Here’s a detailed look at the paint palette available on the Hyundai Tucson 5-seater midsized crossover SUV, which we hope will help you choose your perfect new car colour. Find our what our car experts thought of the popular hybrid version in our Hyundai Tucson PHEV review.
There are 11 main paint options for the Hyundai Tucson, comprising 3 solid paints, 4 metallic paints and also 4 pearlescent paints. There’s also the option to have a 2-tone exterior finish on 1 trim level of the SUV’s line-up, as well as a 1-off ‘Teal Pack’ for the Premium-spec models. Besides the exterior hues, we also outline the various interior upholsteries that go with these paint finishes.
Paint Types
Solid = a simple body colour with no additives in the paint. Usually comprises 3 coats, these being a primer, then the paint, then a clear, protective lacquer. Solid paints aren’t particularly shiny and are normally the only standard/no-cost colours offered by manufacturers.
Metallic = same application process as above but the paint now has powdered metal mixed into it, which reflects more light to give the car a shinier appearance. Metallic finishes usually cost more than solid paints.
Pearlescent/Mica = as above, only instead of metal, ceramic crystals (known as ‘mica’) are added to the paint. These not only reflect light but refract it too, giving one colour different appearances in different levels of light. They’re normally as expensive as or pricier than metallic paints.
Matte = uses special ‘flattening’ agents in the paint/layering make-up to give the car a non-reflective appearance, and sometimes an unusual texture too. These are normally the most expensive and rarest of paint options, and are not offered on many new car models.
Exterior
Engine Red
Type: Solid
Cost: No cost (default colour on all models)
Available On: All models
Unlike most other companies, which offer a solid white as the only free paint on their models, so confident is Hyundai in the striking styling of the 4th-generation Tucson that its default colour for all 5 specifications of the crossover-SUV is this Engine Red. It’s actually a colour you can specify on some of the Korean firm’s hottest models, like the i30 N and Kona N, and it works really well on the Tucson – especially on the sporty-looking 2 variants, the N Line and N Line S. It’s a bold, orangey-red colour that should still draw attention whether its spotlessly clean or covered in plenty of road dirt.
Atlas White
Type: Solid
Cost: £300
Available On: All models
The solid paint alternative to Engine Red for the whole range is the finish you might have expected to be free. But no, Atlas White will relieve you of 300 notes if you decide you prefer it to Engine Red – we know we’d stick with the standard colour, but that’s entirely personal preference, of course. Anyway, Atlas is 1 of 2 whites in the palette for the Tucson and it’s the brighter, sharper take on the shade, but – as with any white car – lots of weekly washing will ensue if you want it to look its very best all year round.
Shadow Grey
Type: Solid
Cost: £665
Available On: N Line and N Line S models only
The final of 3 solids costs as much as all the ensuing 8 metallic and pearlescent finishes, at £665 apiece, and furthermore it’s only available on the sporty N Line and N Line S Tucsons. It’s called Shadow Grey and is 1 of 4 options in the silver/grey palette for the Hyundai SUV, being the second lightest of the lot. It’s a flat, chalky-looking grey, again used on some of Hyundai’s high-performance N cars, and it’s a great colour if you want something daring that will also get away with not being cleaned on every single Sunday of the year.
Amazon Grey
Type: Metallic
Cost: £665
Available On: SE Connect, Premium and UItimate models only
Of the 4 metallic finishes available, fully 3 of them are not sold on the N Line and N Line S cars. This is the first, Amazon Grey, and it is the darkest grey or silver Hyundai offers on the Tucson, being what many would describe as ‘charcoal’ in colour. That means it will hide a thin layer of accumulated summer road dust fairly well, but it’ll probably show up encrusted-on winter gritting salt worse than any other colour here besides Phantom Black.
Silky Bronze
Type: Metallic
Cost: £665
Available On: SE Connect, Premium and UItimate models only
This is an out-there colour. Not only does Silky Bronze have the best paint name in the Tucson range, but it should be pretty good at hiding year-round road filth as well. Considering it’s a cross between champagne and light brown, Silky is quite a discreet shade, all things considered, which is why it’s not offered on the brash-looking N Line and N Line S models, instead being reserved for the more premium variants in Hyundai’s offering.
