GALLERY: Hyundai Kona on the road, with interior

Hyundai revealed its new Kona yesterday, but no interior images were attached with the press release. It’s out now, and we get to see the new B-segment SUV on the road in Europe, and its cabin.

To recap, the Kona is 4,165 mm long and 1,800 mm wide, which makes it 129 mm shorter than a Honda HR-V, but 28 mm wider. Its roof is also 55 lower to the ground than the Honda, which should give the Korean a good stance. The wheelbase is 2,600 mm, which is just 10 mm short of space champ HR-V. Boot space is 361 litres, expandable to 1,143 litres with the rear seats folded.

The Kona’s design is its main selling point, and it’s suitably funky. The bold face sports slit-like LED daytime running lights sitting separately above the LED main beams. These flank the new corporate Cascading Grille that made its debut on the new i30. Fog lamps on a narrow lower intake make it three tiers of grilles and lights. The rear adopts the same tiered layout for the lamps. Body “armour” and a two-tone “floating roof” also feature. There will be 10 colour options.

The small SUV can be had with a 2.0 litre MPI Atkinson engine with 149 PS/179 Nm (paired to a six-speed auto, it does 0-100 km/h in 10 seconds and 194 km/h max) or a Gamma 1.6 litre T-GDI with 177 PS, 265 Nm and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. Thus equipped, the Kona gets up to 100 km/h in just 7.7 seconds on its way to 210 km/h.

In addition to the 1.6 turbo, Europeans can also opt for the downsized 1.0 litre T-GDI three-cylinder engine with a six-speed manual. This tiny turbo is good for 120PS, 172 Nm, 0-100 km/h in 12 seconds and 181 km/h max. A 1.6 litre turbodiesel (115 PS 6MT, 136 PS 7DCT) will also be available in the continent at a later point.

Different rear suspension systems have been developed for both 2WD and 4WD, to deliver a comfortable ride and “sporty handling” either way. The rear subframe receives new bush structure for the 2WD set-up, with a “high-stiffness” torsion beam, while the 4WD configuration features a dual-arm multi-link system.

The Kona will come with active safety kit such as Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, which uses a front camera and radar to brake autonomously if needed. Three other systems also use the camera – Lane Keeping Assist, High Beam Assist and Driver Attention Warning to detect fatigue. The radar assists with Blind-Spot Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collison Warning.

As you can see here, the interior of the Kona will have stitching and trim that matches the exterior colour. It isn’t as radical as the exterior, but is neat and tidy, with splashes of colour.

The Kona’s new head-up display is a Hyundai first. The Korean brand claims class-leading luminance and a generous eight-inch image size. An optional eight-inch infotainment system integrates all navigation and features, supporting both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The top infotainment system comes with a seven-year free subscription to LIVE services, offering real time weather, traffic and speed camera info, as well as points of interest. A Qi wireless inductive charging pad is optional.

Audiophiles will recognise the name. The Kona can be had with a Krell sound system featuring eight speakers – including two 20 mm tweeters, four 160 mm woofer speakers, one 100 mm centre speaker and a 200 mm subwoofer. The eight-channel amp delivers 45 watts per channel.

As SUVs are all the rage these days, the Kona is an important part of Hyundai’s target to be the leading Asian brand in Europe by 2021. Its larger sibling Tucson is Hyundai’s fastest selling SUV in Europe, with more than 200,000 units moved since its launch in 2015. Like what you see?

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