Compare the2023 Ford Bronco SportVS 2023 Hyundai Tucson

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Bronco Sport have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Hyundai Tucson doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Ford Bronco Sport has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Tucson doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Bronco Sport has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Tucson doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Bronco Sport. But it costs extra on the Tucson.

Both the Bronco Sport and the Tucson have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available rear parking sensors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Ford Bronco Sport is safer than the Hyundai Tucson:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

There are almost 4 times as many Ford dealers as there are Hyundai dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Bronco Sport’s warranty.

The Bronco Sport has a standard “limp home system” to keep drivers from being stranded if most or all of the engine’s coolant is lost. The engine will run on only half of its cylinders at a time, reduce its power and light a warning lamp on the dashboard so the driver can get to a service station for repairs. The Tucson doesn’t offer a lost coolant limp home mode, so a coolant leak could strand you or seriously damage the truck’s engine.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Bronco Sport third among small SUVs in their 2022 Initial Quality Study. The Tucson isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Ford vehicles are better in initial quality than Hyundai vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Ford above average in initial quality. With 18 more problems per 100 vehicles, Hyundai is rated below average.

The Bronco Sport’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 12 lbs.-ft. more torque (190 vs. 178) than the Tucson’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder. The Bronco Sport Badlands’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 63 more horsepower (250 vs. 187) and 99 lbs.-ft. more torque (277 vs. 178) than the Tucson’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Ford Bronco Sport is faster than the Hyundai Tucson:

On the EPA test cycle the Bronco Sport 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder gets better fuel mileage than the Tucson AWD (25 city/28 hwy vs. 23 city/28 hwy).

The Bronco Sport has 1.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Tucson (16 vs. 14.3 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Bronco Sport has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Tucson doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Bronco Sport stops shorter than the Tucson:

The Bronco Sport offers an optional full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Tucson; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

The Bronco Sport has variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Tucson doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For better maneuverability, the Bronco Sport’s turning circle is 1.2 feet tighter than the Tucson’s (37.4 feet vs. 38.6 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Bronco Sport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Tucson (8.8 vs. 8.3 inches), allowing the Bronco Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Bronco Sport is 9.6 inches shorter than the Tucson, making the Bronco Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Bronco Sport has 1.4 inches more front headroom, 1 inch more front legroom, .7 inches more front hip room and 2.2 inches more rear headroom than the Tucson.

An optional locking center console keeps your small valuables safer in the Bronco Sport. The Tucson doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

The Bronco Sport’s rear cargo window opens separately from the rest of the liftgate door to allow quicker loading of small packages. The Tucson’s rear cargo window doesn’t open.

Maximum trailer towing in the Hyundai Tucson is limited to 2000 pounds. The Bronco Sport offers up to a 2200 lbs. towing capacity.

The Bronco Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Tucson uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Bronco Sport Outer Banks/Badlands’ front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Tucson SEL/XRT/N Line/Limited’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

If the windows are left open on the Bronco Sport the driver can close them all from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can also lower the windows the same way. The driver of the Tucson can only close the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Bronco Sport’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Tucson doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its Blue Link can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

The Bronco Sport’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Tucson’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the Bronco Sport offers optional cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Tucson doesn’t offer cornering lights.

Both the Bronco Sport and the Tucson offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Bronco Sport Big Bend/Outer Banks/Badlands has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Tucson doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

The Bronco Sport Outer Banks/Badlands/First Edition has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Tucson doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Bronco Sport will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Bronco Sport will retain 59.2% to 61.37% of its original price after five years, while the Tucson only retains 53.76% to 54.61%.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its December 2021 issue and they ranked the Ford Bronco Sport Outer Banks higher than the Hyundai Tucson Limited AWD.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Bronco Sport first among small SUVs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Tucson was rated third in its category.