Test drive: 2024 Hyundai Kona charges for style

As a child, a vision of the future was painted in my mind thanks to the movies, “Demolition Man” and “RoboCop.” The 2024 Hyundai Kona visually delivers on that future. 

New, again, for 2024, the Kona gets reskinned, repackaged, and comes with updated tech. Added up it all earns the 2024 Hyundai Kona a TCC Rating of 6.0 out of 10. That bests most of the small crossover competition, including the Subaru Crosstrek, Volkswagen Toas, and Mazda CX-30.

But it’s not perfect due to a significant price increase this year, the loss of both the hybrid and performance N model, and styling best characterized as divisive. 

Here are the pros and cons of the 2024 Hyundai Kona after living with it for a week.

2024 Hyundai Kona

2024 Hyundai Kona

2024 Hyundai Kona

2024 Hyundai Kona

2024 Hyundai Kona

2024 Hyundai Kona

Pro and Con: Hyundai Kona’s design stands out

Even within our team’s ranks, there’s division on the Kona’s design.

I’m firmly in like, if not love, with the overall design update. It looks as if every Kona is an electric car, which makes sense since it was designed as an EV first. It looks futuristic with a thin full-width LED running light spanning the front and rear end above pods of lights. The thin three-spoke steering wheel feels like a weird throwback combined with a stubby gear selector mounted on the right side of the steering column.

But others on the team, in general, thought it was straight ugly. Words like bulging were thrown around, as if they were bad things. Caveat Kona: The new Kona could lead to a house divided. 

2024 Hyundai Kona

2024 Hyundai Kona

Pro: Hyundai Kona retains buttons, knobs, and goes wireless

Hyundai’s stood firm with buttons, knobs, and toggles in a moment when every automaker seems to be embedding every function in a touchscreen. While most functions can be accessed in my Limited tester’s 12.3-inch touchscreen, there are hard buttons and toggles for the climate control system. The infotainment system featured buttons and knobs. And finally, Apple CarPlay pairs wirelessly. 

2024 Hyundai Kona

2024 Hyundai Kona

Con: Hyundai Kona became more expensive

The Hyundai Kona now costs $25,435 including a $1,335 destination charge, which might seem like a value. But the model’s become $2,000 more expensive than last year’s model. My loaded Limited tester with all-wheel drive cost $34,695 thanks to 19-inch alloy wheels, LED lighting, synthetic leather upholstery, an 8-speaker Bose audio system, and a heated steering wheel along with heated and cooled front seats. The available all-wheel-drive system added $1,500 to the bottom line. That’s $2,305 more than a Subaru Crosstrek Limited, which has a nicer interior.

2024 Hyundai Kona

2024 Hyundai Kona

2024 Hyundai Kona

2024 Hyundai Kona

Pro: Hyundai Kona packs turbo-4 and locking center differential

The 1.6-liter turbo-4 with 190 hp and 8-speed automatic transmission in my tester was satisfactory. It’s no hot rod, but once the turbo spools it’s perky enough and doesn’t seem to run out of ideas when it comes time to pass on the highway. Especially desirable is the optional all-wheel-drive system, which features a locking center differential to split the power 50:50 in slippery situations. Few vehicles offer such a feature in this segment and it’s pretty clutch for those living in the snow belt for added traction situation.

2024 Hyundai Kona

2024 Hyundai Kona

Con: Hyundai Kona loses hybrid and N models

The death of the hybrid and hot-hatch N models is a real shame. My turbocharged tester came with EPA fuel economy ratings of 24 mpg city, 29 highway, and 26 combined. Those numbers are notably worse than the less expensive Subaru Crosstrek’s 27/34/29 mpg ratings, and even the Subaru’s optional larger 2.5-liter inline-4 with 26/33/29 mpg ratings. Over the course of 187 miles of mixed suburban driving, the Kona averaged 26.2 mpg, which is dead-on with the EPA ratings. A hybrid would improve upon these ratings notably, and a hotter N model would be a riot. RIP.

The reality with the 2024 Hyundai Kona comes down to this: Do you like how it looks? The rest of the Kona is competitive with an ace feature hidden within its available all-wheel drive system, though the top Limited trim skips on value.

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2024 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD

Base price: $25,435, including $1,335 destination

Price as tested: $34,695

Powertrain: 190-hp 1.6-liter turbo-4, 8-speed automatic transmission, AWD

EPA fuel economy: 26/29/24 mpg

The pros: Standout design, retains buttons and knobs, perky turbo-4, locking center differential

The cons: Questionable value in top trim, divisive design

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