2016 Hyundai Tucson and 2016 Hyundai Sonata Earn IIHS Top Safety Rating, But Come with a Price

Hyundai continues to earn top safety awards for cars in its palette and the latest two new members to the club are the 2016 Hyundai Sonata and the 2016 Hyundai Tucson.

Both the sedan and the SUV received the Top Safety Pick award at the same time, thanks to a new front crash prevention system. However, the new safety features come at a price.

2016 Hyundai Tucson

The 2016 Tucson has made a huge improvement in the safety area, earning rating of “good” in the small overlap front crash test. The 2016 Tucson managed to earn six point score, surviving the crash at both speeds of 12mph and 25mph. During the test, the SUV showed just six inches of intrusion in the driver’s and passenger’s section, which is a huge improvement, considering that the last time the Tucson was tested, that number was 16 inches.

The previous version of the Sonata was already good, but it seems like Hyundai wanted a higher rating than the “acceptable”. With the new safety features, including the autonomous emergency braking and forward collision warning, the Sonata earned top safety pick.

However, not every buyer of the 2016 Hyundai Tucson and 2016 Hyundai Sonata will get the safety features that helped the vehicles earn top rating by IIHS. In order to get all the safety features, prospective buyers will have to pay more than $30k for a car that costs around $20k in its base model version.

For example, to get the safety features in the Tucson, you need to pay extra $2,750 and that is only available if you are buying the top tier Limited trim version. The package brings the price of the 2016 Tucson up to $30,795. For the Sonata, the safety feature is part of the Ultimate Package that costs $1,750. And the trick is, to get the Ultimate package; you need the Tech package as well, which costs additional $3,100. That will bring the price of the 2016 Hyundai Sonata Limited trim up to $33,035, and even more if you want the quicker and faster version with a 2.0-liter engine.

2016-Hyundai-Sonata-Hybrid

Hyundai should be applauded for the introduction of those safety features, but the company is known for providing more affordable vehicles. Should Hyundai decide to offer the safety features for lower end trims, it will be even better. Considering the fact that Toyota might add autonomous braking and emergency warning to its base models by 2017, Hyundai will have to catch up.

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