Hyundai Kona baby SUV driven
FIRST DRIVE Latest arrival to small SUV class is perfectly competent but offers little to stand out
THE onslaught of new small SUVS in British car dealerships shows little sign of abating. After the SEAT Arona and Citroen C3 Aircross, the Hyundai Kona is ready to follow its sister vehicle, the Kia Stonic (Page 35), into UK showrooms in the coming weeks.
‘Sister vehicle’ is actually a bit strong, though, because the Kona and Stonic actually sit on different platforms; Hyundai’s offering get its own, all-new chassis, while the Kia shares lots with the Rio and i20.
The Kona’s engine line-up comprises just two T-GDI petrol units for now. There’s a 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder motor with 118bhp and 175Nm of torque, and a 1.6 four-cylinder with 175bhp and 265Nm.
A 113bhp diesel is due next summer, and soon after it, there’ll be an all-electric version with up to 240 miles of range. The gearbox on the 1.0 is a six-speed manual, while the 1.6 comes with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic only. It also gets fourwheel drive and a more sophisticated rear suspension set-up (multi-link instead of a torsion beam). Plus it’s restricted to the top trim level, so it costs a fiver shy of £25,000.
Cheaper editions are available, thankfully. Entry-level S brings air-con, cruise control and DAB (albeit as part of a monochrome LCD infotainment set-up). SE gets you a seven-inch touchscreen system with Android Auto and Apple Carplay, while Premium brings keyless entry, dual-zone climate control, auto wipers and an even larger eight-inch infotainment display.
Premium SE is the 1.0 range-topper, with heated and cooled front (leather) seats, a head-up display and front parking sensors.
On the road, the Kona follows the trend of this market by demonstrating few vices – but equally little scope for enjoyment with it. The 1.0 engine has just about enough shove for most everyday situations,
although overtaking could be tricky if you drop out of what seems to be a pretty narrow powerband; Hyundai claims peak torque between 1,500rpm and 4,000rpm, but it feels like it starts about 700rpm higher than that. Other three-cylinder units on the market are a bit more forgiving – notably the 1.2 Puretech in the Citroen. The Kona’s transmission isn’t the slickest out there, either, but it’s quick enough as long as you’re positive with shifts.
The chassis is set up to understeer at anything approaching its limit, and it does – although in fairness, the front end hangs on gamely unless you really throw it at a corner at speed. But the steering is unusually heavy for a car of this type. The car stays pretty flat in corners, but the trade-off for this is a brittle ride on all but smooth surfaces; the rear end jolts over potholes and bridge expansion joints, and the Kona never quite settles down over the sort of patchwork tarmac that you tend to find at the edges of plenty of British roads. Our Premium Se-spec test car’s 18-inch wheels won’t have helped with this, admittedly.
The Kona is pretty quiet once it’s up to speed, as the characterful three-cylinder note fades away. Wind noise seems well isolated, too, so there’s not much of a rush from around the side mirrors.
Inside, it’s easy to get comfortable up front and there’s a well judged mix of materials. But the overall practicality is unremarkable; the Kona is trumped by the C3 Aircross for rear cabin space, and trails the Citroen and the Arona for boot capacity. Most versions of the Hyundai offer only 334 litres of load space, in fact, which is less than you’ll find in many modern superminis.