{"id":22838,"date":"2018-09-13T11:49:11","date_gmt":"2018-09-13T15:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=22838"},"modified":"2018-09-13T11:49:11","modified_gmt":"2018-09-13T15:49:11","slug":"payne-hyundai-kona-is-nutty-outside-meaty-inside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/payne-hyundai-kona-is-nutty-outside-meaty-inside","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Hyundai Kona is nutty outside, meaty inside"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kona<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For those of us who mourned the passing from the American market this year of the defiantly funky Nissan Juke, there is good news \u2014\u00a0the Hyundai Kona<\/a>\u00a0is here.<\/p>\n

The frog-eyed, multi-colored, fun-to-drive Juke was an early entrant in the subcompact ute-stakes along with other quirkboxes like the Kia Soul, Nissan Cube and Scion xB. The Juke thrilled us with its taut chassis, 188 horses, and\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0um \u2014\u00a0unique wardrobe.\u00a0Remember the mustard interior<\/a>?<\/p>\n

But as we Yanks have\u00a0gone whole-hog for SUVs, the subcompact class is no longer an outlier but a full-blown, entry-level mainstream class.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now populated by respectable five-doors like the Ford Ecosport, Honda HR-V, Subaru Crosstrek\u00a0and Chevy Trax. These latest cute-utes carry\u00a0familiar family DNA. Even Nissan has gotten the mainstream fever by ditching the alternative R&B Juke box for the more mainstream classical Kicks.<\/p>\n

I get it. Mass audiences require a broader taste. No mainstream station survives on a steady diet of Devo. Ya\u00a0gotta play the Beatles and Springsteen and Swift. Is there still room in subcompact utes for outrageous?<\/p>\n

Well, slip into a Lime Twist Hyundai Kona,\u00a0crank up \u201cWhip It\u201d\u00a0<\/a>on Apple CarPlay, dial in all-wheel drive, and let\u2019s play in the twisties.<\/p>\n

Whip it! Whip it good!<\/em><\/p>\n

To be honest the sub-ute class is hardly devoid of character despite the dropouts. The class has a bit of everything from the aforementioned mainstreamers to the athletic Mazda CX-3 to the funkadelic Toyota CH-R.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a wild, wild west segment,\u201d says Hyundai chief engineer Mike O\u2019Brien. \u201cIt\u2019s all over the place in size and capability. What is the ideal set of attributes?\u201d<\/p>\n

For Hyundai, the ideal \u2013 to squeeze my music metaphor one more time \u2013 is to borrow from different genres to create a pleasing whole. The Kona is classic Hyundai set to a hip-hop dance beat.<\/p>\n

Yes, Hyundai. The conservative Korean brand took a backseat to brother Kia over the last year as the latter redefined itself as a sexy, upscale brand with the introduction of the sensational performance Kia Stinger sedan.<\/div>\n

But where Kia\u2019s halo car trickles down to smaller fish like the Forte and Sportage, Hyundai\u2019s halos bubble upwars like a ground spring. Like Mazda and its MX-5 Miata.<\/p>\n

Credit elves like O\u2019Brien, a serious motorhead restoring his own open-wheel race car, who has a passion for performance and has used every tool in Hyundai\u2019s box to make Kona worthy. Kona joins the three-door Veloster quirkster I reviewed in June as entry-level, $20,000-somethings that introduce customers to the brand with funk \u2018n\u2019 spunk. They share drivetrains, value\u00a0and attitude. Lots of attitude.<\/p>\n

My Kona tester looked like a supersized Hot Wheels tester with its lime paint job and show, five-spoke wheels. The front end isn\u2019t shy either, adopting a three-shelf headlight stack \u2013 last seen on the 2014 Jeep Cherokee \u2013 that glues on the running lights where the headlights usually sit.<\/p>\n

The rear is no less radical with two stacks of taillights framing the license-plate stamped rear hatch.<\/p>\n

With the white, front running lights ablaze next to a gaping, Veloster-like grille, the Kona looks like\u00a0the demonic Chernabog from Disney\u2019s \u201cFantasia\u201d\u00a0<\/a>(look it up). Which would fit with O\u2019Brien\u2019s anthropomorphic description of the styling as \u201curban smart armor that shows the bones \u2014\u00a0the exoskeleton of the vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Makes ol\u2019 froggy Juke seem downright cute by comparison.<\/p>\n

The Hyundai\u2019s slashing lines and heaping dose of cladding does indeed give the appearance of skin stretched over a carcass. There is no mistaking this car on the road \u2013 if you can keep up with it.<\/p>\n

