Just Bought a Kona N!!! Please read if you are considering one :)

[pgeldz]

Hello everyone! I just bought a Kona N!

Many of my friends and family don't even knwo what it is, so I posted something on social media recently, and I figured I'd share it with you in case anyone is considering buying this car...

Hope you enjoy it!

I did a thing! This is going to be long but I wrote it more like a magazine article to make it more interesting

On my road trip home from Moab with Greg, I was amazed how many convenience features his Jeep Gladiator had, and I thought it was about time for me to upgrade (I drive A LOT).

However, my Xterra is in perfect shape, and a new Jeep (or Jeep Gladiator) would run well into six figures the way I'd spec it out so I decided when I'm not using the Xterra to haul mountain bikes, road bikes, or motorcycles, I'd like to enjoy something that gets better mpg and has modern features, unlike the AM/FM CD player in the Xterra LoL.

If BMW tags their cars the Ultimate Driving Machine (especially their 'M' cars), than this 'N' car by a different manufacturer should be called the Ultimate Driving Experie'N'ce.

After all, they have the same DNA. The man responsible for creating my first BMW, the E46 M3, and just about all the hardcore versions of M cars that followed before they got diluted, is the same guy responsible for creating the Kona N.

BMW M division chief engineer Albert Biermann got recruited as head of vehicle test and high performance development for Hyundai, ultimately creating the 'N' brand.

Yes, I said Hyundai. Which for me meant throwaway cars of the 1990s, as they were absolute sh!t. Oh have times have changed...

The N vehicles are a whole different breed, and that 'N' actually stands for 3 things.

First, the Namyang district in South Korea, the birthplace of the N brand and location of Hyundai’s Global R&D Center. Second, the Nürburgring racetrack in Germany, which is home to Hyundai’s Technical Center which is used to test the N vehicles. Finally, the ‘N’ logo itself is also a representation of a classic chicane or tight serpentine turn in the road.

After this division was created, Hyundai's Motorsport program went to work on the i20 WRC car, which went on to win multiple world titles in one of the most grueling tests of all Motorsport, the World Rally Championship.

I'll take better pics of the whole car at some point, but it's a 2023 Hyundai Kona N, and the last car former BMW M chief engineer Albert Biermann developed before he recently retired.
Check out the specs:

286hp, 289tq from a 2.0L 4 cyl. Zero to 60 in 4.8 seconds in a front wheel drive subcompact crossover utility vehicle with an 8 speed motorsports style wet dual clutch transmission that shifts way faster than any car with a third pedal can. The damn thing has launch control! The transmission has been praised to the liking of Porches' PDK, an amazing dual clutch auto box.

The tech in this little car is astonishing. Besides launch control, It has active, selectable electronic damping, as well as a slew of other user selectable parameters like Engine, Steering, E-LSD front differential, ESC, Exhaust Sound, etc. And they're not just gimmicks, they actually make a big difference in the way the car behaves, and you can save custom drive modes and map them to certain buttons on the steering wheel.

Speaking of which, there is also a separate big red button on that steering wheel that says NGS. Stands for N Grin Shift. When you press it, you get 10 more horsepower for 20 seconds and the whole car goes into full N mode, which puts everything on the highest motorsports settings in the categories I mentioned above.

Aside from all the performance stuff, it's definitely modern compared to my 2008 Xterra. It has all the safety and collision avoidance features you'd expect of a new car, and even has a feature to keep it centered in the lanes when you're driving and also Lane Keep Assist so it stays in the lane if you decide the veer off. I literally tried them at the same time and with both hands off the wheel I was able to write half this post while driving at 80 mph on a curved freeway road. Yeah I know, not the smartest thing to do but someone's got to test it, LoL. It worked perfectly.

The things you touch are fantastic as well. Heated Leather and Alcantara bucket seats front and back, very nicely weighted leather wrapped steering wheel, a real emergency brake handle (perfect for drifting, unlike the push button activated eBrakes on a lot of cars nowadays) and the display screens and animations are the best. It has pages and pages off selectable and configurable gauges, to include brake pressure, boost pressure, accelerator percentage, g-force meter, lap timer, etc. The list goes on. It even has a bunch of tracks stored in it that have a track map and show your position on the track when doing track days via GPS. It brings out the inner Grand Turismo in me but in a mature sophisticated fashion. It's touch screen is super responsive, and It has a split screen feature where you can display whatever you want side by side, like navigation on one side and media stuff on the other. Although touch screen makes up most of the real estate, it does have a row of buttons underneath, and more importantly, rotating knobs for basic things you'd hate to tap on a touch screen for. I can't tell you how important and convenient that is, as some cars nowadays don't have any rotating knobs and you have to do everything by tapping a screen which is super dangerous while you're driving. It also has some blue link type feature through Hyundai that comes free for the first 3 years, and lets you do everything remotely with the car from your phone. Like lock/unlock, remote start, see how much gas it has in it, etc. Pretty wild actually.

Maybe that's normal now, but this is the first new car I've bought in 21 years, last of which was my 2002 Subaru WRX.

