The new Kona Electric isn’t all that’s fresh about Hyundai’s junior SUV, because the Korean brand has also just added two diesel options to the engine line-up.
You’re unlikely to see them in showrooms, though, because they’re special-order only; this indicates how slim their share of this car’s overall sales will be. Indeed, even the all-electric version could prove more popular.
Both diesels feature a 1.6-litre four-cylinder CRDi motor, developing either 113bhp or 134bhp, and the latter version is linked to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
EV aside, we’d recommend sticking with a petrol-powered Kona in almost every case, but if you’re going to do the miles to justify it, the lower-powered diesel option is probably the better bet.
The 113bhp power output doesn’t sound like much, but 280Nm of torque is plenty in a car of this size, so the milder diesel is still a reasonable performer, 0-62mph coming up in just over 10 seconds. It will get up to motorway speeds comfortably, and even though it lacks the responsiveness of the petrol-powered Konas it’s not bad nipping around town, either.
The six-speed manual gearbox shifts sweetly, though, making it easy to recommend over stumping up extra cash for the dual-clutch automatic.
Of course, the diesel is the Kona to pick if fuel economy is your primary concern as you munch through the miles. An official average economy figure of 67.3mpg and CO2 emissions of 112g/km are impressive, although these numbers are merely in the ballpark for a diesel SUV of this size, rather than class-leading.
As for refinement, the Kona diesel sits pretty much in the middle of the pack. There’s nothing particularly amiss about the level of engine noise seeping into the cabin, and there’s probably little between this car and a diesel SEAT Arona in this regard.
• Hyundai Kona Premium SE review
However, the ride still disappoints; it’s firm and shuddery. Admittedly, an Arona also struggles with comfort but it at least is much better to drive.
The Kona is a nice place to sit, however, even if the cabin isn’t quite as funky as the exterior. Still, it’s well built, uses plenty of nice materials, and the infotainment system on the Premium SE car is straightforward.
- Model: Hyundai Kona 1.6 CRDi 115 Premium SE
- Price: £23,450
- Engine: 1.6-litre 4cyl diesel
- Power/torque: 113bhp/280Nm
- Transmission: Six-speed manual, front-wheel-drive
- 0-62mph: 10.7 seconds
- Top speed: 114mph
- Economy: 67.3mpg
- CO2: 112g/km
- On sale: Now
from Featured Articles https://ift.tt/2zFE6NM
No comments:
Post a Comment