HYUNDAI’S KONA is the lofty, lifted SUV crossover of the popular i30 hatch. In Hyundai’s lineup, it sits between the new, smaller Venue and stalwart family option, the Tucson. Introduced in Australia in 2017 the Kona currently on sale is still in its first generation, however, it brought with it plenty of new technology and design which remains current in 2020.
This overview covers the normal Kona range, if you’d like to read up on the Kona Electric click here.
What’s the price and what do you get?
The Kona kicks off from $24,000 plus on-road costs for the GO 2WD (2.0L) or $25,500+ORC for the Active. It goes up to $30,000+ORC for the Elite and $36,000+ORC for the Highlander. That’s the top-spec version. The AWD variants with the 1.6L turbocharged motor start at $27,500+ORC for the Go, $29,000+ORC for the Active, $33,500+ORC for the Elite and $39,500+ORC for the Highlander.
Premium paint adds $595 across the line-up and the two-tone roof on Elite and Highlander costs $295.
Standard inclusions include AEB, forward collision warning, lane-keeping assist and alloy wheels on all but the base Go variant. Go and Active get a 7.0-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity while Elite and Highlander have a larger 8.0-inch unit. A raft of extras such as leather seating trim, heated and electrically adjustable front seats, sunroof, automatic headlights and wipers, parking sensors and dual-zone climate control are also available.
What’s the interior like?
Like the i30, there’s a tablet-style infotainment screen mounted on top of the dashboard and, just like in that car it doesn’t look like it’s been tacked onto the dashboard. Below are the climate controls (only single-zone climate control is available on Kona) with all the major controls within easy reach.
It looks nice and is functional, though some materials used in the Kona Highlander’s cabin don’t feel quite as premium as those in the top-spec i30. But rather than detract from aesthetics, it actually adds to the rough and tumble image Hyundai is trying to create for this thing.
And, there’s still plenty of soft-touch and high-quality plastics, and the leather seats on the Highlander feel good quality and, of course, as much as brands like Volkswagen would never admit it, Hyundai’s managed to match them for build quality and material choice.
What’s the passenger space like?
Vision from the front seat, right around the vehicle, is good. And the reversing camera offers dynamic lines and a good field of view.
The rear seat has a 60:40 split-fold feature and there are ISOFIX mounts for the two outboard seats. Thanks to a high hip point, climbing in and out of the back seat is easy and kids shouldn’t have a problem clambering into the back. There’s no rear air vent, regardless of the variant you choose, but there is ducting under the front seats that blows warm or cold air into the back and relative to the force of the fan speed in the front.
Boot space measures 361 litres which grows to 1143 litres with the rear seat folded. The boot is a good shape and on-par with key competitors, like the Subaru XV.
What’s under the bonnet?
There are two engines and transmissions on offer for Kona in Australia, including a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol making 110kW and 180Nm of torque mated to a six-speed automatic and a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder making 130kW and 265Nm of torque, mated to a seven-speed DCT. Kona can be had in either two- or all-wheel drive configuration. Fuel consumption ranges from 6.7-7.2L/100km depending on the variant. Both engines are Euro V compliant.
What’s it like on the road?
The Kona eats up the worst bumpy roads (particularly handy on gravel) and feels nice at around-town speeds…and even better as the speeds rise on a good road. There’s a depth to the suspension tune that allows you to really lean on in corners, and this might sound odd when talking about a compact SUV but it’s the case that the quicker you go the better it feels. There’s very little bodyroll and the high-speed damping tune is impressive. Mid-corner bumps are dealt with well and it’s an all-round comfortable ride.
It’s an impressive, flexible ride for an SUV, and the Kona is right at the pointy end of the segment for its performance, ride and handling.
What about safety?
Hyundai offers its Smart Sense active safety system as standard on Elite and Highlander variants and as a cost-option on entry-level Elite, it includes: autonomous emergency braking covering pedestrians between 8-64km/h and cars up to 160km/h, blind spot monitoring which operates above 30km/h, rear cross traffic alert, lane keeping assist which operates on two levels, one reactive and one proactive, both work above 60km/h only. There’s also driver attention warning and high beam assist.
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