The Kona may have spent a lot of time dressing up in front of a mirror, but it put in the hours at the gym, too. Although its sits higher off the ground than cousin Veloster, Kona is eager to tackle curvy roads. It is quite comfortable chasing other athletes in the class like CX-3 and CH-R, but Hyundai has gone them one better \u2013 it\u2019s has provided the driveline to match its chassis ambitions.<\/p>\n

Where Toyota and Mazda stop with 2.5-liter\u00a0145-horse four-bangers, Hyundai offers the same pair of engines offered with the sporty Veloster \u2013 a 143-horse, 2.0-liter 4-banger and a\u00a0stonkin\u2019 175-horse, 193-torque, 1.6-liter turbo.<\/p>\n

My tester came equipped with the latter, turning the lime into a red hot chili pepper out of corners, the smooth, seven-speed automatic downshifting in sync with my lead foot. This turbo is mated to a standard all-wheel drive system \u2014 standard, because that\u2019s what you want out of an SUV, after all.<\/p>\n

What I wanted was maximum traction with the four\u2019s pony-power, so I kept the system set to \u201cfull-time all-wheel drive.\u201d<\/p>\n

This lovely drivetrain is controlled from a startlingly mature cockpit. The transition from the fan boy exterior to the cabin is abrupt. Green accents are tastefully distributed around the push-button starter and console, but otherwise the inside is all grown up with iPad-like touch-screen and silver-ringed instrument dials. Console space is ample, the seats comfortable, the value impressive.<\/p>\n

Like fellow mainstream brands, Hyundai loaded my $29,775 tester with electronic features that would challenge some luxury marques costing twice as much.<\/p>\n

Automatic windshield wipers and\u00a0high beams, smartphone connectivity (who needs a nav system?), head-up display, auto braking, blind-spot assist…<\/p>\n

(Pause to catch breath)<\/em><\/p>\n

… dual-climate control, heated seats, sun roof, Amazon Echo remote start\/commands, and best-in-class 10-year\/100,000 mile drivetrain warranty. Options aside, buyers at the starting price of just $20,480, get good fundamentals like best-in-class cargo room.<\/p>\n

The Kona \u2013 which at first appears a green-hair\u00a0Dennis Rodman shock jock \u2013 turns out to be a well-rounded, Grant Hill all-star.<\/p>\n

While Mrs. Payne wouldn\u2019t be caught deal in Lime Twist, she did concede that the loaded Kona reminded her of her equally value-rich Subaru Impreza hatchback. All-wheel-drive, Apple CarPlay, heated seats \u2014\u00a0all the stuff she counts on day-to-day.<\/p>\n

And she wasn\u2019t bothered by the higher seating position, perhaps because \u2013 like her lower Subaru \u2013 the Kona is so well screwed together.<\/p>\n

The Kona is reminiscent of the Subaru Crosstrek, the Impreza hatch\u2019s body double \u2013 just raised a couple inches and layered with fender-cladding to give off that coveted crossover vide. Paint the Kona\u00a0 more conventional Surf Blue or Thunder Gray and it might almost seem conventional compared to the more conservative Subaru.<\/p>\n

But for those of you in Juke withdrawal, you\u2019ll want the Lime Twist.<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch \u201cCar Radio with Henry Payne\u201d from noon-2 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.<\/em><\/p>\n

2018\u00a0Hyundai Kona<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vehicle type: Front-engine, front- and all-wheel drive, five-passenger SUV<\/p>\n

Price: $20,480 base ($29,775\u00a0Ultimate AWD as tested)<\/p>\n

Powerplant: 2.0-liter inline-4 cylinder; 1.6-liter Turbo-4<\/p>\n

Power: 147 horsepower, 132 pound-feet torque (2.0-liter);\u00a0175 horsepower, 195 pound-feet torque (1.6-liter Turbo-4)<\/p>\n

Transmission: 6-speed automatic (2.0-liter); 7-speed, dual-clutch\u00a0automatic (1.6-liter)<\/p>\n

Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.67 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed: 135 mph<\/p>\n

Weight: 3,344 pounds (Ultimate AWD Turbo-4 as tested)<\/p>\n

Fuel economy: EPA fuel economy: 25 city\/30 highway\/27\u00a0combined (4WD 2.0-liter);\u00a026 city\/29\u00a0highway\/27\u00a0combined (4WD 1.6-liter)<\/p>\n

Report card<\/p>\n

Highs: Versatile cargo space; fun to flog<\/p>\n

Lows: Quirky styling; more console cubbies, please<\/p>\n

Overall: 4\u00a0stars<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  For those of us who mourned the passing from the American market this year of the defiantly funky Nissan Juke, there is good news \u2014\u00a0the Hyundai Kona\u00a0is here. The frog-eyed, multi-colored, fun-to-drive Juke was an early entrant in the subcompact ute-stakes along with other quirkboxes like the Kia Soul, Nissan Cube and Scion xB. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}