Dark Teal
Type: Metallic
Cost: £665
Available On: SE Connect, Premium and UItimate models only
A quite sumptuous colour and the only blue in the palette for the Tucson is the last of the 3 metallics not sold on the N Line and N Line S cars. It’s called Dark Teal and while we love it, we have to say it doesn’t look as blue-green as the use of the word ‘teal’ might at first imply. It’ll also take some cleaning in the darker, colder months, as it’ll be prone to showing up winter muck more than it will summer-related deposits on the paint – bird droppings excepted, sadly. Nevertheless, Dark Teal is a really tasteful colour for the high-spec Tucsons particularly, and it also forms part of the Teal Pack that is offered on the Premium-grade versions of the SUV alone.
Shimmering Silver
Type: Metallic
Cost: £665
Available On: All models
The only metallic paint available on all 5 specifications of the Tucson is Shimmering Silver. It is at least a silver, rather than a grey going under the silver banner, although its chalky appearance does still make us think it’s not your classic automotive metallic silver in the traditional sense. In fact, it looks a lot like the N Line/S-specific finish of Shadow Grey solid, only Shimmering is a few degrees lighter than that. Again, as a light silvery-grey, this will require minimum upkeep throughout the year in order to look good.
Dark Knight Grey
Type: Pearlescent
Cost: £665
Available On: All models
Moving into the pearlescent paints, all 4 of which are available on all 5 trim grades of the Tucson, it’s the brilliantly named Dark Knight Grey which is first up. This 1 should please all the Batman fans out there, for obvious reasons, but it should also please those who are reluctant to get the Turtle Wax and a couple of buckets out at the weekends for car-washing duties – lighter than Amazon Grey metallic but darker than Shadow Grey solid, Dark Knight is in the gunmetal range and it will arguably be the paint option in the Tucson range which requires the least amount of year-round maintenance of the entire lot. It also looks equally as good on a luxury-oriented model like a Premium or Ultimate Tucson as it does on the racier N Line and N Line S cars.
Phantom Black
Type: Pearlescent
Cost: £665
Available On: All models
Here’s the only black in the range, loitering among the pearlescent finishes – there are no solid or metallic black options in the line-up, besides this Phantom Black. As ever with this shade, it looks spectacularly good when it’s spotlessly clean, but black cars hide road dirt less well than you think they will, especially in the depths of winter. Also, Phantom is the colour which makes the Tucson Mk4’s trademark huge grille with its Parametric lights stand out the least of all during daylight hours; if you like the daring design of the Hyundai, then this will be a bad thing, although there will be some who will pick Phantom precisely for the fact it hides that massive detail in the SUV’s face.
Sunset Red
Type: Pearlescent
Cost: £665
Available On: All models
Mirroring the 2 solids which form the opening paint gambits of the Tucson range, the second red in the line-up is this gorgeous Sunset Red pearl. It’s a darker, richer and far less vibrant shade of the hue than bog-basic Engine Red, which means – again – it suits the 2 arms of the Hyundai’s upper spec tree perfectly. The Tucson has a ‘wine-glass’ structure to its trims, you see, which kicks off with SE Connect and then goes 1 of 2 ways: sporty cars are in the N Line and N Line S ascendancy; while luxurious models sit in the Premium and Ultimate hierarchy. Nevertheless, pick any 1 of these 5 specifications you like and Sunset Red will look pretty spectacular on all of them. It also won’t need to be washed every single week of the year either, making it relatively low maintenance.
Serenity White
Type: Pearlescent
Cost: £665
Available On: All models
If Sunset Red is the pearlescent analogue to entry-level Engine Red solid, then Serenity White pearl does the same trick as an alternative to £300 Atlas White solid. Whether you want to pay an additional £365 for Serenity, though, remains to be seen – it’ll need just as much washing as Atlas and, if anything, despite its pearlescent nature it’s the duller, dingier finish of the 2 whites at first glance. There’s more than a hint of grey to Serenity White’s colour, is what we’re trying to say here, so maybe Atlas White will serve you just fine for less than half the price of this optional finish.
