David Booth: A whole bunch of people of people are going to like this car. Scratch that. A whole bunch of people are going to love this car.
And what’s not to love? 276 horsepower, suspension firm enough to fling through hairpins, and traction out the wazoo, Hyundai’s first ever Kona N is a legitimate hot rod. It looks like a sports car, handles like a sports car, and damned if it doesn’t sound like one too. Like I said, a whole lotta people are gonna love this car.
Unfortunately, the 2022 Hyundai Kona N also leaves me confused. Actually, fully bewildered. As in too many buttons and not nearly enough patience
Normally, I’m not such a complete luddite. Given enough time, I can wade through submenus with the worst of ‘em. And given a manual, I can usually figure out the most difficult of launch control systems or infotainment system. Oh, some might try my patience but I almost always can get through the basics without, you know, having to call in a Millennial.
Not the Kona. At least not this Kona. You see, first there’s a mode control button on the centre console that lets you toggle between eco, normal, sport. Normal enough. But then there are two buttons with more electronic controls on the steering wheel. Both are marked “N” and painted blue. One initially seemed to be nothing more than duplicate for the console mounted mode selector, but then on further exploration, there’s more features in there. More than that, my significant other, though not a Millennial, is younger — significantly younger — and thus is more computer competent, says that it’s customizable.
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
And then there’s the N Grin button, which, to justify its rather juvenile name, claims to engage an overboost function that lets loose a 10-hp increase in peak power for 20 seconds. I say claims because 286-hp is indistinguishable from 276 in all but side-by-side comparisons or timed acceleration runs. In other words, the primary function of these buttons seems to be to keep Millennial and GenZ’s short attention spans occupied rather than providing any over-arching performance advantage.
Nadine Filion: Well, let me tell you that this 10-hp increase, pair with the launch control, is promising the 0-100km/h in 5.5 seconds. But you know what’s funny? The Millennials lucky enough to have driven one of the (still) rare Hyundai Konas N on our Canadian roads were telling me that yes, they loooooved the car — so you were right about this.
But not for, as you think, the Gran-Turismo-complexity of all the customizing possibilities. No, they loooved it for… its light-washed-blue colour and its sound. Tout simplement. In fact, when I asked those Youngsters about the N Grin button you mentioned, they didn’t know about its 20 second boost — nor the fact that between each boost episode, the system requires a not-so-sporty 40-second break.
They also knew nothing about those very visible N-Blue buttons on the steering wheel that are acting in tandem to be, depending on your personalization choice, or your start-stop chrono, or your #1 and #2 custom drive mode. It’s a shame they didn’t know, because in all the sport cars offered on the market — from “pocket-rockets” like this Hyundai’s N up to the hypercars you’re testing, Mister Motor Mouth — I don’t recall having seen such a plethora of customization options.
Did you know can program up to three modes for eight components: the engine, the steering, the suspension, the transmission, the e-LSD, the ESC stability system, the exhaust sound, even the head-up display? The best part of all of this? Those possibilities do make a real difference, sending more feeling to the steering and even transforming the electronically controlled suspension from moderately uncomfortable to the kind of firm damping that, though punishing, is just what the doctor ordered when the road gets twisty.
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
DB: Yes, the handling seems fine, though to be honest, I did not skid a wheel in anger nor late brake for a hairpin with any kind of deliberation. That said, I hope that I do get a chance to ‘track’ this latest N-ified Hyundai. I do like me a hot hatch, especially one with an electronically-controlled limited slip front differential that Hyundai call “Corner carving.” Give me some of that!
What I did manage to exercise was the little turbocharge four. Never mind that cock-a-mamie N Grin button and the fact that it only adds 10 ponies; this little 2.0L is a good ‘un. It revs, it snorts, and most of all it goes. These 276 horses is plenty in a small, sporty hatch, and this one blazes through the gears like the Dickens.
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
Speaking of which, said transmission is an eight-speed manumatic. It’s a speedy affair, much more satisfying than any manual transmission would be. I know we’re all supposed to worship the ‘engagement’ of a manual stick, but, personally, I’m more engaged when the revs are screaming hard and the bloody transmission is shifting twice as fast as I can.
The Kona N’s 2.0T is also aurally pleasing. Despite having a chunky amount of torque down low — 289 pound-feet of twist at just 2,100 rpm — the little beast is happiest above five grand when it just sings. Hyundai even claims something called Afterburn Sound which, for all intents and purposes, is them not taking pains to reduce the pop, crackle, and bangs that always occur in a high-boost Turbo’s exhaust tract. It’s not so loud that neighbours will petition you not to start it up before 8 a.m. (that’s happened with a few of my testers). Nonetheless, it’s a sonic pleasure, one, I’ll remind everyone, we’d better enjoy while we have the chance.
NF: Speaking of enjoying stuff while we still have the chance: I know you prefer those modern dual clutch Speedy-Gonzales transmissions, but I can’t help regretting the fact that a manual six-speed with its rev-match doesn’t grace the Kona N, although available on the Hyundai Elantra N.
I also dislike that the Kona N is not a rear- or all-wheel-drive vehicle. The N remains a basic front-driver, with some kind of “snow/deep-snow/mud/sand” modes along with that e-differential. But while all that may be better than nothing, it’s not much good when the roads turn winter.
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
I had the bad luck to be driving the N in the last of 2022’s incessant snow squalls. I knew its performance Pirelli P-Zero (235/40R19) tires, as slick as hockey pucks on ice, wouldn’t be of much help, but, even after patiently trying many traction-control combinations — then disengaging (most of) the ESC — the Kona, well, wouldn’t move. In fact, through the entire gamut of mode controls, I couldn’t really sense any noticeable difference in its ability to extricate itself from its temporary (because it melted the next day) snowy grave. A full set of snows are going to be mandatory for this little beast.
Again, I’m thinking that although all those customization possibilities are really cool (imagine, you can choose your rpm level for the launch control!), they are “Trop, c’est comme pas assez,” as we say in French. I believe most of the drivers — young or not so young — will just stick to the basics: the great pop-and-bang sound and the style of this “blue performance with red-sport accents” hatchback on steroids.
DB: Speaking of styling, my one gripe with the N is that, in going with the supposedly more upscale body-coloured fender flares, it robs the Kona of the distinctiveness of the base car. I really like, for instance, how the base Kona’s black plastic fender protrusions also wrap around the rear taillights and how substantial the front versions are as well. That distinction — and novelty — is gone as soon as you paint all the bits the same colour. Indeed, to my eye, the base Kona not only looks, as I said, more distinctive but also more aggressive which is, I am pretty sure, supposed to be the N’s purview.
2022 Hyundai Kona N Photo by Nadine Filion
NF: Well, you just saved yourself close to $20,000 — the price gap between a base Hyundai Kona (from $24,055) and a Kona N (one fully-equipped trim at $41,955). And still, you’ll be in one of the most pratico-pratique little well-equipped vehicles in the segment. Indeed, the Kona, N or no-N, has perfect exterior dimensions (read: nimble/maneuverable), with enough cargo space behind the rear seats for the daily usage, comfortable suede N-line sport seats, and security items usually not seen on such subcompact models.
DB: Well, if I could get the N version without all the silly buttons — or if you promised to program them all for me — it would be at the top of my list for hot hatches. That engine surely does sound vroomy.
Keyword: SUV Review: 2022 Hyundai Kona N