[Tampa8]

Consider this:
A large percentage of Tucson buyers test drive the car before buying it. They know up front how fast (or gutless??) it is. Yet they walk back into the dealership and plunk down 32k ++ hard earned dollars to buy one. Why? They don't care. Most people literally don't care. .....

Exactamundo. Not gutless but Hyundai had record breaking sales of the Tucson, that already was their best selling model. So by far it isn't an issue if it seems not race ready.
As importantly if they tested it again when not new they may have a different take on it. I'm repeating myself but from the time I picked it up, to after a few thousand miles it's almost like a different engine and transmission. Faster and smoother.

 

[Tampa8]

We also had a Kona ultimate model, but just a FWD. It was fast as heck, but it did get a lot of gas in the oil, same with our turbo Veloster we had before it. Hyundai is notorious for carbon build up in DI motors, and when I read this motor was DI and port injected, I wanted one. The other "hot rods" are a whole second quicker to 60 MPH. Two of them have CVT tranny's, no way for me. You have to take reviews like a grain of salt, these reviewers drive some very high-powered vehicles. Personally, I think ours has a much better ride then either of our last two cars.

I do like it not being a CVT. We rented a 2022 Rav 4 in Nevada, it was comfortable but did not have nice ride of the Tucson, but the point about speed - I honestly did not find it got off the line or was able to pass any better. Is is faster, maybe if the numbers say so. BUT - and big BUT - it was noisy there were four of us and we all said so. Noisy passing, noisy when going up steep hills compared to the Tucson.

My point being, I'll just say the Rav 4 is quicker if that's the case, for the tiny little difference, I'll take a quieter, smoother engine that gets very good gas mileage for a crossover especially.
I'll also say again, when new it was not as quick as now, not as smooth shifting so I understand a test when new would say that.

 

[Tampa8]

How is the regular ICE at accelerating to overtake on an undivided highway? (Not a passive-aggressive question; I am genuinely interested.)

For me, power is a hygiene issue; one you have enough to merge safely onto an expressway and pass safely on undivided highways, that's sufficient.

Fair and great way to look at it. I might have hesitated when new, just like the car hesitated when new. Lol. But now in all honesty it is plenty fast at merging, passing, sustaining 80 mph etc. No effort, and relatively quiet compared to the 2022 Rav 4 we rented that was working hard and noisy when accelerating hard. Yet they say that car is faster off the line by a whole second.

 

[Tampa8]

Years ago, I was told not to put synthetic in a new engine as it needed to break in first. I guess synthetic was too slippery? We don't have a choice: it comes with the stuff from the factory. Maybe that's why it takes a while to break in?

That is true, at one time when Synthetic was new it was said not to use it till the engine was broken in. That was with yesterday's engines and I'm not certain it was true there would be a problem. I think synthetic being new no one knew for sure.
I don't think your theory is outside the realm of possibility. This is the first car I have had that came with Full Synthetic. On our last few after the first (early) oil change I went to full Synthetic. No car I have owned from new made such a dramatic change after "breaking in."

 

[Tampa8]

My 2022 Santa Cruz which is based on the Tucson platform has the 2.5 Turbo with 277hp. It's a lot of fun. SInce Hyundai didn't choose to put that powertrain in the Tucson I bought a KIA Sorento which has the turbo and is a great car to drive also. Subaru did the same thing with the Forester. Their loss.

Not really making sense. The Sorento is a totally different car and class. It costs more, weighs more by 400 to 500 lbs so perhaps it needs the Turbo. On top of that you had to get a higher trim to get the turbo.
Honestly the loss is yours imo, the Tucson has plenty of power after break in, and this version is the most sold car in Hyundai history and continues to be the most sold model Hyundai or Kia sells. I'd say they got it right overall.

 

[Tampa8]

In prehistoric times (yes, 50 years ago) most all the car rags were much more legit content-laden and could be trusted for great intel and inside skinny on both current offerings and new products. Then the internet. That MT article in itself is indication of the saddening trend with not just that mag but many others like it, where artificially assembled review's sole purpose in life is in touting sponsors' products. Had even the slightest credible research been conducted, it would have clearly uncovered what even we as lowly mere prole owners have discovered of the ICE engine "opening up" after time and accumulated miles.

And hey gary- it's "can't", can't be refuted..... And don't think we don't know you're checking to see who's paying attention.

Here is where I now blame the professional reviewers. They at the time were right, the engine was indeed sluggish along with the transmission trying to find the right gear sometimes. But now I have two problems with them.
1. We now know, so professionals reviewers should have known or asked, that Hyundai built in a throttle during the break in period. That certainly explains my and others who reported at some point the car had plenty of power, was getting better gas mileage and silky smooth transmission.

2. They must know now about this, I would think there would be a follow up something like Motorweek does. I don't expect the reviewers to test drive all the cars they review for thousands of miles of course, even Motorweek only does that to some. But I'm quite sure they have heard about the engine coming alive and should have followed up.

 

[Tampa8]

gary-,
Quite a link in your Post #63. 'Favorite'-ed. Pouring over the tables is quite telling. Although, I don't how much influence these numbers would have had during our selection process, as it was specs, tech, chronic issues, safety or even looks which dropped the '22 models of both RAV4' and CR-V very early on from the running. I recalled almost first for both for some reason(s). LOL Even Mazda and Volvo made it longer until inevitably losing out to the Tucson.

From your mentions of the CRL at least, something about it must have been a comparatively hard NOPE for both of us for that year. Not much craving to know anymore, as the wife's doing famously as it is.

And to Wytchdctr's point, yes there's scads of those DRLs everywhere. And at least 2 out of three are that Amazon Grey or a lighter silver. For some reason our Portofino Grey is turning out rare where we are.

Rare to see Portofino here also. Amazon Grey was/is very popular, when I saw it that's the color I had to have. Hyundai figured that out, made it a premium color, and to get it in 2023 and above you have to buy the Limited Hybrid.