Sonoma, CA – The idea of stuffing a lot of power in a subcompact mainstream crossover and giving it go-fast accessories may seem like an irrelevant idea on paper, but it’s one Hyundai has eagerly accepted to embrace. Nobody needs a near-300 horsepower Hyundai Kona, but we’re glad the darn thing exists, as it’s arguably one of the coolest vehicles we’ve driven this year.
Hyundai Canada invited us to Sonoma Raceway, in Northern California, to test out its latest creation. The Kona N is precisely that: a Kona – Hyundai’s tiny little crossover that’s been on the market since 2018 – that has been given the high-performance N treatment, like the Veloster and Elantra N. Is this some kind of South-Korean joke?
Serious Business: A Proper Performance Subcompact SUV
For a Kona to be dubbed a high-performance machine, Hyundai reinforced its chassis at key locations and gave it larger sway bars and additional roll bars. Hyundai admits it was quite the challenge to add these components around the Kona’s trunk area, as it wanted the Kona to remain utilitarian. That’s why there isn’t a gigantic red roll bar that blocks the rear seat opening like in the Elantra.
Power comes courtesy of Hyundai’s now ubiquitous turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. It’s good here for a stout 276 horsepower and 289 lb-ft of torque. However, that power figure climbs to 286 horsepower when activating the Grin Shift feature, which yields overboosting for 20 seconds as well as more rapid shifts from the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Yes, the Kona N is front-wheel drive only, but Hyundai made sure to fit it with a limited slip differential. Suspension and brakes were also retuned, with larger discs, meatier calipers and adaptive dampers wrapped in stiffer springs. The Kona N comes standard with Pirelli P Zero performance tires.
Out on the track, we were able to compare the Kona N to its bigger sibling, the 2022 Elantra N reviewed here. It was interesting to spot some differences in the way it handled compared to the sedan from which it borrows most of its components. The Hyundai Kona is a much more forgiving machine at high speed, one that won’t necessarily kick out the rear during throttle lift off. It has a considerably more neutral feel, allowing it to be pushed to its limits with ease and confidence.
This tiny utility vehicle simply keeps on pulling, generating massive torque down low in the rev range while emitting one of the most amusing exhaust bangs this side of a Jaguar F-Pace SVR.
The driving position is also much more upright, adding to the sense of silliness, but also yielding a much better forward visibility, further enhancing the drivability. But the Kona’s shorter wheelbase does mean it’s a livelier machine, with quicker turn in and a tendency to want to rotate faster.
Power from the turbocharged engine is more than ample for the task and it’s relentless. This tiny utility vehicle simply keeps on pulling, generating massive torque down low in the rev range while emitting one of the most amusing exhaust bangs this side of a Jaguar F-Pace SVR, reviewed by the folks at Jalopnik. But while the automatic transmission clearly gets the job done out there on the track, we feel the Kona deserves a manual transmission. Hyundai says its platform was never designed for one.
It’s hard to figure out what kind of consumer would buy a Hyundai Kona N. We don’t exactly know what it’s up against ourselves. Yet, the sheer idea of the thing brings a smile to our faces. While Hyundai still hasn’t confirmed pricing for this thing, it’s obvious it’ll cost thousands of dollars less than anything with similar performance.
Perhaps a John Cooper Works Countryman or a Mercedes-AMG GLA are comparable vehicles, but none of them come close to the Kona’s mainstream price tag. Here’s to hoping Hyundai’s direct competitors also hop onto the performance subcompact SUV bandwagon, because these things are loads of fun.
If you’re in the market for other performance SUVs, check out our 2022 guide here.
