Hyundai has quietly discontinued the Tucson N-Line for the 2026 model year. Buried in a document on Hyundai’s media site outlining the handful of packaging and trim changes for next year’s Tucson (which Hyundai bills topline as a “carry-over” model), the “N-Line (HEV)” trim has unceremoniously been “Dropped.” And if that’s not that exciting to you, well…that’s the point.
Exclusive to the Tucson Hybrid, the previously available N-Line was not a full-on high-performance N car like the Elantra N is or the Kona N was, but rather one of those trim packages that mostly added the appearance of performance. The 1.6-liter turbo-four hybrid powertrain made the same 231 horsepower that came out of the Tucson Hybrid Blue, SEL Convenience, and Limited.
But the N-Line looked cooler, getting a sportier front fascia, body-colored fenders, black mirror caps, two shiny exhaust tips, its own 19-inch wheels, alloy pedals, and an exclusive matte gray paint option that actually made it one of the coolest-looking vehicles in its class—admittedly not that high of a bar to clear, but there you go.
As a future automotive trivia night answer, the Tucson N-Line is a great candidate, but taken as a serious consumer product for the here and now, it’s one of those cars that makes you go, “OK, but why?” Not every model needs a sporty variant — those who want a Hyundai Tucson probably aren’t interested in Sporty, and those who are into Sporty probably aren’t into the Hyundai Tucson. And judging by the fact that Hyundai has already taken it to the back of the shed, it looks like the buying public agreed.
“The removal of N-Line for Tucson, along with a corresponding redistribution of mix to other trims was deemed to best meet our Tucson buyer needs moving forward,” a Hyundai spokesperson told The Autopian. The same spokesperson declined to share N-Line take rates, but you don’t have to read that hard in between the lines of his statement above to come to the conclusion that they probably weren’t great.
When asked whether we should take this as a signal in regards to the possibility (or lack thereof) for a new Kona N, he replied, “This [is] not a connection to a larger strategy for N, just an optimization of trim and content for our Tucson customer.”
For any disappointed sporty-normie crossover fans, however, Toyota is preparing to bring a GR Sport version of the next-gen RAV4, the first time the trim will be available in the U.S.
So, welcome back to the Tucson N-Line, I guess.
[Ed Note: I don’t get that meme, but also my pop culture skills are weak. -DT].
Top image: Hyundai
Haha, I don’t get it either David. I’m not gonna lie if that Rav-4 GR Sport wasn’t gonna be $50k I’d probably get one.
+1 on not getting the meme. Maybe if it’s so obtuse that a lot of people don’t get it, you should dial it back a bit.
Now let’s hope that manufacturers realize that not every trim level needs to be variations of ‘loaded’.
Nor does almost every model need AWD.
Listen buddy, sometimes it snows 3″ over night. Driving a non-AWD car in that kind of weather, is basically impossible.
LOL… I’m assuming you’re joking.
Yup… up here in Toronto, it snowed that much and as a result of only having a FWD car, I couldn’t get to work… and then I died!
Hahaha, yes. Although, funny enough, I moved from Niagara Falls down to the Port Colborne area and sometimes there can be significantly more snow in Port if a lake effect band is in the right place.
What you need in the snow is a small, FWD, hatchback.
My Jetta GLI was a beast in the snow, the lsd really helped out
These are typically on the base model. What are they doing as an “added feature” on the “extra cost” model?
Its the Porsche model- the unpainted part is lighter, so it makes the car faster.
I would think the term sport should be reserved for a version of the vehicle that has more performance.
Chevy started off well with the Super Sport but then they did the Rally Sport, all flash no bang. Ford said hold our beer, and made the Bronco Sport, which is neither the Bronco nor Sporty.
I know I am among friends that would much rather a sleeper that looks pedestrian but is Usain Bolt.
Yep. The “we made it look sporty but it has the same powertrain as the base model” appearance package has always confused me. I guess they are saving you the trouble of going to Pep Boys and doing it yourself?
Same deal with ‘GT’ or ‘GTI’.
And I’m now thinking of the VW Golf GTIs of the past that had the same old 8V 4 cyl as the regular Golf… and you had to pay thousands more to get the 16V engine… something you got standard on Japanese cars.
