Last week Hyundai had teased the new Kona and the Kona N Line. This time around, the South Korean car manufacturer has revealed the updated model of the new Kona, featuring a sleek and sophisticated look while keeping its robust signature style. For the first time, the Kona is available as an N Line version. The Kona N Line stands out with its motorsports-inspired front and rear end, body colour claddings, and diamond-cut wheel design.
Exterior
The new front-end design stands out with eye-catching, protective cladding panels. At the top, the stretched bonnet ends sharply over the centre grille with a wide, distinctive shape that gives Kona a powerful look. This effect is further enhanced by the wide, thin LED DRLs. Lower down, the main bumper fascia connects smoothly to the wheel arch claddings, forming a unique and robust armor in a material that is in contrast to the main body. On the lower bumper, the robust skid plate appears to embrace the lower air intake, and visually complements the shape of the main upper grille. The bumper corners are vertically oriented with aerodynamic inlets that improve air flow.
The side body retains the muscular design from its predecessor, but the sporty wedge-shaped silhouette is further accentuated by the visual connection between the shoulder creases, and the sharper, cleaner, and more harmonious front end. At the rear, the new taillights feature horizontally stretched graphics. These reflect the unique identity of the front-end light design. The new rear bumper, which also follows the protective armor concept of the front and sides, uses a contrasting material as well.
The latest Kona comes with an updated 17-inch or 18-inch wheel designs, in addition to the 16-inch wheels carried over from its predecessor. The Kona Hybrid will be available with the same 16-inch or 18-inch wheels as before. The new Kona is now 40mm longer than the previous model, giving it a sleeker and more dynamic look that complements its wide, and strong visual stance.
The new Kona is available in five new exterior colour options, including surfy blue, dive in jeju, ignite flame, cyber grey, and misty jungle. These are in addition to five existing colours, including phantom black, chalk white, dark knight, pulse red and galactic grey. Every colour can be combined with the phantom black two-tone roof. The two-tone roof also comes with matching mirror housings.
Instead of the rugged skid plate of the new Kona, the N Line version features a characteristic N-style aerodynamic lip with low-lying corner fins, for a road-hugging appearance. Larger, more technical air intake features are further distinguished by a unique mesh design and surface treatment. On the sides, the body colour claddings and the new rocker panels are complemented by the dedicated 18-inch alloy wheel design.
Interior
As for the interior, the updated model gets new colours and materials. New seat cover options include a black woven houndstooth design, cloth seats with black and grey embossing, and perforated leather seats in black, beige, or khaki. Alongwith the black woven houndstooth seats, industrial-inspired and modern grains accentuate the fine-spun linear seat trim with its three-dimensional pattern and, with the black and grey cloth seats, sophisticated visuals are created by shadows and dark nuances in several anthracite grey tones.
The vehicle gets a 10.25-inch digital cluster from the all-new i20. As standard, the new Kona is equipped with a display audio that is increased from seven to eight inches, and a DAB radio. It’s also upgraded with the wireless Android Auto and Apple Car Play for convenient wireless connectivity of phones to the display audio system.
The Kona N Line now gets a dedicated N Line color package in one-tone black with cloth, leather, or suede seats. In addition, the distinctive red stitching, metal pedals, and N logo on the gear shift and seats contribute to a sportier look and feel.
Connectivity
Additionally, the Kona comes with the latest Blue Link upgrade, which includes User profile, Last Mile Navigation, Connected Routing, Live Parking Information, and more. Customers can have a personalised user profile that can be transferred to other Hyundai vehicles that provide the same feature. Last Mile Navigation helps customers continue the journey to their destination even after the car is parked, using either Augmented Reality or Google Maps. Connected Routing is Hyundai’s cloud-based navigation system. Live Parking Information gives users real-time information on the location and price of nearby available parking spaces. In addition, the latest Blue Link upgrade features Free Text Search for users to enter addresses or points of interest.
Safety
The new Kona is equipped with a range of safety and driver assistance features. The Smart Cruise Control (SCC) is upgraded to include the stop-and-go function. Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA) is available in combination with the DCT. For the first time, the new Kona gets Leading Vehicle Departure Alert (LVDA), which alerts the driver if they do not react fast enough when the vehicle ahead of them starts moving. The other new feature additions are - Lane Following Assist (LFA), Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA), Rear Seat Alert (RSA), Safe Exit Warning (SEW), Intelligent Speed Limit Warning (ISLW) and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (RCCA).
