Hyundai Malaysia has just previewed the 2023 Hyundai Tucson with a new 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engine and a 1.6T Max variant at the Premium Auto Car Expo 2023. The new variant serves as the new top-of-the-line offering for the 5-seater crossover.

Thanks to our colleagues from Wapcar, we got a quick preview of what the new top-spec model offers and how it can be a game changer if Hyundai Philippines were to bring it in. If you are familiar with what the 5-seater crossover currently provides in the Philippine market, you have a choice of two variants: one equipped with a naturally aspirated gasoline engine and the other has a 2.0-liter turbodiesel motor. 

However, for the Malaysian market, it is equipped with either a 2.0-liter gasoline engine or a 1.6-liter turbocharged motor, which could be a game changer if it entered the local market.

More power

While the specifications of the Tucson for the Malaysian market are similar to what we have locally available, it's the 1.6-liter motor that has us intrigued as it produces 180 PS and 265 Nm of torque and is mated to a 7-speed DCT. It has 24 PS and 73 Nm more than its naturally aspirated counterpart, making it an ideal choice for the Philippine market, bringing its power figures closer to the 2.0-liter turbodiesel. 

Better safety technology

That's not all, as the 1.6T Max variant has the full suite of Hyundai SmartSense advanced driver assist safety systems, which includes: 

• Smart Cruise Control (SCC) with Stop & Go
• Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA)
• Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist – Junction (FCA-JT)
• Lane Keeping Assist (LKA)
• Lane Following Assist (LFA)
• High Beam Assist (HBA)
• Blind-spot collision-avoidance Assist (BCA)

Aside from this, it also gets ventilated seats, a fully digital 10.25-inch instrument cluster, dual-zone automatic climate controls, a power liftgate, and a wireless charger. These units are also sourced from South Korea, making them all the more appealing if they were to enter the Philippine market.