Hyundai Kona 2021 review: Highlander

Briefly, along with fresh styling and a revised platform, the 2021 Kona 2.0L gains an overhauled powertrain.

Still part of the old ‘Nu’ family, the engine has evolved into the more-efficient ‘Smartstream’ series, making the same power and torque but providing superior fuel economy. It gains a CVT continuously variable transmission as well, in place of the previous six-speed torque-converter automatic transmission.

Hyundai has also meddled with the packaging, to create an extra 40mm of length, that’s said to benefit rear legroom and cargo capacity. 

If you choose a base Kona from $26,600 (before ORC) you’ll find the usual goodies, like a large centre touchscreen, Bluetooth connectivity, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto compatibility, alloy wheels and roof rails. But you may not expect a wireless charging pad, electric park brake, ‘Quiet’ mode for the audio system (cutting sound to the rear speakers for resting travellers), a rear-seat USB charge port or two front-seat height adjusters. These help justify that near-10 per cent price hike.

The Kona Highlander has a big 10.25-inch touchscreen.

Going Active for another $1600 adds niceties like heated mirrors, leather upholstery, rear privacy glass, solar control glass and rear-seat centre armrest with cupholders, while the $31,600 Elite introduces keyless entry/start, remote start function, climate control, a 10.25-inch touchscreen upsize (up from eight inches – and why do car companies not measure this in metric?), satellite navigation, an eight-speaker Harmon Kardon audio upgrade, front fog lights, acoustic film windscreen to cut noise and ritzier exterior trimmings.

Now, the $38,000 Highlander of course scores all these plus a head-up display, front parking sensors, heated, vented and powered front seats, a heated steering wheel, electro-chromatic interior mirror, LED headlights, sunroof and two-tone roof, as well as ambient lighting, digitised instrumentation, heated outboard rear seats and 18-inch machined-finish alloys shod with (quality) Continental tyres.

The last four items are new to the grade, along with an upgrade to the latest and improved versions of Hyundai’s driver-assist safety tech.

The Kona has Hyundai’s improved driver-assist safety tech.

Highlander scores the lot, including Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) – now operational between 30km/h and 180km/h, blind-spot alert/avoidance, rear cross-traffic alert/assist, lane keep alert/assist, driver fatigue alert, adaptive cruise control with full stop/go, safe exit warning, leading vehicle departure alert and rear occupant alert; you'll also find six airbags, electronic stability control, anti-lock brakes with Brake Assist and electronic brake-force distribution, downhill brake control, hill-start assist, tyre pressure monitors, parking sensors all round, rear view camera, dusk-sensing headlights, auto high beams and rain-sensing wipers.

Not much left to option up, then, meaning the Highlander remains competitive with key front-drive rivals in terms of pricing versus kit, managing to just undercut the likes of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Exceed ($38,290), Nissan Qashqai Ti ($39,090) and Mazda CX-30 Astina ($39,190), while cheaper alternatives such as the soon-to-be-completely-redesigned Honda HR-V VTi-LX ($36,950), Toyota C-HR Koba ($35,165) and related Kia Seltos Sport+ 2.0L ($33,290) aren’t quite as fully laden as this Kona.

Note, however, that the last two opponents are also offered with appealing hybrid and turbo/AWD upgrades respectively, and that still come in under the Highlander to boot. Adding the latter to the Kona equivalent (N-Line Premium) pushes it past $42K.

Finally, specifying premium/metallic paint costs $595 extra.

The Kona isn’t as spacious as you might expect of an SUV based on the i30. It’s not bad, but the Seltos seems to have it licked dimensionally, feeling way roomier. Indeed, a HR-V, too, seems larger, lighter and airier inside.

But in Highlander guise at least, the little luxury touches and improvements to the quality of materials fitted do make for a more-convincing (and certainly better equipped) crossover.

You might not be a fan of the $275 beige perforated leather seats and matching lower-dash and door-card contrasts upgrade (that have a supernatural ability to attract dirt and grime), but it looks premium, with a head-up display (albeit on an old-fashioned plastic screen that rises from behind the binnacle), leather-clad wheel, electrically-adjustable vented and heated front seats, toasty rear outboard seats and large touchscreen.

