The 2022 Hyundai Kona N Review: Fun, Wild and Weird

Cars like the GTI and Honda Civic Type R are in the rock opera stage — still awesome, but very technical, sophisticated and self-consciously trying to hit the apex of their potential. The Hyundai N cars, in contrast, bring things back toward the smashing guitars and exploding drum kits stage.

The N cars are brash by design — catering to the heart more than the head. And while rivals can mellow out a bit and be civil. the Hyundais stride right up to (and probably beyond) the point where they could be tolerable daily drivers. The Kona N fits right in that mold; it's wild, interesting and charming…to a point.

The Kona N does moderate its throttle mapping, and the normal drive modes can be downright boring. I spent the first few minutes of my first drive frantically pressing the N button on the right side of the wheel to get the magic to start. I finally tried the left side. Then the infotainment screen flipped, the car roared to life — with more of a flat tone than the Veloster N — and immediately shot forward like a rocket.

Driving the Kona N spiritedly on back roads is fun. It’s super quick. You get grippy Pirelli summer tires (miraculously, still on my test car in November), relatively spot-on steering and a lot of feedback from the road. But unlike a GTI or a Type R, it doesn’t feel ironed over at all. You have a high center of gravity and a short wheelbase — 4.5 inches shorter than the Elantra N’s — which adds up to less stability. Normally=smoothed-out features like torque steer, body roll and tires scrambling for grip are readily apparent.

Still, my immediate inclination after wrestling it down my loop of curvy roads was to turn right and do it over again. (I opted to turn left and not leave my daughter stranded at daycare.)

The trouble with the Kona N is it’s deeply uncomfortable, even by hot hatch standards. The suspension is incredibly stiff. And there’s no Comfort Mode, only a slightly less jarring one. Your body jiggles around like a less extreme version of the porpoising that happened in F1 last season. Taking the Kona N down to Detroit for a date night, I had to engage all the softest setting and drive slowly in the right lane, as the car was giving my wife motion sickness.

In a word? Boring. Sports cars get leeway on interior quality. And Hyundai, trying to get this car to you for under $40,000, take advantage of that. There's one interior option, black, which is livened up only by the blue contrast trim. Materials feel cheap beyond the leather-wrapped steering wheel. Unlike the Veloster N, you do get a power driver's seat.

The Kona is quite small. Front seat space felt reasonably accommodating. But things tighten up in the rear. And the potential cargo space of 45.8 cubic feet does not offer you immense practicality.

You won’t have much fun on Hyundai’s Kona N configurator. It comes in one fully-loaded trim with a base MSRP for $34,200 (bumped to $34,700 for 2023). You can choose between four different colors. The Lunar White my tester had was a $400 option. The total price for my tester came to $35,845 with the non-negotiable $1,245 freight and handling charge.

Crossover alternatives to the Hyundai Kona N don’t really exist. BMW killed off the hot version of the X2, and I don’t see Honda countering with a bonkers HR-V Type R anytime soon. The Kona N buyer is probably being swayed away from an Elantra N ($32,650) internally and vehicles like the VW Golf GTI ($30,530) and Subaru WRX ($29,605).

The Kona N is a weird one on paper. It’s a small crossover geared toward enthusiasts — the precise enthusiasts who typically shun small crossovers.

After driving it, it's still pretty weird. I love that Hyundai tried to build a fun car like this. But it asks too much of you in everyday driving — which is most of the driving you do.

• Powertrain: Turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four; 8-speed "wet" dual-clutch transmission; FWD
• Horsepower: 276
• Torque: 289 lb-ft
  
• EPA Fuel Economy: 20 mpg city, 27 mpg highway
• Seats: 5
  
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