Get Me Dirty

With the addition of all-wheel drive, the Tucson becomes even more capable than before. The question is, will you ever use this enhanced capability?

- Ishan Raghava

One of the strange anomalies that we see these days is the addition of all-wheel drive in premium SUVs simply to make the vehicle’s owner feel better. You see, most customers that I’ve interacted with over the years openly accept that their SUV’s almost never go off the pavement – let alone being used for off-roading. Sure, offroading as a weekend activity is gaining ground, but those vehicles are decidedly more basic and far more hardcore.

I suppose, then, that in a fiercely competitive market, most manufacturers offer all or four-wheel drive functionality more as a game of one-upmanship and, in many cases, simply to keep up with the competition. And, for some customers, it’s a reassuring feeling of knowing that their vehicle has off-road capability – even if they never use it. Which brings me to the Tucson, as Hyundai has recently introduced an all-wheel-drive variant. 

Road biased