Well Usain Bolt is not only the very best pedestrian but being a pedestrian is his career, so I would say that Usain Bolt is about as pedestrian as you can get.
Porsche developed its Speedster as its sport model. It was as stripped down as they could make it, with cheaper seats, cheaper paint, no windows at all, and so on. I think it was also the cheapest model.
Now of course Porsche charges extra for their stripped track cars although if you wanted a stripper Porsche to build a race car something like https://www.sunsetporscheparts.com/oem-parts/porsche-body-in-white-prime-coated-98150090100grv at a mere $22,178.24 would be the best bet.
I wonder how much it would cost David Tracy to complete that with only parts from EBay?
The other extreme are Dodge’s Drag Pak cars, which also don’t come with a VIN, but do come with your choice of White Knuckle paint, or five other optional colors: Hellraisin, Pitch Black, Smoke Show, TorRed, and Frostbite.
Picture it: the year is 1979 and disco queen Donna Summer & the voice of butter Barbra Streisand get together to sing a danceable duet. That song is titled “Enough is Enough” and sets dance floors on fire across the world.
Produced by Moroder, who clearly did not live by the ethos when it came to automobiles.
They’re apparently making a full N version of the Tucson that’ll be hybridized. I think that’s probably why the N Line is going away.
Would you consider one, given your current and future tastes?
Oh for sure. It would give me more space than my current car and while Hyundai has hinted that the hybrid system isn’t going to be tuned for efficiency I’m fairly confident it’ll still do better on gas than my Kona N, which is currently sitting at a lifetime average of a whopping 20 MPG.
Ouch. That’s pretty rough for a 4 cylinder.
It’s putrid. I wouldn’t have bought the car if I knew it would be that bad in practice. To be fair I live in DC and nothing that isn’t electrified is going to do well in what now ranks as the country’s worst traffic, but struggling to hit the city figures for lifetime fuel economy is just not acceptable in my book. Electrification is a non-negotiable with my next car.
I also have a Kona N and was wondering how you were only getting 20mpg… but the DC part makes it make sense. I have a pretty even split between city and highway driving so I’m rolling with mostly 25mpg tanks, which is what I was getting in my TSX Wagon before.
Well, fuel economy could be better had Hyundai chosen a better transmission…
My car’s transmission has 8 gears, which is 8 too many!
Bro, HOW?! I also commute in DC-Baltimore metro traffic, and my Kona N gets 30 MPG average. And I don’t have a light foot. Heck, I get better fuel economy than 20MPG in my hopped-up 5.0 Mustang!
Unfortunately I literally commute from the edge of NE DC to the edge of SE DC…I just go straight through the worst of it. I also have a few track days on there that obviously skewing the average lower
The restraint (in this, if not styling) makes me like Hyundai even more. Would that others would do the same thing – last year, I shopped a Ford Escape for someone, and was amazed to find there was not only a ST line, but also an ST-line line. It’s a freaking Escape.
Ford could have at least put in a 2.3l ecoboost in for the ST line Escape like they used to do for the Lincoln version.
Have a 2017 Escape 2.0 EcoBoost as my daily. 2017 was last year I think you could get the 2.0 EB in the mid-grade SE trim. Later years, you have to go for the top tier trim to get the larger engine. Some of us dont want all the techno bells/whistles but appreciate extra ‘go’.
It is also one of the rare cases that the fast engine was also the more reliable engine.
When it comes to the Escape, the most reliable version is actually the hybrid.
IDK, my 2.0 short block was replaced for ‘coolant intrusion’ defect. Luckily, I caught it just before it was out of warranty. This is where doing your own maintenance paid off. I noticed I’d had to top of the coolant several times. Never had to do that on my previous Fords. Now have a 2021 ‘revised’ block. Ford should have extended the warranty on these to 100k min.
I was mostly referring to the 2.0EB vs the 1.5EB. The 1.5’s are horrible.
I don’t get the meme. Also didn’t know that trim package existed for the Hyundai.
There’s a lot I don’t know, I guess. But I agree that every model doesn’t need a sporty variant, because if they did that would mean that somewhere there’s a sporty Rodius.
Please someone tell us a sporty Roduis exists.
If it doesn’t the next Autopian project should be to build one.