Five-Point Inspection: 2014 Hyundai Tucson Manual
It’s a fact: the manual transmission is on its deathbed. Long absent from most family vehicles, one the last bastions of the manual transmission are compact crossovers. These however are becoming harder and harder to find. Most mainstream manufacturers in America have abandoned offering a stick-shift in compact CUVs and only minor players in the segment, like Jeep, Mazda, Subaru and Volkswagen, still allow owners to row their own gears.
If the manual transmission is in critical condition in the USA, it is merely in serious condition in Canada. More vehicles in a greater number of trims are available with a manual transmission in Canada. Want any level Mazda6 with a stick north of the border? No problem. Want a Nissan Versa Note SL with a manual? It’s yours.
See Also: 2014 Hyundai Tucson Review
There are two other crossovers still offered in Canada with a manual transmission that are strictly automatic-only in the U.S: the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson. Curious as to whether or not Americans are missing out, we headed to Hyundai Canada to sample a 2014 Tucson equipped with the six-speed manual. Here is our five-point guide to the stick-shift crossover.
The Canadian automotive market is a small-time global player, being smaller in population than California. With limited resources and development costs available for Canadian specific trim and content packages, it is no surprise that the manual transmission Tucson that Hyundai offers in Canada comes in a single trim.
Called the GL, this Tucson is positioned below the GLS in Canada. Compared to the American GLS trim, the Canadian Tucson GL is missing body colored side mirrors, rear privacy glass, body colored door handles, XM satellite radio and alloy wheels. The latter is replaced by steel wheels wearing the same 225/60R17 tires as the GLS.
As the absolute base model, the manual-equipped Tucson is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 164 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque. Only offered with front-wheel drive, the 3,145-lb crossover is lighter than the 3,232-lb automatic-equipped front-wheel drive GLS Tucson.
See Also: 2014 Hyundai Tucson Video, First Look
So this should make it faster right? Well, not exactly. Like a bear cub emerging from its cave for the first time, engaging any gear produces an initial burst of excitement followed by reluctant hesitation. The engine feels like it’s programed to bog down momentarily before full power resumes. It doesn’t matter which gear, at what rpm or at what speed, the Tucson is never makes full power right off the bat. Our suspicion is that this is a fail-safe device to protect the engine, transmission, clutch or all three. With power output low to begin with, the bogging situation makes it near impossible to leave from a dead stop with any enthusiasm.
As is the trend lately, the manual transmission option comes with a fuel penalty. The six-speed stick-shift is rated 4.3 percent less efficient in the city and 8.8 percent worse on the highway compared to the six-speed automatic. Part of this may have to do with the transmission spinning at a high 3,100 rpm when cruising at 75 mph in sixth gear. During our week with the vehicle we averaged an even 25 mpg in the heart of winter.
Canadian and American trim packages do not match-up for most manufacturers and Hyundai is no exception. In Canada the Tucson can be had in GL, GLS and Limited. In the USA, the Tucson is available as a GLS, SE and Limited. Although the two Limited trims are similar in content, the GLS trims are not. The Canadian GLS trim comes equipped with the larger 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and slots in price/content wise between the American GLS and SE trims.
With trims not matching each other from one country to another, it is hard to make a direct price comparison. In Canada the base GL garners a price of $21,499 before destination charges which is $2,250 cheaper than the automatic GL and $5,400 less than the automatic GLS. If such a vehicle as the manual-transmission Tucson GL were offered in the USA, we’d expect a starting price below $20,000 before destination charges.
Aside from the peculiar engine hesitation, the rest of the Tucson is a solid compact crossover. The engine is smooth and quiet in operation. The suspension is a good blend of comfort without being tippy and the brakes are as predictable as a crossover owner could want. Changing gears manually combined with the high seating position that lets you imagine for a moment that you are piloting a rugged 4×4 truck, which is actually quite a bit of fun.
Other than that, there are no real advantages to a manual transmission in a crossover. Long ago the majority of customers stopped buying vehicles like this and no one can fault manufacturers for opting out of this segment. Those that have stuck around, like Hyundai in Canada, are allocating minimal resources to a vehicle that sells in marginal volumeust over .
The manual crossover’s days are numbered. If a stick-shift crossover is a must for your next vehicular purchase, better act now before they’re all gone for good.
Interested in buying a Hyundai Tucson? Click here for more details.
A 20+ year industry veteran, Mike rejoins the AutoGuide team as the Managing Editor. He started his career at a young age working at dealerships, car rentals, and used car advertisers. He then found his true passion, automotive writing. After contributing to multiple websites for several years, he spent the next six years working at the head office of an automotive OEM, before returning back to the field he loves. He is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), and Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA). He's the recipient of a feature writing of the year award and multiple video of the year awards.
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Autoguide did 75mph on our Canadian roads? Lucky you didn't get a ticket. Cops seem to ticket everything over 70 here.