 What is up, you guys? Welcome back to another one. If you are new to the channel, I'm Goldpony. I do new car truck SUV reviews on YouTube. And today, we are in the brand new 2022 Hyundai Kona N. Courtesy of Jack G Mbalvo Hyundai in York PA for more information on their inventory. Please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. So we are in this one today because this is an N car. This is the performance kind of variant of Hyundai. Kind of like the type R is to Honda. The N is to Hyundai. The difference being, you get America's best warranty with Hyundai being five years, 60,000 mile bumper to bumper, 10 years, 100,000 miles on the powertrain. So that's gonna cover things like the transmission, the engine, things like that. So that's amazing. Not only that, you also get three years or 36,000 miles of complimentary maintenance. So you don't have to worry about that for three years as well, which is super amazing. But ultimately in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one from acceleration to braking, steering field, ride quality, sound system exhaust clip, all that fun stuff. So having said all of that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and get started with pricing. And so MSRP for the 2022 Kona, and we'll start at $34,200. Powering the beast will be a two liter turbo charged inline four cylinder, putting out 276 horsepower at 5,500 RPM, 289 pound feet of torque coming in at around 2,100 RPM. Power sent to the front wheels through an eight speed wet dual clutch with paddle shifters and rev matching. So we will be testing out these paddle shifters of rev matching here in a little bit, but wanted to emphasize that a little bit. Not only that, when I say the 276 horsepower, it's actually 286. Reason being, there's a bright red button labeled NGS on the steering wheel. What that does, it kind of simulates nitrous, so to speak. So it adds an extra 10 horsepower when you press that for approximately 20 seconds and then it goes away. So when everyone in an extra 10 horsepower, perhaps when you go to the drag strip in the Kona N, you have that ability via that red button on the steering wheel. So I think that is a super awesome feature. It just kind of reminds me of nitrous. So I don't know, I think it's amazing. But anyway, zero to 60 time is going to come in at approximately 4.9 seconds. Again, we'll be testing that out here in a little bit. Top speed of 149 miles per hour with MPG numbers coming in at 20 in the city, 27 then, on the highway. So before we do any kind of fun paddle shifter or acceleration test, I wanted to mention the drive modes. There's a little drive mode dial located just in front of the shifter that will include eco, normal, sport, snow, and custom, adjusting things like the shift points, the throttle response, and the steering sensitivity. So now that we've got all of that out of the way, what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find it straight away. Let's put the paddle shifters here to the test first. And by the way, there is a full manual shift mode. You simply slide the shifter all the way to the back and to the left that will give you full control over the shifting, over the dual clutch. So car's not going to shift for you. So that's pretty cool as well. So let's go ahead and find that straight away and let's put the paddle shifters here to the test and let's see how quickly they are going to react for us here. Here we go. Yep, love that sound. I heard the little pop when I shifted the gears too. These paddle shifters are lightning quick. And it's kind of what I expected because again, this has a wet dual clutch transmission. It's not your traditional automatic. It most certainly is not a CVT. So this about is the best transmission you can get aside from it being an actual manual, which by the way isn't available on this, which is perfectly fine because this dual clutch is amazing. It shifts incredibly quick. So I am a huge fan and the paddle shifters again are lightning quick as well. But now that we've got that out of the way, let's get back full control to the Kona N here. And let's do a quick little acceleration test. And let's see how quickly the Kona N here can get us up to speed. All right, slight bit of a rolling start here. Go. There it is. Oh, we're spinning. Oh, there it is. Yo, baby. This thing is ridiculously quick. Slight bit of torque steer. I could feel myself going a little bit to the left and to the right because that's a crap load of power being set to just the front wheels, guys. But just ever so slightly, I've had a lot worse torque steer than that. Remember the Ford Focus ST back in the day nearly threw me off the road. So honestly, that wasn't that bad and it is controllable. So excellent, excellent acceleration. I could see this car being a zero to 60 in 4.9 seconds. So that was quite brilliant. But anyways, to go along with that acceleration as always, braking is equally important. So upfront you will find 14.2 inch ventilated front disc in the back, 12.4 inch solid rear disc. As far as that braking feel goes, it definitely leans on the firmer side of things, which you would appreciate in a vehicle like the Kona and it instantly brings you to a stop. I would imagine the 60-zero stopping distance would be in the 100 and teens, maybe 113, 114. If I were to guess, I don't know the exact number. Maybe I'll look it up later, but incredibly nice braking feel to this thing without a doubt. Touching on suspension and handling upfront, you're gonna get a McPherson strut front suspension in the back, independent multi-link rear suspension, of course, front and rear stabilizer bars. As far as ride quality goes, we're not going anywhere right now to red light. It definitely leans on the firmer side of things. I'll say that, but that's to be expected in a car like the Kona N, quite honestly. You can feel a decent amount of the road. So kind of expect that when you get into this thing. As far as the steering feel goes, in sport mode right now, I still have it in. It leans on the heavier side of things, which I definitely appreciate. It instantly points you in