2022 Hyundai Kona N: Absorbing all the road has to offer.
Price: $34,900. No options; it’s all there, except for a few accessories. Take it or leave it.
Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver liked the “engaging handling, smile-inducing overboost function, aggressive styling,” but not that it “looks meaner than it is, loud on the highway, ride verges on too stiff.”
Marketer’s pitch: “Why adventure and fun both have an N.”
Reality: A friskier frog.
Competition: There are plenty of similarly sized SUVs out there, but only the Mazda CX-30 turbo competes in the price range. Beyond that, it’s upgrade to the Volkswagen Golf R, Mini S Clubman, or other premium makes.
What’s new: Let’s put an end to the N confusion. The Kona has an N Line trim, but that’s just a pale imitation. This N goes all out for track time, with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four–cylinder engine.
All Konas are redesigned for 2022.
On the curves: In my first-ever Kona test, I received a bright green 2019 Hyundai Kona Ultimate AWD that I thought seemed quite frog-like, which I attributed to the color.
The fire engine red N provided for this test still felt like a frog, because it seemed so hoppy. The little hot rod flies over country roads, bouncing and jostling as the road shifts beneath.
But, still, the Kona N with what Hyundai calls the eLSD differential — perhaps there can be an eTimothy Leary upgrade? — is fun as anything out there, zigging and zagging with great aplomb, getting through the curves far faster than most vehicles of its ilk. Though I never saw plasticine porters with looking glass ties.
Up to speed: The Kona takes on Hyundai’s N power and definitely makes the most of it. The engine create 276 horsepower, and can be boosted to 286 using the red steering wheel button. The vehicle will rocket to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, according to Car and Driver.
Power is sent to the front wheels, so starting or accelerating from corners or curves can send too much power in the wrong direction and cause problems for the unskilled or inattentive.
Shifty: The Hyundai-Kia dual-clutch transmission has gained renown — or infamy, depending on your perspective — for harsh shifting. Gear changing is not quite abrupt but it is definitely not subtle.
The 8-speed transmission is shifted easily through the lever or paddle shifters.
Fuel economy: Buyers hunting for a small, fun vehicle with great fuel economy will have to keep hunting. While performing death-defying feats of automotive magic, Mr. Driver’s Seat registered 16 mpg on the car’s computer.
Later, on an 80-mile round trip in to Philadelphia and over Chester County country roads, I reset the computer and kept it in Eco mode. The Kona then moved up into acceptable territory, to 27 mpg, with an average of 24 overall.
On the road: Highway driving is comfortable enough, and normal road seams don’t get enhanced. But the Kona crashes into larger bumps with force enough to feel like you’ll lose some fillings.
Road noise is a real problem; the stereo has its work cut out for it.
Driver’s Seat: The Kona N Line cloth seats provided great support and comfort, and the upright position helps as well. The red rocket visited during a balmy July week, and the seats were nowhere near as sweaty as I feared — nice without having to mow down Brazilian rain forests to wrap them in dead cow.
The dial gauges are LED, and change format when shifted between Normal or Sport mode, and remain easy to follow all around.
Friends and stuff: The back seat is not nearly as bad as you’d expect for such a small SUV. Seat comfort is good, and headroom is of course excellent, because it’s so tall. Legroom is pretty good, as is foot room.
Cargo space is quite small, 45.8 cubic feet with the second row folded and 19.2 with the seat up.
Play some tunes: The Hyundai stereo system remains user friendly, with dials for volume and tuning, buttons to change through various modes, and a 10.25-inch touch screen for the rest. The touch screen never balked or slipped off to places unasked.
Sound from the Harman Kardon system is quite good, about an A-.
Keeping warm and cool: Dials control temperature and blower speed, and big clear buttons change the air source. The corner vents are round dials, a Mr. Driver’s Seat favorite, and the horizontal center vents actually take direction better than most.
Where it’s built: Ulsan, South Korea
How it’s built: Consumer Reports gives the regular Kona a 3 out of 5 for reliability, and the Electric a 2. No separate rating is offered for the N.
In the end: The Kona N is not for the fainthearted, and definitely provides for a fun time.
Those fuel economy numbers are depressing, though, and any electric and almost any hybrid will perform better and with fewer stops to the dead dinosaur station.
In fact, the 2022 Hyundai Kona Electric I tested was delightful with only about half the jostling, but both vehicles are missing a crucial small-car ingredient — all-wheel drive.
