Remember those rumors late last year that Hyundai was planning to release a 300-horsepower Tucson N Line? Well, you can put those rumors to bed. Hyundai has released the Tucson N Line, except that the 300-horsepower engine we expected to see in the Tucson N Line is nowhere to be found. Instead, eager beaver customers will get aesthetic upgrades and, well, that’s about it.

The Tucson N Line still looks like a saucy crossover with more sporty bits to show off, but if you were expecting those rumors to come to fruition, we regret to inform you that those seeds bore no fruit.

The Tucson N Line is supposed to be a visual upgrade over its standard counterpart. I suppose it doesn’t really matter if those intakes are completely functional or even just partly useful. They make the Tucson N Line look meaner than it already looks. You can also score the Tucscon N Line in a variety of colors, including Phantom Black, Dark Knight, Sunset Red, Engine Red, and Polar White. The black detailing throughout the body adds to the smugness and those 19-inch alloy wheels are properly awesome.

Move inside and everything’s the same except for the seats that now wear N branding to go with the red contrast stitching on the sides. There’s a bit of artwork on the passenger side dashboard that looks cool and the black headlining and the glossy black finish adding to the dark-y vibe that Hyundai seems to be going for.

That’s the extent of the visual upgrades on the Tucson N Line, and taken together, the setup actually works in giving the crossover a more aggressive vibe. I’m not sure if that’s going to appease the part of the population that isn’t too keen on the Tucson’s new looks, but even they’ll say that the N Line upgrades give the Tucson a more cohesive look.

Contrary to the floating rumors from last year, the Hyundai Tucson N Line does not come with a 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-four-cylinder that produces 300 horsepower. It’s still powered by the same variety of engine options that are available in the standard Tucson.

You can also opt for a 1.6-liter mild-diesel hybrid engine that pumps out 136 horsepower. If you want more power out of your crossover, you can opt for the hybrid units, including the 1.6-liter gas engine with hybrid technology that spits out 230 horsepower and the much more powerful 1.6-liter plug-in hybrid version that produces 265 horsepower.

The good news, in the case of the Tucson N Line, is that Hyundai did make improvements to its performance capabilities. None of those improvements were made to the engine, but the crossover’s suspension definitely got some attention. See, the Tucson comes with an electronically controlled suspension; it’s that part of the puzzle that Hyundai honed in on, tuning and tweaking the ECS to improve the damping of vibrations and make the crossover more agile on the road. The steering, according to Hyundai, also comes with marked improvements depending on the driving mode you select.

How much is the Hyundai Tuscon N Line going to cost?

Hyundai hasn’t provided pricing details for the next-generation Tucson and all its trims and variants. That includes the Tucson N Line. We do expect the next-generation crossover to be priced from $25,000 and going all the way up to $40,000 for the range-topping specs. The Tucson N Line should fall somewhere in that range depending on the version of the Tucson you get it with.

Final Thoughts

As far as the N Line upgrades are concerned, I’m totally for all the new bits; they add a bit more spunk and attitude to a crossover that already looks like it wants to steal someone’s lunch money. In the never-ending battle of style versus substance, it doesn’t hurt to cut off a piece of both. That, in a nutshell, is the new Hyundai Tucson N Line.