Remember the boldly styled Tucson Sport derivative Hyundai Automotive SA added to its range back in June? Well, now the local arm of the Korean brand has given its range-topping Tucson derivative the same treatment, and that means the styling package and power upgrade is finally available with all-wheel drive and a dual-clutch transmission.
While the Tucson 1,6 TGDI Executive Sport makes do with front-wheel drive and a six-speed manual, the latest addition has power sent to all four corners via a twin-clutch gearbox. But the Tucson 1,6 TGDI Elite Sport AWD includes the same extravagant body kit, unique black 19-inch alloys and aggressive quad-tailpipes as the original.
The price? R599 900, which is some R100 000 more than the existing Sport derivative and R65 000 more than the Elite variant on which the newcomer is based.
Stanley Anderson, sales and operations director of Hyundai Automotive SA, said customer feedback had indicated that there was a “definite appetite” for the bold styling of the Sport model.
“We have sold more than 50 Tucson 1,6 TGDI Executive Sport models in July, within little more than a month after its launch. These figures vindicated our decision to offer a derivative with sporty overtones and a body kit that made the good-looking Tucson even more attractive,” said Anderson.
“Some of our customers requested this same body kit and engine power upgrade to be applied to our top-of-range Tucson 1,6 TGDI Elite AWD derivative with its dual-clutch transmission. It convinced us to add another Tucson Sport derivative to our range,” he said.
Urge again comes from a turbocharged 1,6-litre petrol engine worth 150 kW and 295 N.m (an extra 20 kW and 30 N.m over standard, courtesy of an ECU remap). The new variant features the same seven-year/200 000 km warranty and five-year/90 000 km service plan (with intervals of 15 000 km) as the rest of the range.
