2024 Hyundai Kona N Line: What goes up

2024 Hyundai Kona N Line AWD: Big fun, small package?

Price: $33,695 as tested. Floor mats for $210 were the only option.

Conventional wisdom: Motor Trend likes the “smoother transmission, larger rear seat and cargo area, high style,” but not that “the turbo you want costs $$$, far cheaper alternatives exist,” or that there’s a “performance drop-off compared to its predecessor.”

Marketer’s pitch: “The mighty SUV that does it all.”

Reality: It’s bigger and mighty enough for Pennsylvania hills, but it also can be mighty pricey.

What’s new: The small Hyundai Kona SUV received a redesign for 2024, growing larger and adding an EV model. On the plus side, every trim level has an all-wheel-drive option.

Earlier, I had a chance to preview several vehicles in a South Carolina debut. But this time I was piloting the Kona around familiar stomping grounds for a week — complete with mountains — to get a real feel for a vehicle.

Competition: Buick Encore, Chevy Trailblazer, Kia Soul, Mazda CX-30, Subaru Crosstrek, Toyota Corolla Cross, Volkswagen Taos, and many more.

Up to speed: The Kona N Line and Limited have the more powerful engine. They squeeze 190 horsepower from a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, and it gets to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds, according to Car and Driver. (The Kona N that produced 276 horses for 2023 is gone from the lineup for this year; a Hyundai spokesperson demurred when I asked if it would return.)

In our last Kona episode, we drove around that flatlands of South Carolina’s Low Country, with no chance to try the little SUV on real hills. So the home-based test came in handy: When challenged by an on-ramp to a long uphill stretch, the Kona N Line fell right into place with traffic, never giving me fears that it wouldn’t keep up.

The test vehicle’s power seemed a little wonky at first; it took me a couple days to get used to the Kona driving experience. Even though it’s bigger, it’s still a small car with a small engine and hops around like one.

Lesser models get a turboless 2-liter four that makes 147 horsepower. An EV model is also available.

Shifty: The 8-speed transmission follows the pattern set by the Ioniq 5 — a twisty on the tree. The steering column stalk twists counterclockwise for Reverse and clockwise for Drive; it’s the best of the new gear selectors out there.

Drivers can control the gear selection while driving via paddles, but the vehicle likes to take the reins a lot. I didn’t notice any substantial power gain by picking my own gears.

On the road: Winding roads were also left out by the earlier Palmetto State test.

On the more slalom-like roads of Pennsylvania, the Kona started off not exactly fun to drive and stayed that way. It goes where you point it, but it feels like old-school Hyundai — a little loose and unimpressed by your attempts to guide it.

Still, there’s a bit of fun to be had because of the vehicle’s small size. You can feel a little excitement on the curves but mostly because it’s tall and there’s a lot of lean.

Driver’s Seat: The seat feels on the narrow side but is mostly comfortable. Mrs. Passenger Seat thought the seat was super comfortable, but I found my lumbar had just one kidney poker in it. And this was without any long trips during test week.

The gauges are straight from the Hyundai playbook and are clear and easy to adjust and follow.

Friends and stuff: Rear seat passengers enjoy a higher ride, a step above the front. The seat itself is not uncomfortable, although the seat back leans backward fairly angularly, and there’s no way to adjust it. Nor is there fore and aft movement.

Fortunately, legroom, headroom, and foot room are all pretty nice.

Cargo space is 25.5 cubic feet behind the rear seat and 63.7 with the seat folded.

Play some tunes: The 12.3-inch touchscreen is not a bad size, although a little small these days. It looks larger because the screen is all tied into the dashboard gauges.

Knobs control volume and tuning, buttons get you from mode to mode, and everything else happens in the touchscreen.

It takes seven clicks to get from CarPlay to stereo tone adjustment, which is seven chances to take your eyes off the road. After all that, sound from the system only rises to about a B+ or A-.

Keeping warm and cool: Toggles control all the main functions. The digital readout is fairly easy to see and is separate from the touchscreen. Buttons control the rest of the operations.

Fuel economy: The previous driver and I together averaged about 26 miles per gallon, which is about standard for these compact boxes.

Where it’s built: Ulsan, South Korea

How it’s built: The Hyundai Kona gets a predicted reliability rating of 2 out of 5 from Consumer Reports.

In the end: The Hyundai Kona is not bad, but Subaru Crosstrek, Toyota Corolla Cross, and Mazda CX-30 offer nice options for less money.