2022 HYUNDAI KONA N - Should VW Be Worried?

Kona N, GTI or Golf R?

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#KonaN #HyundaiKonaN #HotHatch

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This is the Hyundai Kona N, a car we’re familiar with during our time sending it around ATL motorsports park earlier this year.

It was surprisingly at-home on the track, but now we’ve spent a week with it on public roads and here’s what we thought

The good thing is that we’ve been all over the Hyundai N lineup

The veloster, on street and on track
The Elantra, on street and on track
And the Kona on track and a little on street

So we’re familiar with what we’ve got here, but in case you missed all those videos let’s recap the specifics

Under the hood you’ve got the 2.0T 4 cylinder from the N division making 276hp and 289 lbft or torque. But all Kona Ns are DCT which means they all get NGS which will bump your power output up to 286 for 20 seconds

From an engine and power perspective, you’ve got PLENTY of grunt.

It feels torquey and quick and sharp and like it wants to rev

I mean 0-60 in under 5 seconds in something at $35,000 isn’t too shabby

Ahh, but we did mention the DCT which is possibly my favorite DCT south of Porsche’s PDK. Again, it’s amazing to consider you get such afinely tuned gearbox for such little money

One of the places you save money, and importantly weight, is in the driveline

Performance-wise his kind of splits the difference between the GTI and the Golf R

But the Kona remains FWD

Now, you’re probably thinking that trusting 286 hp and 289 lbft to just the front wheels could get a little suspect

…yeah…i mean…there’s torque steer at full load, but like, it’s kinda fun!

It’s not like you’re doing FWD burnouts anytime you go near the throttle though. This Kona comes with, what Hyundai calls, their “corner-carving” N differential. It’s an LSD on the front and it actually does a VERY good job keeping power getting to the ground

It also helps that you’ve got Pirelli Pzero tires with loads of grip to keep that power on the pavement

The suspension is adaptive and keeps the chassis very neutral..at least for a subcompact “SUV”

The Elantra is the more organic feeling at the limit, but that’s what you’d expect with a lower center of gravity

What I wasn’t expecting was the amount of stiffness and cabin noise when you’re just cruising. This Kona does very well when you’re leaning on it, but that comes at the cost of a stiffer ride. And it’s sharp and light feeling because they haven’t layered in a bunch of sound deadening.

BTW:
But if you wanted a Kona that was soft and cushy and quiet you wouldn’t have gone with the N.

There’s an N-Line

There’s a normal Kona

Shoot, there’s even an electric Kona

Yes, the N is stiff and kinda loud, but you bought it because you wanted the high-performance one…and it is

This thing really starts at $34,200 ($2200 more than Elantra)
Only comes in 1 trim and only 4 colors (elantra 5)
White and sonic blue are a $400 option
And since it only comes with the DCT those paints are the only option
Topped out it’s then $34,600 ($800 more than Elantra
I would get the white, worth it
Only way to get rid of the red accents is to get red paint (lol)
I think it looks cool and aggressive up front
These are the wheels you get
More swoopy and less geometric than the Elantra
Wheelbase is shorter so dartier, but less refined ride (susp)
I don’t love the split taillight design, but cool, comes with diffuser, taillight bar, dual exhaust
Overall, I like the look a lot, just needs a body color wrapped front end

The interior won’t fool you into thinking its a Mercedes, but it’s 35 grand
The design is fitting of the personality
Simple, black, subtle details
Digital cluster
Big screen
Touch
ACP, AA (wired)
Performance readouts
Adjustment spider graphic
Under the screen you have hard buttons
And hard buttons to control climate
Beneath that, storage and wireless charger
Then shifter
Steering wheel
Blue buttons
Red button
No flat bottom
Seats
Comfy
Bolstered
Don’t Light up
Manual
NO SUNROOF
Rear seats
Less spacious
Any toys?
Trunk
Bigger, this is why you by this (5cuft more)
Seats fold without scaffolding blocking