A NAME from the past is being revived by Hyundai as the Korean car maker brings back the Tucson SUV.

The new model is taking the place of the popular ix35 which is one of Hyundai's top sellers.

It is arriving in September and sees Hyundai going back to the future with the Tucson name first used on its mid-sized 4x4 in the last decade.

Priced from £18,695 the new Tucson is a sizeable alternative to the likes of the Nissan Qashqai and the larger Ford Kuga.

The range tops out at £32,345 and on average the Tucson is around £1,500 more expensive than the ix35 but comes with plenty of new technology including full connectivity systems and a TomTom Live sat nav set up.

There is also a new 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine in the line up and a high powered 2.0-litre diesel, available with either six-speed manual or seven-speed dual clutch auto transmissions.

Both engines perform in a competent fashion and come on four-wheel-drive versions of the Tucson priced from £26,695 for the diesel in mid grade SE NAV trim or £26,945 for the turbo petrol which is fitted only to the higher specification Premium and Premium SE versions.

On the road the Tucson behaves in a composed fashion for a medium sized SUV and it rides well. Noise levels inside are nicely suppressed and there is a good amount of room front and back.

The 1.6-litre turbo develops 177ps and with the DCT box it is faster out of the blocks than the manual with a 0 to 60 time of 9.1 seconds and a top speed of 112mph.

However, it is relatively thirsty and although Hyundai claims an official fuel figure of 37.7mpg with emissions of 175g/km we could manage to average only 22.6mpg according to the trip computer.

The diesel, which at 2.2 tonnes is slightly heavier feels sturdier and has good mid-range acceleration with 185ps on tap.

On paper it is up with the turbo at 9.5 seconds 0 to 60, has more legs with a top speed of 125mph and is rated at 43.5mpg for the auto and 47.9 for the manual with CO2 figures of 170 and 154g/km.

We achieved 37.6 in the auto and 45.5mpg in the manual which is above average for an SUV of such proportions.

While most Tucsons are likely to be the cheaper front wheel drive versions the 4x4s are surprisingly capable off road.

Hill descent control and an electronic lockable differential produce added grip on rough surfaces and slopes and clever use of the traction control will get the Tucson over some moderately severe obstacles.

On a purpose-built course at Hyundai’s European headquarters in Frankfurt the Tucson proved very agile with some impressive articulation from the suspension and ground clearance of almost seven inches.

From a practical perspective boot space ranges from 488 to 1,478 litres – and that is with a spare wheel – and the models we tried came with a power operated tailgate.

Like its predecessor the Tucson is a good looking car and although top end versions come with leather upholstery there is still a fair amount of plastic in the dashboard.

Automatic parking, lane departure warning, emergency braking and rear traffic alerts are all available and the nav system is state of the art with real time traffic information from TomTom – and it comes with seven years worth of updates.

The sat nav is operated from an eight-inch colour touchscreen in the centre of the dash which also includes a reversing camera display in high definition. A digital radio and Bluetooth are standard on all models.

Like Hyundai’s i30 family-sized hatchback, the Tucson is built at the company’s European factory in the Czech Republic and all come with a five year warranty. The Tucson will also be made in Korea and the US for other overseas markets.