Experiencing theater in Detroit with the 2017 Hyundai Tucson Night AWD #DriveHyundai
Over the past week, I had the pleasure of trying out the 2017 Hyundai Tucson Night AWD. This is the "night" edition because it's completely black (check out those rims!). I had never driven a Hyundai before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but the Tucson is very easy to operate.
This may be a small thing, but I love when I can push a button on the key fob and the trunk automatically opens, which is a feature the Tucson has. This is also super convenient if you have lots of bundles (groceries, shopping purchases, etc.). It's also a push-start car, which most 2017/2018 cars seem to be nowadays.
The interior was very comfortable. While the car doesn't have navigation, it does have a touch-screen, as well as buttons on the steering wheel to control the radio. The model I drove also had Sirius XM satellite radio, which was a fun feature.
I had a lot of driving to do this past week—I drove from Clawson to Walled Lake (about a 35-45 minute drive) for Thanksgiving, and then last Saturday, my family and I saw The Wizard of Oz at the Fox Theatre, downtown. The Hyundai transported all three of us there comfortably.
I also saw another show, An American in Paris, this past Wednesday, and the Tucson got my friend and I to and from Detroit with no issues.
In between my show-going, I also did some "Black Thursday" shopping (night of Thanksgiving) and used it to get around the Novi/Walled Lake area.
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| Perks of having parents who live by a lake - beautiful scenery! |
Some of the features I liked most about the car was the amount of space/how comfortable it was, how it handled (it was very fun to drive), and—hard to forget—the heated seats. My personal vehicle does not have heated seats, so I definitely took advantage of that during some of the cold nights we've been having here in Michigan. The hand-stitching on the steering wheel is a very nice feature, too.
There's also a safety feature that the car has that's very useful: if you put on your blinker and try to switch lanes, but there's a car in your blind spot, the car will beep at you. Same for if you are trying to back up (which, I'll admit, happened to me a few times while leaving work).
There's another feature too where a light will show up on your side mirrors if there's someone in your blind spot (aka the lane next to you). You do have to push a button close to the driver's side door to activate this, which I figured out later. All of these features no doubt contributed to the Tucson's 5-star safety rating.
The vehicle can seat up to 5 people, and you can also fold down the backseat if you want more cargo space. I found the cargo space to be more than ample, though: I was able to transport a full-sized chair back to my house from my parents' (yay for having more seating in my living room!). Another time, my dad and I went for groceries and we were able to comfortably fit quite a few bags in the cargo area.
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| Packing light for the holidays! |
There's also a lot of room in between the driver and front passenger's seat, which I liked, to keep keys and other things—some cars only have cupholders and that's it.
And I almost forgot to mention—don't forget to sync your phone to the audio system, so you can play music over Bluetooth (I listened to some Taylor Swift, as you can see here). The car also has a very large sunroof, which would be great to use once the weather warms up.
The car is priced at $30,220, which to me is a reasonable price for what I'd consider a mid-sized SUV. This version was also the Sport version, which can be turned on with the push of a button.
The only negatives I can find with the car is that there's no navigation—I used Google Maps on my phone instead, which wasn't a big deal—and that the gas mileage is not fantastic. You'll get 25 miles per gallon average, with 24 mpg city and 28 mpg highway, with it.
Overall, though, this was a very fun vehicle to drive. It's also one that's within my price range, for the next time I purchase a car.
I definitely was a bit sad when I had to give the keys back to the Hyundai Tucson Night! I'll miss you, heated seats.
