THE 500-MILE TEST - Hyundai Terracan: It's gobbled up $240 million in less than three years, but does Hyundai's Terracan deliver? Michael McAleer has some reservations.
Terracan: a fusion of Terra - Latin for terrain and khan Turkish for ruler or king. The result: "ruler of the earth". It seems the Koreans are losing the run of themselves.
Success with the Santa Fe was one thing, but implying its latest 4x4 is anything other than yet another basic utilitarian mud-kicker is fantasy.
"Terracan combines the comfort of a luxury passenger car with the utility and ruggedness of a truck," the advertising goes. Have the Hyundai's designers never been on a farm or a building site? The problem with being all things to all men is that most likely you end up being mediocre and mundane.
That's not to say the Terracan is a less than able market competitor. The styling is very much off-roader: large and dominating with the bull-bar on the front of our test vehicle only adding to its intimidating presence.
This is not really the vehicle for city use. Its heart is in the country, but Hyundai has the popular Santa Fe for the city folk: it's tearing up the Irish market, gaining 14 per cent of SUV sector in less than two years.
In design terms the Terracan sticks with the marque's tendency to imitate what works for others. Hopefully as the product moves through its various generations a little more originality will creep in. After all, it took three generations for the Coupe to reach its full potential. In time, and with further design effort, the Terracan may offer a serious challenge to market leaders.
Development was backed by a $240 million budget but, apart from the basic lines and strong engine, it's hard to see where the money went. The entire project was completed in 34 months; obviously not enough time to give real thought to the cabin.
As one would expect from a vehicle standing 1.8 metres off the road, the driver enjoys excellent sight lines and the profusion of glass helps to brighten the interior. The spare wheel is mounted on the rear undercarriage, allowing a clear view through the rear window. It also allows for smoother lines and eases the load on the rear door.
A sloping bonnet line also helps off-road visibility, not to mention ease of parking and use in city traffic. The high roof provides ample headroom and legroom. While it appears to stand head and shoulders above the average saloon, the decision to keep it under the 2-metre mark also lets it into car parks with ease.
The engine, all 2.9 common-rail litres of it, more than capably hurtles this vehicle along at an impressive rate, but like any large beast of burden, it lets you know it's working.
Everything in context, this engine is more than up to the job in hand. With a maximum output of 148 bhp at 3,800 rpm, it's a capable unit - at 2,000 rpm some 333 Newton Metres (NM) of torque is served up for impressive pulling power at slow speeds.
The Terracan is also quite light on the pocket, coming in at 23 mpg as tested, well within range of competitors with smaller diesel-engines.
So, to the heart of a 4x4: its four-wheel drive system. Our car had a semi-permanent four-wheel drive system, known as Active Torque Transfer, which provides power only to the rear wheels in normal driving conditions. Four-wheel drive comes into play once slippage is detected.
All adjustments in power are between axles, rather than on individual wheels featured in some other traction control systems on the market. A standard limited-slip rear differential, protection plates for sump, fuel tank and gearbox and deep low range gearing of 2.48:1 are also featured.
The ride was firm and the suspension handled the various road surfaces just like other 4x4s. There was a degree of steering kickback on larger potholes, but never the shudder that one would expect from a saloon in similar conditions. Handling was precise and it cornered adequately without undue body roll for its size.
Now, the real mismatch - and the area where we feel the designers cut corners. Take a hard-working off-roader, built to withstand the elements, most at home in the mud.
Then install soft plush vinyl trim interior mimicking your executive market entrant. The Terracan has the same dash, the same electric window buttons, the same standard Pioneer CD radio, with the same fiddly buttons as other Hyundai models.
Yes, other manufacturers have mimicked their saloon interiors in their SUVs. But their offerings are firmly rooted in high-wheelbase road-going vehicles, with the Sport in Sports Utility Vehicle standing for traffic spotting from a superior height to ordinary road users.
The Terracan does have that truck-like ruggedness. But isn't "rugged luxury" an oxymoron? Shire horses don't win Gold Cups.
That is not to say you can't bring a touch of luxury into the working environment. Some work vehicles on the market have very high specs. But even they don't come with a soft vinyl finish on the seating.
The problem is, if the vinyl doesn't wear down with use, leaving that "balding suede" finish that adds years to a car, whatever dirt or earth that may be carried into the cabin ends up matted into the material.
The control console was spartan, and the Terracan has some ergonomic flaws. Dominating the top of the central console are air vents, surrounded by four large buttons. In the standard model we drove, three were in use, but the fourth - for cruise control - was blanked out.
The designers, it seems, drew four buttons to break up the barren plastic without thinking about what they would be used for. As a result, the two large buttons on the driver's side are for the rear fog lamp and, strangely prominent, the headlight levelling switch. More out of place, on the passenger side, is the panel brightness knob.
Storage space in the rear is quite accommodating and the 60:40 folding rear seats can be double folded to maximise the cargo area. We found the luggage net in the rear very useful on shopping trips.
However, up front the Terracan lacks adequate cubby-hole space - and, while the large armrest storage console can indeed hold a thing or two, it did get warm after a long drive.
The Terracan offers driver and passenger airbags, all-round disc brakes with ABS and Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD), which distributes the braking power between the front and rear axles, depending on the load and weight distribution in the vehicle.
In the end, while its claims to be ruler of the earth are fantastical, and it will not send quivers down the axles of the market leaders, the most competitive element of the Terracan is its price. At €40,634 for the passenger version and €30,475 for the commercial version, the Terracan, when combined with Hyundai's strong warranty offer, is certainly a serious competitor when it comes to the economy stakes.