Kona, the barbarian
HYUNDAI’S HOT CROSSOVER IS PACKED WITH GO-FASTER FEATURES
MY HYUNDAI summer is coming to an end after the Korean company launched a ridiculous number of new models during the last few months.
The latest is the Kona N which is a crossover using the powertrain from the i30N hot hatch, giving the car 276bhp.
It’s shorter than the i30N but taller, is front-wheel drive only and – unlike both the i20N and i30N – is not available with a manual gearbox. Instead there’s an eight-speed double clutch unit.
It’s quite likely that all three of these N models will be the last hot Hyundais to feature internal combustion engines. Certainly it seems as if Hyundai’s engineers felt this way, because they’ve thrown the lot at this car. There’s theatre, bad behaviour and lashings of drama.
We’re dealing with a seriously brisk machine here.
Top speed is 149mph and 0-62mph takes only 5.5sec. Another number you need to know is the Hyundai’s official fuel consumption of 33.2mpg.
I’m going to assume that anyone who buys a car this nuts – with its numerous go-faster driving modes – is going to want to give his or her Kona N a decent workout. If you do, you have no hope of seeing 33mpg. Mid 20s is more realistic and during my drive I saw the average dip into the teens – and I didn’t go mad. You’d imagine that turning a regular Kona into a hot one would involve dropping the ride height to bring the centre of gravity a bit lower. That hasn’t been done but there are extra welds to stiffen the shell and keep the suspension geometry accurate. There’s also a limited-slip differential, without which, this front-wheel-drive terrier would struggle for grip.
You can choose from Normal, Sport and Sport+ for the suspension settings.
All of them are very stiff, with Normal absolutely fine for brisk driving. Sport is too stiff and will have you bouncing off line on a bumpy road, and you might as well forget Sport+ completely.
You can also choose settings for the limited-slip diff (Sport is best) and also for the automatic gearbox. There’s even a Grin Mode that speeds up the changes. That’s what I meant by theatre earlier.
In reality the gearbox is so quick and slick that you can let it do its own selecting of ratios. That said, it’s fun to manually change down into a corner using the paddles because you get an automatic blip of the throttle and an accompanying rorty blast from the exhaust.
The i30N has analogue dials but the Kona N gets digital instruments. Flames flash around the rev counter when you fire up the engine and all manner of mad graphics appear when you’re in Sport modes. There’s hours of fun to be had experimenting with all of this.
Part of the test route Hyundai set out for us included a kart track. If you’ve ever raced around in a kart, you’ll know their tracks are tight and narrow, and the one we visited was no exception.
The Kona N was hysterical around it. Brake into a corner and the front end tucks in and the rear breaks away slightly to help you around.
The Kona N would not embarrass itself on a full-size circuit such as Donington but I think you’d get through the brakes quite quickly.
Prices for the Kona N start from £35,395 and since it’s extremely well equipped you’ll not need to spend much more.
The i20N is more my sort of car since being a small hatchback it’s lighter, nimbler and has more than adequate performance.
If, however, you love the crossover lifestyle and want a truly bonkers version of one, you’ll love this car.