What's not normal is this little subcompact crossover utility vehicle can kick the snot out of most cars you probably think are fast.

Car and driver does a thing called the lightning lap at Virginia International Raceway where they test all these cars and get the best lap out of them and put them on a leaderboard.

Can you believe this little Kona N is faster than a VW GTI, Subaru WRX STI, and a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X MR by 5-7 seconds around the track? It's also faster than a Lotus Elise, a Lotus Evora, a AMG C63 coupe, and a whole bunch of other car's you'd never expect. Refer to the pics and see for yourself.

It's MENTAL. I really wondered who they built this car for anyway. Nobody looking at a little car like this that has a small family is going to want it because it rides stiff like my old BMW M3 and it does have road noise, most likely due to the scantily clad 19 inch wheels with summer performance tires.

For me it's perfect though, it sits a little taller than a true hot hatch like the Volkswagen GTI but it has virtually zero body roll. It literally feels like a sports car, and a very good one at that. It has short overhangs. and since the ride height is a little taller it'll have no trouble going over speed bumps in Las Vegas hotel parking garages. It's easy to get in and out. Maybe my old age is showing, but I'm tired of having to crawl around a roll bar like I had to in the Miata, LoL. The seating position in the car is slightly taller also, but with the driver's power seat with power lumbar support at its lower setting it feels like a normal car to me without laying on the ground like some of these modern sports cars. Then again, I'm coming from a lifted Xterra. It definitely doesn't feel like I'm sitting in a crossover utility vehicle though. The greenhouse is good, you could actually see out of this thing unlike a lot of cars today with their super high belt lines for safety.

Crazy what value this thing offers...a factory modded vehicle and they still do their 10yr / 100,000 mile warranty, even though it's their performance model. It flies well under the radar. So well in fact, my insurance for full coverage is only $65 a month.

I flew to Washington State to pick it up north of Seattle. Got a killer deal below MSRP, and it just rolled off the truck. Plastic was still in place, had 14 miles on it, and the front bumper hadn't been drilled yet for the front license plate, which is important since Nevada doesn't require one. I'm the only one that's ever driven it. Definitely satisfied my inner OCDness, LoL.

It worked out because my good buddy Parrish who lives nearby was in town, and I was able to hang out and have dinner and breakfast in Seattle with him before the 2-day road trip back to Vegas.

So yeah, I did a thing. Yep, and it's a Hyundai, that car company I left behind in the 1990s, except this time, the only thing I'll be leaving behind are all the sports cars on that list that lapped slower

 

[Shoulders181]

Hello everyone! I just bought a Kona N!

Many of my friends and family don't even knwo what it is, so I posted something on social media recently, and I figured I'd share it with you in case anyone is considering buying this car...

Hope you enjoy it!

I did a thing! This is going to be long but I wrote it more like a magazine article to make it more interesting

On my road trip home from Moab with Greg, I was amazed how many convenience features his Jeep Gladiator had, and I thought it was about time for me to upgrade (I drive A LOT).

However, my Xterra is in perfect shape, and a new Jeep (or Jeep Gladiator) would run well into six figures the way I'd spec it out so I decided when I'm not using the Xterra to haul mountain bikes, road bikes, or motorcycles, I'd like to enjoy something that gets better mpg and has modern features, unlike the AM/FM CD player in the Xterra LoL.

If BMW tags their cars the Ultimate Driving Machine (especially their 'M' cars), than this 'N' car by a different manufacturer should be called the Ultimate Driving Experie'N'ce.

After all, they have the same DNA. The man responsible for creating my first BMW, the E46 M3, and just about all the hardcore versions of M cars that followed before they got diluted, is the same guy responsible for creating the Kona N.

BMW M division chief engineer Albert Biermann got recruited as head of vehicle test and high performance development for Hyundai, ultimately creating the 'N' brand.

Yes, I said Hyundai. Which for me meant throwaway cars of the 1990s, as they were absolute sh!t. Oh have times have changed...

The N vehicles are a whole different breed, and that 'N' actually stands for 3 things.

First, the Namyang district in South Korea, the birthplace of the N brand and location of Hyundai’s Global R&D Center. Second, the Nürburgring racetrack in Germany, which is home to Hyundai’s Technical Center which is used to test the N vehicles. Finally, the ‘N’ logo itself is also a representation of a classic chicane or tight serpentine turn in the road.

After this division was created, Hyundai's Motorsport program went to work on the i20 WRC car, which went on to win multiple world titles in one of the most grueling tests of all Motorsport, the World Rally Championship.

I'll take better pics of the whole car at some point, but it's a 2023 Hyundai Kona N, and the last car former BMW M chief engineer Albert Biermann developed before he recently retired.
Check out the specs:

286hp, 289tq from a 2.0L 4 cyl. Zero to 60 in 4.8 seconds in a front wheel drive subcompact crossover utility vehicle with an 8 speed motorsports style wet dual clutch transmission that shifts way faster than any car with a third pedal can. The damn thing has launch control! The transmission has been praised to the liking of Porches' PDK, an amazing dual clutch auto box.