2-Tone Options
2-Tone Black Roof
Type: Metallic roof finish (Phantom Black)
Cost: £500
Available On: N Line models only
Available With All Body Colours?: No
There is the option, for £500, to have the roof of the Hyundai Tucson finished in Phantom Black. However, this is only available on the N Line models (with 1 key exception, see below), because all of the SE Connect, Premium and Ultimate cars are deemed luxury versions and so a 2-tone colour scheme isn’t befitting of their specs, while the evolved version of the N Line – namely, the N Line S – comes with a full-length panoramic glass roof as standard, so there’s little point painting what metal remains up top black. Anyway, if you want a 2-tone Tucson N Line, you can have it with 6 of the 7 total body colours available on this grade of SUV. The exception is Phantom Black itself, for rather obvious reasons of the resulting SUV not being 2-tone if you pick the same paint for body and roof.
Teal Pack
Type: Metallic roof finish (Phantom Black)
Cost: £575
Available On: Premium models only
Available With All Body Colours?: No
There’s a package called the Teal Pack which is available on just 1 trim grade of the Tucson – that being Premium – and 1 body colour only… Dark Teal metallic. Yeah, the clue’s in the name of the option. Anyway, the Teal Pack brings the Dark Teal body, a Phantom Black roof (this is the only Tucson bar the N Line models which can have this feature), door mirror housings in the matching black finish and then, inside, a Black and Teal dashboard, as well as Teal stitching in key places. This option costs £575 on the Premium if you want it.
Interior
Black
Type: Cloth
Cost: No cost (standard on SE Connect and Premium models)
Available On: SE Connect and Premium
Available With All Body Colours?: Yes
The entry-level SE Connect and first of the luxury line of models, the Premium, both come with straightforward black cloth upholstery, complete with an entirely black dashboard. This is the standard dash fascia for all models, by the way, bar the N Line and N Line S. Luckily, the unstinting quality of the Tucson’s interior and a few key details which break up the monochromatic monotony mean the standard cabin is a fine place to spend some time.
Black Leather And Suede
Type: Leather and suede
Cost: No cost (standard on N Line and N Line S models)
Available On: N Line and N Line S
Available With All Body Colours?: Yes
The N Line and N Line S Tucsons get arguably the nicest upholstery of the range, a combination of black leather and suede with contrast red stitching. To complement this suitably sporty look, the central dashboard trim on the passenger side has a 3-line motif over near the door, which differentiates this dash from the all-black standard fascia of the rest of the range.
Black Leather
Type: Leather
Cost: No cost (standard on Ultimate models)
Available On: Ultimate
Available With All Body Colours?: Yes
Only the Ultimate trim of Tucson comes with a full leather seat upholstery, which is Black as standard, teamed to the same black dashboard as in the SE Connect and Premium cars.
Moss Grey Leather
Type: Leather
Cost: No cost (free alternative to Black on Ultimate models)
Available On: Ultimate
Available With All Body Colours?: Yes
As an alternative to the Black leather interior, the Ultimate-spec Tucsons can be optioned up with this Moss Grey cabin for no extra cost. It’s available with all 10 of the colours available on the Ultimate (the exception in the 11-strong palette being Shadow Grey, which is an N Line/S-specific finish anyway) and it switches the all-dark main fascia to a Black and Moss Grey dashboard – above the trim fillet it’s Black, below it is the Moss Grey. This is obviously the interior which is going to make the cabin of the Tucson feel the most light and airy of them all, given the other interior choices are all variations on black in 1 way or another.
Black Cloth With Teal Dash
Type: Cloth
Cost: £575
Available On: Premium models only
Available With All Body Colours?: No
As mentioned above, the Teal Pack (£575 on the Premium Tucson) keeps the standard seats of the SE Connect and Premium cars, but changes the dashboard to a Teal finish to match the Dark Teal exterior colour. This dashboard is, naturally, only available with this 1 body option; it cannot be specified as a standalone extra with any other paint for the Hyundai.
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