Video: 2025 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid Review: Is It Better Than the Toyota RAV4?

Now, it's been refreshed for 2025, has some different exterior styling, interior designs, and it really did well on the features front and did well in our value scoring. I think probably Hyundai still has the best multimedia system out of any modern automaker, quite frankly, in terms of its clarity, usability, the size of the screen, how easy it is to actually get done what you want to get done. Just, it's a really simple, easy-to-use system, and that extends to a lot of the different features in the car. It has my favorite safety feature in the entire test. It's the blind spot view monitor. You turn on the turn signal, and a little view pops up in the gauge cluster. See what's in your blind spot, and it corresponds to the side you're activating the turn signal on, which is really nice for setting in your mind what side of the car you're looking at. It really adds to the confidence when you're driving, especially in the city. Yeah, that was a unique feature in the test. It also had multi-level heated steering wheel, so kind of a low and high setting, which was another unique feature. And also a great warranty, which helped it in the value scoring too. And we also liked its in-cabin storage solutions too, for space for stuff in the front of the vehicle. And it did well in our cargo testing too, with the biggest cargo space. The cockpit is very open. Hyundai has moved to a column-mounted gear selector, which really helps open up the center console area, and there's a lot of large item storage. It's very easily accessible. It's just a great package. It used to be Honda's strength, and now it's Hyundai's. And for being such a swoopy-style vehicle, I mean, it is pretty slippery looking, to have as much cargo space as it does really is kind of a testament to the packaging that Hyundai has really worked on for the Tucson. Yeah, and while it had a lot of space for stuff, it wasn't that comfortable for people, which that really hurt it. It lost in front seat comfort. Yeah, this is the area where I was actually most surprised about. Because a lot of other Hyundai products are fantastic in terms of their usability and their comfort. The Tucson felt like I was sitting on top of the Tucson instead of in it. Everything is so far away from you and low. I mean, the climate controls are by your knees. You're looking down into the gauges. Yeah, you've got some decent visibility, but my head was hitting the headliner in that thing. That's not something I expect in a vehicle like this. It just was not comfortable up front. Yeah, and to add to your point about sitting on top of it, the seats themselves, to me, felt just overly firm, like I was sitting literally on top of the seat rather than in the seat. One of the other things that came through too is the steering wheel had a tendency at times to block the gauge cluster display behind it. I mean, we've seen that in other vehicles that have moved to these digital displays and not shifted to kind of a squared-off steering wheel. Hyundai hasn't yet, and that was kind of an issue at times. Another thing that came through was touch-sensitive controls. What'd you guys think of that? I don't know how many times we really have to say this, but I'm gonna say it. I'm gonna say it directly into that camera for any automakers that are watching: stop going to touch-sensitive climate controls. Nobody likes them, they don't work very well, and you need to stop. All right, I think that... Despite those touch-sensitive controls, the Tucson Hybrid did well in our vehicle user interface scoring. And it also did well in our objective tests, leading the pack in many of them. But it lagged the group in the areas our judges rated it on, where it scored only better than the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid in these areas. Poor ergonomics, a lack of driver comfort, a loss in ride quality, and some questionable controls hold it back. To see the full results of our comparison test, visit cars.com/news.