the direction that you wanna go. It's a very nice feel to this steering in that sport driving mode. Let's go ahead and put it in eco real quick. And honestly, it's still not that bad in eco. It still leans on the heavier side of things from the most part, but it does loosen up a little bit. I can tell the difference. So I would say leave it in that sport mode or you can put it in that custom driving mode, make the steering feel a bit heavier, but then you don't necessarily always need that instant acceleration that the sport driving mode gives you. So you can kind of tailor it to your own liking. So I always like that Hyundai does that. I do that personally in my Sonata as well. Touching on cabin noise, you get a good bit of that exhaust noise. Let me tell you guys, it's absolutely wonderful. So definitely stick around for the exhaust clip a little bit later in this video. It's gonna sound wonderful, I have a feeling. I already heard some of the pops in this thing. But other than that, it actually does a decently good job. I have no issue with wind noise or cabin noise or anything like that. It's just that exhaust note, which if you're buying this car, you're gonna love it. Then touching on visibility, I can see perfectly fine out the back and usually in smaller SUVs like the Kona, you're definitely not gonna have any issues there. And rain sensing windshield wipers are going to come standard then as well. But that pretty much rounds out the performance segment of this review guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of our brand new 2022 Hyundai Kona N. All right, so here she is you guys, the new 2022 Hyundai Kona N finished in Sonic blue. Definitely a color that really grabs your attention on this thing without a doubt. But let's go ahead and start up front on this one. And specific front fascia of course, differentiating itself from the non-end trim levels of the Kona. And badging of course can be found in that front grill as well. You do have some red accents or red trim found on the front lip there. Black Hyundai logo, it can be found in the middle of that front grill as opposed to the chrome Hyundai logo that you typically will find on the non-end Konas. And for anybody who was curious about those cutouts found just above that front grill, they are actually not functional. They are backed in plastic. So I didn't want to mention that they look dang cold, but wouldn't mind it if they were functional up there. To the sides then LED headlights do come standard with LED daytime running lights. And of course the automatic feature, meaning when it starts to get dark at night there's headlights will turn on automatically for you there. But also automatic high beams coming standard, meaning if you have your high beams on a night and it senses a vehicle coming in the opposite direction it's gonna automatically dim them back to blue beams. Then when that vehicle is gone it's gonna automatically then bump it back up to high beams. So that's very convenient as well. In case anybody was curious about the placement of the lighting, the headlights are actually found down below and then the LED daytime running lights are found up above where traditionally in the past those have been headlights. So I didn't want to mention that as well. And of course you do have front air curtains found on the bottom corners there of that front fascia as well. But there are pretty much rounds out the front end of this one. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the side of the Kona N. And so starting up top black roof rails do come standard. Black windows surrounds also coming standard. You will find a floating roof line towards the back there on the C pillar. That's kind of a nice look there as well. When it comes to the side mirrors they are gloss black power adjustable side mirrors with LED integrated turd signals and heated side mirrors then as well which is pretty cool. Red trim can be found on these side skirts. Again, tying it together with the front lip there. Take a look down at the wheel setup 19 inch and specific alloy wheels then do come standard. But pretty much rounds out the side profile. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the back. Let's open now since we are around to the back you will find an end specific rear spoiler very aggressive looking rear spoiler with a center high mount stop lamp as well. So definitely very nice look there. LED tail lights do come standard. You of course do have some end badging found on that rear tailgate as well. Gloss black rear diffuser very nice looking rear diffuser down to the bottom there. Of course you got that red trim accents on the rear bumper as well to tie everything together. And to the sides large dual exhaust outlets with chrome tips. So having said that I do believe you guys know what we have to do next as always here is that exhaust clip. Let's open now since we are around to the back of the Kona N when it comes to opening that rear hatch there is a button to unlock it on the key fob there is also a button on the actual tailgate itself but once opened up carcass capacity comes in at 19.2 cubic feet behind that second row. If that was not enough space there is a 60 40 split meaning the rear seats do fold down bumping that up to 45.8 cubic feet. Also cargo lighting can be found back there there is a grocery bag hulk and if you look where to lift up underneath that cargo floor you're actually also going to find some in floor storage which is pretty nice there as well. Make your way up then to that rear legroom that is going to come in at 35.2 inches. So for reference I mean even six feet tall this is how much space I have back there. Rear center armrest with cup holders does come standard rear USB charging ports as well. And beside those charging ports you do have a little bit of storage there then as well but then make your way up to the front seats you'll find some end specific seats meaning you get enhanced bolstering as well as the end logo embroidered into the upper portion of those seats. So definitely a cool look there and it definitely helped me in place during my test