08/10/2025
HYUNDAI ALCAZAR 1.5 DIESEL EXECUTIVE A/T
Honest to goodness 7-seater SUV
When the launch of the Hyundai Alcazar came around in May 2025, two issues intrigued me. Firstly, the name. It’s derived from fortresses occupied by noblemen in Spain in the middle-ages, which makes me wonder where the link to a modern SUV in the 21st century rides in.
Secondly, given the established presence in the SA market of multiple Hyundai SUV models, yet another nameplate in those ranks smacked of a “calling all pockets” strategy or maybe a case of “plugging a hole” that never existed.
The truth carries with it a lot more marketing science. You see, the boffins responsible for model selection in RSA worked out that potential customers were blurring the attributes of the existing Creta and Grand Creta models, so what better than to give the big-daddy latter model and its 7-seat configuration a more distinct and fresher identity? Bingo Alcazar, but don’t forget to tack on a new nose and tail to the extended structure to make quite sure your neighbours are well aware that what’s sitting on the driveway really is fresh and distinctive, even if it more or less started out as a Creta with neater front and rear styling.
So it is that a three-model Alcazar range rode into Hyundai showrooms with the noble intention of luring in more buyers dazzled by this more focused product differentiation. This test unit sat in the middle as an Executive model motivated – hooray, hooray – by the Korean company’s really effective 1.5 Turbo Diesel endowed with peak outputs of 85kW and 250Nm, the latter available from a mere 1 500rpm.
It may not be widely known, but Hyundai has been a purveyor of very effective diesel engines for many a moon and hats off to the Koreans for sticking it to politicians who have tried ever so hard to banish this form of propulsion to an early grave. For the record, I twice travelled to and from the UK to Le Mans in a Hyundai i40 1.7 Turbo Diesel run by my son. The heavily laden wagon gobbled up the kms and easily maintained a 140km/h cruise (don’t tell the gendarmes!) while delivering economy in the order of 6,3L/100km.
This 1.5 understandably doesn’t have quite the legs of the bigger mill, but it still proved to be most capable of delivering adequate performance and exceptional fuel economy while keeping combustion disturbances at very low levels. Even when firing up from cold, combustion clatter remains subdued and it’s only when the engine is pushed above 3 500rpm that it takes on a slightly droney timbre.
That’s a rare occurrence anyway as a 120km/h cruise is achieved at just 2 400rpm. And to prove the point about low thirst, a 105km open road cruise conducted with a measure of restraint yielded an amazing 5,5L/100km This a 7-seater, remember.
The manufacturer claims a 171km/h top end and a rather leisurely 0-100 run in 12,9s but these outright figures are of little relevance in the real world as this Hyundai, with its strong torque output, is much more effective when it comes to incremental acceleration. It delivers in a measured manner so turns its nose up at competing in the usual traffic light GPs, but does well in keeping up with traffic flow.
Its progress is aided by a 6-speed auto box that for the most part shifts smoothly and reacts well to driving style, by which I mean it will hold onto gears longer under hard acceleration and is unusually willing to auto downshift on slowing which helps keep the engine in its sweet spot when acceleration is needed.
The powered steering system is pretty class typical which means it’s light at parking speeds and firms up as speed rises, but there’s little real feel on hand – rather a slightly leaden reaction which thankfully has a smidgin of free play around the straight-ahead position. The all-disc brakes though offer consistent feel at all speeds along with powerful retardation, virtues backed up by ascent and descent nannies and by ABS, EBD and ESP.
Stability is confidence inspiring and body roll is decently controlled for an SUV, while ride is way better than that delivered by body-on-frame vehicles, albeit the tyres can thump into sharper-edged obstacles such as manhole covers.
On the cruise, double door seals help deflect wind noise while road noise is never irritating other than on the coarsest tar which means overall refinement is most satisfying.
In terms of fit and finish and general aesthetics, the Alcazar is a middle of the roader as its pricing would suggest. As ever with this brand, the paint shows off a good shine but is undermined by ever-present orange peel. The accompanying photos reveal the extensive presence of black cladding to reinforce the SUV roots along with the intervention of a few matt silver bits to add a little pizzaz.
A lightly rounded nose treatment adds interest to a prominent part of the car that’s thankfully free of the elaborate embellishment so often applied by rivals from China, while machined alloys that are home to 215/60R17 rubber provide additional visual lift. Folding wing mirrors along with rear park sensors add practical value.
The interior I could best describe as workmanlike for the simple reason that much of the interior cladding is of the hard variety, Essentially, that means the visual impression is better than the tactile reality but keep your eyes closed should you happen to open the tailgate of an Alcazar. To keep costs down, Hyundai decided not to line the inner surround of the tailgate and also chose not to clearcoat the entire inner reaches of this rearmost area, so the (rough) paintwork on show is a completely different colour from that of the primary bodywork. Strange when the inner door jambs are all clear-coated and look all the better for it.
The 4.6 metre Alcazar’s primary reason for existence is founded in having three rows of seats and as is the norm in mid-sized SUVs, row three is for kids or the legless, albeit official legroom stats – front 1 051mm; row two 900mm; row three 800mm - suggest there isn’t as much variation as the eyes imply. Load areas are listed as follows: max 1 670L; behind row two, 570L; behind row three, 180L.
Vinyl seat coverings (euphemistically listed as “artificial leather”) are used throughout and although front row occupants enjoy the best comfort levels, a slide and recline mechanism makes things perfectly tolerable for mid-row occupants too.
Passive safety is looked after by ISOFIX mounts and by front side and curtain airbags.
Other niceties include air con with feed vents to all three rows, LED lighting, touch screen 8-inch infotainment unit with Bluetooth, voice control and cell phone prep, TFT instrument cluster, folding wing mirrors, electric windows, rear camera, roof rails, wireless charging and more. I suggest a visit to www.hyundai.co.za to establish all the niceties and in particular, the differences that mark out the 2.0 Executive AT, 1.5 Diesel Executive AT and 1.5 Diesel Elite AT models.
All models carry a 5 year / 150 000 km Manufacturer's Warranty and an additional 2 year / 50 000 km Manufacturer's Powertrain Warranty together with a 3 year/ 45 000km Service Plan.
As at October 2025, this Executive 1.5 AT model is priced from R599 900.
RICHARD WILEY
