HYUNDAI KONA N

When physics give you lemons, make lemonade

- CAMERON KIRBY

ENGINE 1998cc inline-4, DOHC, 16v, turbo

POWER 206kW @ 5500rpm

TORQUE 392Nm @ 2100-4700rpm

0-100KM/H 5.5sec (claimed)

WEIGHT 1510kg

PRICE $47,500 4.5 Rating

LIKE: Fantastic e-diff; fun loving personality; quality of character

DISLIKE: Interior materials; road noise; internecine rivalries

WHAT DO YOU do with a problem like the performance SUV? It is a conundrum that has taxed the minds of motoring enthusiasts and manufacturers alike. For enthusiasts, they are perceived as an unfortunate but necessary evil – an inherently compromised product that needs to be made and sold so that manufacturers can build the low-margin cars we all love. For car companies, the genre can at first seem like a licence to print money. But get it wrong, and you’ll squander all that consumer goodwill for nothing.

This is compounded by the fact that through its very nature a performance SUV falls afoul of the unbending laws of physics. Writers love to proclaim that a vehicle defies physics but idioms aside the fact is you can’t cheat reality. A car with a higher centre of gravity is dealing with an inherit, undeniable disadvantage. It just is.

So, how do you solve the problem? If you are Hyundai, you lean into that fact, which it has done so impressively with its first performance SUV, the Kona N. The basics of the Kona N will be familiar, even if this is an all-new model. Using the chassis of the Kona SUV, it is fitted with the 2.0- litre turbocharged four-cylinder from the i30 N, sending 206kW and 392Nm to the front wheels exclusively via an eight-speed dual- clutch automatic transmission.