drive. Leather suede combination is going to come standard I've always said that is my favorite finish to any seating. Heated front seats are going to come standard they are power adjustable by the way with two way power lumbar for the driver as well which is pretty cool and overall like I said seats were incredibly comfortable not just because of the enhanced bolstering but because of the power lumbar and again the leather suede combo is pretty nice but then take a look at the steering wheel it is tilt and telescoping it is leather wrapped and you got that end logo found towards the bottom portion of that steering wheel as well. Making our way then to the startup let me start by showing you guys the key here it is an end specific key. Of course on the other side you got lock unlock and that button to pop the rear tailgate there but I did want to also mention Hyundai digital key does come standard meaning you just download the app and you can start up the car unlock it and lock it all through your phone so you don't even have to carry your keys if you didn't want to but it is all key let's enter with a push button start so all I'm going to do here is simply put my front of the brake and press that engine start button and so once started up 10 and a quarter inch digital gauge cluster does come standard on the Kona N I love that drive modes substantially change the look on these gauges I love that as well especially that end mode which is located on the steering wheel that is going to be one of the blue buttons but that completely changes the look but I always love digital gauge clusters because it is completely customizable you can make it your own and of course you have your outside temperature how many miles you'll have left until you hit empty so pretty much everything else you could possibly want up on those gauges then making our way to over on tier equality overhead sunglass holder does come standard automatic climate control then as well meaning set your own temperature it's going to automatically hit that temperature for you there aluminum foot pedals coming standard you do have some rubberized storage just in front of the shifter as well as some USB charging ports there dual cup holders just behind the shifter you need to have a little bit of space then within that center armrest as well so but now let's make our way to the infotainment screen of course you will find a 10 and a quarter inch color touchscreen display to tie together with the 10 and a quarter inch gauge cluster so I thought that was pretty cool Bluetooth and audio streaming does come standard Android Auto Apple CarPlay as well factory navigation system also coming standard there is also a voice recorder app meaning you record your voice and then play it back at a later date perhaps if you did not want to forget something there is also quiet mode meaning it eliminates the speakers in the back maybe if your kids are sleeping and then limits them in the front so it's kind of an interesting feature there of course you can check out your radio information and by the way when it comes to the sound system you will get an eight speaker Harman Kardon sound system that does come standard so having said that I do believe you guys know what we have to do next let's go ahead and turn to the radio see what we got playing today and let's test out the clarity of this one okay the sound system is just okay didn't blow me away not a ton of clarity but the bass was okay and I don't know it's just an okay sound system this is a performance car I don't know that you're all that interested necessarily in the sound system but anyways so the last thing on the infotainment screen I wanted to mention to you guys is when you do put the Kona N in reverse you will find a rear view camera coming standard across the board letting you know who or what is behind you which is always is going to lead us into safety and so to start front side side coronary bags do come standard in the back you're gonna have latch aka lower anchors to tethers to children for the rear car seats rear child door locks tire pressure monitoring system but also coming standard a blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert lane following assist lane keep assist forward collision avoidance assist with pedestrian detection and then driver attention warning system as well it's over on when it comes to my final thoughts here of the Kona N I love that NGS button that red button on the steering wheel it adds 10 horsepower for 20 seconds so essentially in my mind it's kind of like a nitrous mode so I love that I think that's super cool what other manufacturers are doing that really also an excellent exhaust note to this thing definitely heard a lot of pops when I was doing some manual shifting there so love that as well great transmission you got a dual clutch so huge fan of that as well excellent seats they were bolstered perfectly and again the leather suede combination is my personal favorite and if you were slightly worried about the turbocharged engine I really wouldn't be because you get a 10 year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty which includes the engine and the transmission and the drive shaft things like that so little peace of mind there for you as well really the only room for improvement I can think of was it's kind of the boring interior quality there's a lot of cheap black plastic that comes standard on this thing and even if Hyundai were to put maybe a little design to that plastic that would have been a heck of a lot better like they do in my Sonata take for example just a little more attention to detail even if it is still plastic that's all I was thinking and so that is about it for this one you guys thank you so much for watching feel free to follow me on social media at the bottom of the screen you wanted to see what's coming next on the channel before it actually gets to YouTube be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews that is what we do here on this channel after all do appreciate you guys watching more than you know I will see you guys all in the next video stay gold