The Hyundai Kona is one of the best-selling small crossovers right now globally. It’s not my favorite crossover at all but it does serve a purpose. It’s safe, economical, practical, and reasonably good-looking. You can even get one in hybrid or electric form too. The Kona then truly is a car for everyone, except us petrolheads.
Happily, though, Hyundai has finally listened to us and they have decided to give the Kona a bit of “N” treatment. Now, if you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years and don’t know what the “N” division of Hyundai is then listen up. the “N” division is the high-performance division of Hyundai. A bit like what AMG is to Mercedes or M to BMW. The N division takes normal cars such as the Veloster and turns them up a little. They’re made to be more powerful and a heck of a lot more aggressive.
The Kona N is quite a good-looking car. It’s very aggressive indeed, especially in the Nardo Grey-like launch color. The car is fully de-chromed to give it a more aggressive look and there’s also slight red pinstriping all-round which does make the car massively stand out.
The rear of the car features a nice trunk spoiler with an F1-style triangular light. You would never think that a small family crossover would get touches like this from F1 cars, but here you go. There’s also a. diffuser too with red pinstriping and two great exhaust tips. It’s very chunky and very cool indeed.
Inside this launch model, it is less aggressive with Alcantara like and leather seats and a mostly black interior. However, I suspect that you can change the color of the interior finish on the configurator to meet your needs. The steering wheel is quite nice with a boost button and two driving mode buttons finished in blue. You also get a 10.3-inch digital gauge cluster which looks pretty sporty. You also get a 10.3-inch infotainment screen too. On the screen, you can access, lap monitoring, race track maps, and other racing information. It’s all very hardcore and driver-focused.
But is the Kona N all that? It may look sporty inside and out but what’s the point of all of that if the cars just going to be “average” and slow? Happily, this car isn’t average and it definitely isn’t slow as you are about to find out.
Picture via: caranddriver.com
It’s Got a Pretty Powerful Engine Under The Hood.
Under the hood of the Kona N, os the same engine you will find in the Veloster N. It’s a 2 liter turbocharged four-cylinder unit with 276hp and 289 lb-ft of torque. However, if you press that red button on the steering wheel the car will go into “overdrive” mode where it will produce an extra 10hp for 20-seconds. A bit like the Porsche Sports-Chrono pack then. In my opinion, it’s a complete gimmick, why can’t the car have 286hp all the time?
The Kona N hits 60 in just under 5 seconds which isn’t too bad for a car of this size with that sort of power. It’s also bizarrely front-wheel-drive and that is strange since this is a crossover and it is meant to have AWD. It isn’t so much of a bad thing, in all honesty, the car still handles great and all just you would have thought that it would’ve been AWD.
The engine sounds quite spicy. You get your pops and bangs of course which will make any boy racer smile. Cabin noise is quite high due to a reduction of insulation etc, but it’s a performance car what do you expect? It isn’t unbearable, you can easily live with it.
The top speed is 149 mph which is also pretty good for a car of this size and power. Crossovers and SUVs tend to have a lower top speed since they do become slightly unstable at higher speeds.
No Manual Option.
Some people will be disappointed about this, but it really isn’t a big deal. The Kona N features an 8-speed Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) gearbox which is very quick. That gearbox is one of the reasons why this crossover can do a 0-60 of under 5 seconds with ease.
It’s a slick gearbox, and it also means that the car comes with silver paddles behind the driver’s wheel. You also get a nice gear-shifter too, and it looks similar to the one used in the older VW cars. It’s nice to see Hyundai have used something more mechanical than the buttons or whatever they are in newer cars from VW etc. The proper mechanical automatic shifter in the Hyundai is just so much more satisfying to use.
There wouldn’t be any point in offering this car with a manual transmission in North America, since the stick-shift is not a very popular choice whatsoever. It could be offered in Europe, but we will have to wait and see.
It’s Good To Drive.
The Kona N may be front-wheel drive and have raised suspension, but despite all of that it is decent to drive. The low-profile tires make the ride harsher but they sure the car handles better. The suspension is stiff which makes the handling so much sharper. There are hints of torque steer but that is expected from a front-wheel-drive car with this sort of power.
The steering feels somewhat lively though it could be a tad quicker. One of the best parts of the Kona N though is the childish turbo whistles which are guaranteed to put a smile on your face. The exhaust is properly spicy and it sure is a proper boy racer car.
The Kona N is definitely a better car to drive than some of its rivals. The BMW X2 M35i is plagued by a dull Aisin gearbox and the Audi SQ2 is also a tad dull. The VW T-Roc R is a proper rival, and that is also AWD and a smidge quicker. It’s also a tad more expensive.
To Conclude:
The Kona N is a great-looking little car. Get it in the right spec and it looks stupidly aggressive. Is it aggressive to drive? Somewhat yes since the exhaust sounds crazy, there are turbo noises and the suspension is firm. However, torque steer and sluggish steering do let this car down.
The gearbox is very good and is one of the reasons the Kona N is so quick to 60. It’s probably got the best gearbox in comparison to all of its competitors. Road and wind noise is pretty high which can be an issue on long motorway drives, but it isn’t unbearable. Overall, the Kona N is a fantastic little car, and 100% you should consider one. It’s fast, spacious, somewhat cheap, and also practical. Prices have not been released yet, but expect the Kona N to be around $35,000 to $40,000.