The tech in this little car is astonishing. Besides launch control, It has active, selectable electronic damping, as well as a slew of other user selectable parameters like Engine, Steering, E-LSD front differential, ESC, Exhaust Sound, etc. And they're not just gimmicks, they actually make a big difference in the way the car behaves, and you can save custom drive modes and map them to certain buttons on the steering wheel.

Speaking of which, there is also a separate big red button on that steering wheel that says NGS. Stands for N Grin Shift. When you press it, you get 10 more horsepower for 20 seconds and the whole car goes into full N mode, which puts everything on the highest motorsports settings in the categories I mentioned above.

Aside from all the performance stuff, it's definitely modern compared to my 2008 Xterra. It has all the safety and collision avoidance features you'd expect of a new car, and even has a feature to keep it centered in the lanes when you're driving and also Lane Keep Assist so it stays in the lane if you decide the veer off. I literally tried them at the same time and with both hands off the wheel I was able to write half this post while driving at 80 mph on a curved freeway road. Yeah I know, not the smartest thing to do but someone's got to test it, LoL. It worked perfectly.

The things you touch are fantastic as well. Heated Leather and Alcantara bucket seats front and back, very nicely weighted leather wrapped steering wheel, a real emergency brake handle (perfect for drifting, unlike the push button activated eBrakes on a lot of cars nowadays) and the display screens and animations are the best. It has pages and pages off selectable and configurable gauges, to include brake pressure, boost pressure, accelerator percentage, g-force meter, lap timer, etc. The list goes on. It even has a bunch of tracks stored in it that have a track map and show your position on the track when doing track days via GPS. It brings out the inner Grand Turismo in me but in a mature sophisticated fashion. It's touch screen is super responsive, and It has a split screen feature where you can display whatever you want side by side, like navigation on one side and media stuff on the other. Although touch screen makes up most of the real estate, it does have a row of buttons underneath, and more importantly, rotating knobs for basic things you'd hate to tap on a touch screen for. I can't tell you how important and convenient that is, as some cars nowadays don't have any rotating knobs and you have to do everything by tapping a screen which is super dangerous while you're driving. It also has some blue link type feature through Hyundai that comes free for the first 3 years, and lets you do everything remotely with the car from your phone. Like lock/unlock, remote start, see how much gas it has in it, etc. Pretty wild actually.

Maybe that's normal now, but this is the first new car I've bought in 21 years, last of which was my 2002 Subaru WRX.

What's not normal is this little subcompact crossover utility vehicle can kick the snot out of most cars you probably think are fast.

Car and driver does a thing called the lightning lap at Virginia International Raceway where they test all these cars and get the best lap out of them and put them on a leaderboard.

Can you believe this little Kona N is faster than a VW GTI, Subaru WRX STI, and a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X MR by 5-7 seconds around the track? It's also faster than a Lotus Elise, a Lotus Evora, a AMG C63 coupe, and a whole bunch of other car's you'd never expect. Refer to the pics and see for yourself.

It's MENTAL. I really wondered who they built this car for anyway. Nobody looking at a little car like this that has a small family is going to want it because it rides stiff like my old BMW M3 and it does have road noise, most likely due to the scantily clad 19 inch wheels with summer performance tires.

For me it's perfect though, it sits a little taller than a true hot hatch like the Volkswagen GTI but it has virtually zero body roll. It literally feels like a sports car, and a very good one at that. It has short overhangs. and since the ride height is a little taller it'll have no trouble going over speed bumps in Las Vegas hotel parking garages. It's easy to get in and out. Maybe my old age is showing, but I'm tired of having to crawl around a roll bar like I had to in the Miata, LoL. The seating position in the car is slightly taller also, but with the driver's power seat with power lumbar support at its lower setting it feels like a normal car to me without laying on the ground like some of these modern sports cars. Then again, I'm coming from a lifted Xterra. It definitely doesn't feel like I'm sitting in a crossover utility vehicle though. The greenhouse is good, you could actually see out of this thing unlike a lot of cars today with their super high belt lines for safety.

Crazy what value this thing offers...a factory modded vehicle and they still do their 10yr / 100,000 mile warranty, even though it's their performance model. It flies well under the radar. So well in fact, my insurance for full coverage is only $65 a month.

I flew to Washington State to pick it up north of Seattle. Got a killer deal below MSRP, and it just rolled off the truck. Plastic was still in place, had 14 miles on it, and the front bumper hadn't been drilled yet for the front license plate, which is important since Nevada doesn't require one. I'm the only one that's ever driven it. Definitely satisfied my inner OCDness, LoL.

It worked out because my good buddy Parrish who lives nearby was in town, and I was able to hang out and have dinner and breakfast in Seattle with him before the 2-day road trip back to Vegas.

So yeah, I did a thing. Yep, and it's a Hyundai, that car company I left behind in the 1990s, except this time, the only thing I'll be leaving behind are all the sports cars on that list that lapped slower

Nice story thanks, and you told it so well.