NY TIMES: Critiques 2005 Cousins Sportage & Tucson

www.nytimes.com

copyrighted by the new york times 2005

....I would be remiss if I did not mention that the Sportage has a
doppelgänger in the new 2005 Hyundai Tucson. According to Hyundai,
this is exactly the same vehicle from a mechanical standpoint, though
with distinct styling. To my eyes, the Tucson's exterior looks as if
Hyundai went to great lengths to create the most utterly generic design
possible. Inside, the look is more conservative than the Kia's as well.


While I was less impressed with the Tucson, the one I tested was a
front-drive model. Make of this apples-to-oranges comparison what you
will.

The Tucson is an entirely adequate vehicle, if a bit less interesting
than its Kia cousin. The same thing could be said for nearly all the
car-based compact S.U.V.'s on the market. As a class, their
similarities are greater than their differences - I could just as
easily stick with recommending the tried-and-true CR-V as make a case
for the Equinox.

Really, I'd rather go back to talking to my friends about sports cars.
But since Kia predicts that the market for compact S.U.V.'s will double
within a year, I don't see that happening. I suppose I can expect to
continue answering the question until everyone I meet owns a small
S.U.V. For the time being, I'll tell them that the Kia Sportage is the
vehicle that's come closest to awakening my desire to drive one - and
hope that yearning remains dormant.

INSIDE TRACK: An answer to the question everyone is asking.


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The entire article, mostly about the Kia Sportage, which is said to be
mechanically the same as the Hyundai Tucson, is available at the
<nytimes.com> free registration for marketing cookie website

 

I find it amazing that the Sportage is a very dangerous car. I have
witnessed 6 of them that do 360's getting on a freeway into the
guardrail & one chick hit an 18 wheeler headon when she spun the other
way & she was in bad shape..........

So if a Tucson is the same, then I stick with my Santa Fe which I feel
extremely safe in including guys trying to carjack it...........

 

<<my Santa Fe which I feel extremely safe in including guys trying to
carjack it...........>>

It seems like they could just shoot you through the side window. Why do
you feel "extremely safe"?

John Cowart

 

And thats somehow the sportage's fault? Cars don't magically lose their
forward direction without being influenced. RWD vehicles with bald
tires tend to lose direction easily under hard acceleration.

The new Tucson/Sportage is about as closely related to the
pre-redesigned Sportage as your Santa Fe is.

Old sportage was (primarally) RWD, built on top of a chassis onpar with
your average compact pickup truck - therefore a 'real SUV'. If all you
want is a top heavy station wagon with noisy tires, the Santa
Fe/Tucson/Sportage is fine.

And yes, we own *two* XG wagons, errr, Santa Fe's... I just don't
attempt to fool myself into thinking they're something otherwise.

JS

1992 Explorer XLT 2WD/4.0/Auto
1999 Dodge Ram 1500 CC/SWB/2WD/5.2/5 speed
2000 Nissan Frontier 2.4/5spd/2wd - RIP, totaled
2001 Santa Fe GLS 2.7/FWD
2003.0 Santa Fe LX 2.7/FWD

 

Anyone would be nuts to believe one thing the NYT puts in print. The Times
is a totally unbelievable anti-American rag.


I find it amazing that the Sportage is a very dangerous car. I have
witnessed 6 of them that do 360's getting on a freeway into the
guardrail & one chick hit an 18 wheeler headon when she spun the other
way & she was in bad shape..........

So if a Tucson is the same, then I stick with my Santa Fe which I feel
extremely safe in including guys trying to carjack it...........

 

Ah, something in the Times about a KOREAN auto makes it 'anti-American.
This was written by an automotive writer from Detroit if I 'member correctly.

Let me guess, to you anything not from an extreme right fascist viewpoint is
either liberal , unpatriotic or anti-American........

I recognize this type of thinking, I was having a discussion with a
sister-in-law
about abortion and I was labeled for taking 'completely opposite' beliefs as
she held ..................when I patiently explained that NO the 'completely
opposite'
belief as her would be that I believed that ALL woman that got pregnant
should be forced to have an abortion her eyes glazed over , way too much
thought process involved for her to deal with.

Michael

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of
the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are
being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and
exposing the country to danger." -- Hermann Goering

 

You should, you obviously have the same kind of thinking
except from the other side of the isle. This person has the
right to have any opinion about anything and not be CORRECTED
by you. That is American. In my opinion, the NY Times is very
Liberal and has an agenda. I am not extreme right wing.

As Bill O'Reily says, "What say you?"