CAR OF THE WEEK: Kona Hybrid gets a stylish update

BY BRIAN BYRNE

THIS is the second new generation Kona I have reviewed since the car was launched here in the summer, with the reason for revisiting being the powertrain — the hybrid that runs this one is expected to be the biggest seller of the nameplate here.

Kona has grown. Longer, wider, and taller than its predecessor, it comes with a longer wheelbase also and a substantially bigger boot capacity. Both of which last are likely to be appreciated by the family buyer. So will the style, which has much more visual impact than the first model, that in all honesty was kind of meh. The bonnet is high, with a streamlined but purposeful look. If the whole front looks rather EV, that’s because the designers worked that version up first, adapting it later for the petrol and hybrid versions.

The headlights styling is eye-catching and incorporated unusually in the very large wheel-arch protective moulding. There’s further strength to the overall aesthetic along the profile view with more of the same protecting moulding in the style elements. There’s a very clean rear and tailgate treatment, while the typography of the Kona name across the tailgate makes it exceptionally distinctive.

Inside, I appreciated the highly-integrated information displays. And the use of proper buttons, switches and knobs for the climate and volume controls is welcome, rather than over-reliance on distracting touchscreens. Though technically a B-segment crossover, the car is roomy for those up front, and is also so for people in the back, providing virtually C-segment space. As somebody often challenged in getting in and out of cars easily because of their low driver door openings, I was very happy with the headroom in this one.

The review car had the 140hp 1.6 petrol-hybrid with 6-speed automatic powering the front wheels, as against the 120hp 1.0 petrol with manual gearbox in my previous Kona outing. There is also now a fully electric version which I’ll get to in the new year. I found the hybrid, based on a gasoline direct injection motor along with a battery-motor drive, as smooth in operation as I could wish for even with the potential for a 6-speed dual-clutch auto to be a bit jerky. It wasn’t, a credit to Hyundai’s in-house transmission builders. Worth noting though is an acceleration figure of more than 11 seconds which isn’t exactly trashing away from the traffic lights. (Maybe I’m just getting spoilt with the speed off the line of all the electrics I’ve been driving recently.)

The car has a full set of driver assists, though with very annoying associated beeps and bongs. Every time you start the car it takes 10 swipe-or-tap actions on the screen to turn off the most irritating ones. The lane-keeping assist can be paused by a button on the steering wheel, but there’s an ‘attention’ gizmo operated by a camera on the steering column that beeps angrily if you take your eyes off straight-ahead for even a couple of moments. I tried covering it with black tape so as to avoid delving through the menus every time I started the car, but then every kilometre or so it multiply beeped and flashed up a warning ‘camera obscured’.

All that said, Kona was still my personal category choice in the recent Irish Car of the Year 2024 awards. It didn’t win the category, Hyundai’s larger Ioniq 6 taking the honours in category and overall.