But while the MY21 changes have brought the modish electronic instrument display, it only changes in colour and not in design or layout of the dials, meaning the whole set-up seems a bit half-baked compared to, say, a Peugeot or VW equivalent. In fact, the whole dash is now looking old and derivative, betraying the Kona’s advancing age. In default white ‘normal’ mode, the speedo and tacho combo are reminiscent of the 2002 Corolla’s.

Never mind. The Highlander’s squishy front seats are really quite comfy, with plenty of support (including lumbar) over longer distances, backed up with the aforementioned powered adjustability (including for height) on both sides, for added luxury appeal. Most rivals – hello Toyota – seem to forget about providing the latter functionality for the front passenger on higher series grades.

The Highlander’s squishy front seats are really quite comfy.

There are no complaints about the Kona’s driving position, either. A fine relationship exists between the operator and nicely-grippy steering wheel, that also adjusts of course for both reach and height to provide an unencumbered view of those not-so-new looking dials. Ventilation is first class, there’s sufficient storage for most small items (including a larger bottle in the door pockets), and once you familiarise yourself with the various scattered buttons around the console, they’re in easy reach. Nothing at all intimidating here.

There’s ample space for two in the rear.

Rear-seat entry is surprisingly good, and there’s ample space for two 178cm-tall people sat behind a same-sized driver and passenger. The backrest is fixed but well placed, while the cushion is sufficiently comfy over short distances.

If you’re game a third person can just fit in between but it will be tight and hair or scalp will scrape the Kona’s ceiling. There’s plenty of storage, a single USB outlet, overhead grab handles, reading lights, a centre armrest with cupholders and one map pocket.

The boot is shallow and small.

But the boot remains shallow and small for the size of the Kona even though there are improvements to be gleaned here, with a high floor over a space-saver spare reducing normal capacity to just 374 litres (it was 13L less pre-facelift). There isn’t much in the way of versatility either, beyond the prerequisite split/folding rear backrest. Doing this ups the load area availability to 1156L. Nothing slides or removes, unlike a Skoda Karoq's divided trio of rear seats.

Boot capacity extends to 1156L with the rear seats down.

All-up, then, the Highlander’s interior is compact, extremely well-screwed together, and of acceptable quality, without a squeak or rattle to be heard. It’s also quieter than before, but there’s no denying that it’s beginning to seem old and dated now, despite the changes brought in by the facelift.

Speaking of which, let’s look underneath the bonnet.

The 1999cc 2.0-litre Nu Smartstream features twin cams, 16 valves, dual continuously variable valve timing and a new Atkinson cycle combustion process and two-step variable induction system, to dramatically improve fuel efficiency. More on that a little later.

Featuring a 1999cc 2.0-litre Nu Smartstream.

A maximum of 110kW of power at 6200rpm and 180Nm of torque at 4500rpm is delivered to the front wheels via a CVT, while the latter’s sequential ‘manual’ mode offers what Hyundai calls eight “virtual” gears, accessible with a push forward to go up and a pull of the lever back to go down. We wouldn't bother.

Weighing in at a hefty 1383kg (kerb), the Highlander’s power-to-weight ratio is 79.5kW per tonne.

Why CVT? For a claimed 14 per cent drop in fuel consumption compared to before.

The old Kona 2.0L FWD was not a very economical engine, so the move to the new combustion process and CVT promised advances. And, for once, the end result did not let us down.

Hyundai claims a combined average of 6.2 litres per 100km – or 8.3L/100km around town and a frankly-outstanding 5.0L/100km in the extra-urban route – for a carbon dioxide emissions average of 148 grams per kilometre. Fitted with a 50L fuel tank, this means a theoretical 800km-plus range between top-ups.

Fuel use was an entirely reasonable 7.4L/100km.

We managed an entirely reasonable 7.4L/100km at the pump. That was a mix of air-con-on two-person inner-city high-density traffic commuting, open-road cruising and some very spirited performance testing. Not bad at all.

This Kona will run on 91 RON standard unleaded as well as a 94 RON E10 ethanol mixture.

Hyundai offers a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty as well as 12 months of roadside assistance, with scheduled servicing at every 12-month or 15,000km intervals.

Published online, the prices for the N-Line service is $319 for each of the first five annual services, then rises to $380 (year six), $305 (year seven), $370 (year eight), $320 (year eight), $365 (year nine) and $660 (year 10). Accurate at the time of publishing, prices vary after that – between $275 and $380 – right up to the 51-year/510,000km service mark!