a good value.

You can get snazzy interiors from its competition for similar money, like the CR-V and RAV4, but there’s something more mature and premium looking about the Tucson’s. I don’t want to say it’s better built or has higher-quality materials, but its design looks more upmarket and it comes with a few cool features the others don’t. For example, Hyundai’s signature turn signal camera system shows you a live view of what’s in your blind spots in your gauge cluster when either blinker is on. Or the chime alerting you when the car in front pulls away from a stop while you’re busy handing a kid in the backseat the toy they dropped. Little things like that make the Tucson feel more expensive and high-tech than its competitors.

Fuel Economy

The Tucson is pretty middle-of-the-road in terms of efficiency. With 25 mpg city, 33 mpg highway, and 26 mpg combined, it’s just OK. This isn’t a huge problem in context, considering the Honda CR-V gets basically the same numbers and the Toyota RAV4 is only slightly better. But I do wish it was better at the pump, given how boring it is to drive. Since it’s such a calm, smooth car, you never end up driving it hard. And yet it doesn’t reward that calm driving with impressive fuel economy.

If sipping fuel is your main priority, though, Hyundai does offer the Tucson with a hybrid powertrain that pairs an electric motor to a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine, not only giving it a lot more power (231 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque) but also better fuel economy. The Tucson Hybrid returns 35 mpg city, 35 mpg highway, and—you guessed it—35 mpg combined. 

Value and Verdict

The Tucson is priced competitively, within a few thousand bucks of every other car in the segment. But it shines when you take into account what you get for that money. There’s a lot of interesting tech inside the Tucson Limited and it stands out as a quiet, comfortable crossover that feels more like a budget luxury car than a loaded economy car. When you look at it that way, and consider how many options and features you get, $41,870 feels like good value.

Small, affordable crossovers are everywhere, so it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. Hyundai does that with the Tucson with edgy styling and a surprisingly high-quality cabin and comfy ride that proves it has the substance to back up its style. The majority of crossover customers want something comfy, quiet, and tech-forward. Few cars in this price point meet those demands like the 2025 Hyundai Tucson. Like my Valhalla-bound air fryer, it isn’t interesting or exciting. But you can always rely on it to get the job done. 

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