Hyundai Kona N Owner Not Happy With Ride, Loves Infotainment After One Year

What cars can you think of that cost roughly $35,000 new, can haul a lot of photography equipment, and can bring a smile to your face every day you drive it?

Well, in the opinion of one owner, the vehicle that checks all the aforementioned boxes is the Hyundai Kona N. And after one year of ownership of a 2022 model, he published his thoughts in a 12-minute-long YouTube video (embedded above) where he explains what he loves and hates about the Korean hot crossover.

The car was bought because the owner wanted something fun, as well as something practical, seeing how he runs a photography business and needs a spacious boot to haul all of his gear to photo shoots. The problem is, he never heard about the Kona N before buying one, so he did a lot of research and found out that Albert Biermann of BMW M fame had a hand in creating Hyundai’s performance sub-brand, which was a pleasant surprise.

Two of his favorite past cars were a Volkswagen Golf R32 and an Audi S4, both of which have dual-clutch automatic transmissions, and the Kona N has something similar, so he finally went to drive one and quickly fell in love with the Korean crossover.

Now, after a year of driving it as a daily, the owner says that the seats are good and the infotainment is even better, with up-to-date maps and reliable navigation, as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration. But it’s not perfect, like the tough ride and the fact that the interior is black on black, with no colorful touches.

With this being said, the driver of this particular red Kona N appreciates what Hyundai has done with it, in the sense that a lot of work has been done on the performance side of things – brakes, transmission, steering, and engine.

In the United States, the 2023 Hyundai Kona N starts at $34,950 (without destination charge) and is powered by a 2.0-liter inline-four turbocharged gasoline engine that makes 276 horsepower and 289 pound-feet of torque that’s sent to the front wheels via a standard eight-speed automatic transmission with a wet friction dual clutch.

As always, we’d like to know what you think about the video embedded above, so after watching it, head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts.