Detailed review: 2020 Hyundai Kona – it's small and fun, but is it a bit cheap? | 4K CarExpert - video Dailymotion

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Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 Exterior: 00:51 Interior: 03:19 Infotainment: 05:08 Features: 06:14  Practicality: 07:34 On the Road: 11:32 Verdict: 15:27  Read the full review: https://www.carexpert.com.au/review/2020-hyundai-kona-active-review/  Paul reviews the 2020 Hyundai Kona Active. It's one step up from the base model and it shares a platform with the Hyundai i30. It may look like a rugged SUV...but it's anything but. Is it worth paying a premium over the i30?...Watch and find out!  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you! #review #hyundai #kona  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric  @hyundaiaustralia

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. That's the Hyundai Kona and I wasn't 100% sure how to open this video because come here. Look at that. There's just

00:07 There's a lot going on there in that whole front end section

00:11 So people either love or hate this car, but we'll get to the styling in just a second. In Australia

00:16 This here is the Kona Active. One up from the base model

00:19 It starts at a little over $25,000 and you can see the rest of the pricing in the comments below

00:24 I'm curious in your home country, if you're not from Australia, are you surprised at how expensive or cheap this car is?

00:29 I always wonder about that stuff because in Australia

00:32 This is sort of roughly a little bit more expensive than an i30 which it's based on. Before we get into the review

00:37 You can click on the time codes up here to skip ahead or if you're watching this on YouTube

00:41 Use the hot links in the description below

00:44 I would love for you guys to also subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon because that will tell you every single time

00:49 We post a new video

00:51 Let's talk about styling. One, two, three, four, five, six colors available, but there is a secret color

00:57 I'll tell you about that in a second. Have a look at this design

00:59 So a lot of the cars in this segment, they just look literally the exact same

01:03 So Hyundai had to step out and do something completely different

01:06 And I think they've achieved that because there are a stack of grills here almost as many grills as there are colors

01:11 You got like this bottom one, this giant one here. This is a euro plate

01:14 So in Australia, this is the biggest number plate you can get. You can imagine here

01:18 If you had a slimline plate that takes up that much room that grill would be even bigger

01:21 Then you've got this one here, which is like a fake grill

01:23 It's entirely pointless because no air goes through that and you would think that you could just blank that off

01:27 But anyway, that's there for whatever reason. Style, design, stuff I know nothing about.

01:33 LED daytime running lights. The actual headlight is in here. Bit of a nasty halogen projector light in there

01:39 Now I mentioned in a previous video

01:40 I think it was with a Hyundai as well that the halogen projector lights are a little bit nasty because if you are driving in

01:46 The country in Australia, you've got animals and stuff tucked away in the trees there

01:50 It just doesn't have enough projection and you can't see all that far

01:53 So that's why LED lights or a bison and light is a much better option

01:57 Now over here

01:58 16 inch alloy wheels very chubby tires as well

02:01 You can kind of tell when you are at the base model or near a base model because you're getting smaller wheels and chubbier tires

02:08 Hey, have a look at this as well

02:09 There's like an aero type thing through there it pops in here and then comes out just near the tire handy when you're doing

02:15 250 k's an hour. Did you know there's actually a version of this car and this is the extra color

02:21 I mentioned before called the Ironman edition. It's about

02:23 $40,000 so it's expensive but it's a matte grey finish

02:27 And because it was done in conjunction with the movie it has like pinstriped highlights and all these Ironman bits on it

02:32 So that is kind of cool. If you do want this car to look different

02:36 Now here's another thing as well this car itself you think to you

02:39 I mean if you compare it to something like a Mazda 3 you think that it's bigger because it has those SUV proportions

02:44 But this is actually a hundred mil shorter than a CX-3. So it is fascinating that it looks big, but it isn't actually that big

02:52 It's around that 4.2 meter mark. Have a look around the back here. So similar story

02:55 They've broken up all the lighting elements

02:57 So the indicator is actually here in the bottom of the bumper bar

03:00 You have these cladding highlights here makes it look rugged

03:04 even though you would never ever go off-road in anything like this and then that top section is dedicated to

03:09 Things like brake lights and also the the running lights when you have the lights on so I don't know I kind of like it

03:15 It is different enough in this segment and that's what you need for a car like this to succeed

03:19 Okay interior styling before I get stuck into all of this

03:23 I wanted to introduce you to this Hyundai has technically gone back in time about 15 years and said to themselves

03:28 Well, no, we don't need a proximity sensing key. So what we'll use instead is an old-fashioned key and then also a

03:35 Standard key slot next to the steering wheel. So that is a little bit frustrating for a car that isn't even the base model

03:41 This is one up from the base model

03:42 So let's go to the rest of the interior and the way that it's styled it actually looks nicely presented

03:47 But what you'll notice here is there is acres of black

03:51 I mean, it's kind of broken up a little bit with this chrome

03:54 Brushed highlights, but the rest of it is just black and it kind of it just all just gets lost in itself

04:00 Hit of the driver really nice sort of looking steering wheel

04:03 But let's get to the plastics now only motoring journalists seem to care about the hardness of a dashboard

04:10 I know when I've mentioned this to other people though. I don't care how hard the dashboard is

04:14 So I went out and bought this it's called a durometer and this is on the Shaw scale

04:18 It goes from 0 to 100 and the way that it works is I push that little nib into a dashboard and it tells me

04:23 How hard the dashboard is from 0 to 100 where 100 is the hardest. So let's give this a crack here

04:30 That looks incredibly firm. I'm gonna push that down that has maxed it out entirely

04:36 We'll try it on this part of the dashboard

04:38 Almost maxed it out there at 94 and to give you a reference point

04:42 This is quite soft if we use that that's at around 57

04:45 So it shows you that the dashboard and all the plastics in this car are

04:49 Extremely hard and that brings down that perception of quality now in terms of build quality as well

04:55 It all appears good on the surface

04:57 But as you start playing around with things and look at how much flex there is there in that center console

05:02 It kind of feels like it isn't attached properly and that is a little bit disappointing when you are paying a premium for this car

05:08 Let's talk infotainment. This is a 7-inch infotainment screen. It's at the entry level to Hyundai's infotainment systems

05:15 The car itself comes with six speakers and then the infotainment unit comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

05:21 There's no inbuilt navigation

05:22 So that has to be done through a smartphone mirroring pet hate of mine with all Hyundai products is this voice recognition button

05:28 I've mentioned a million times but you press it and it does nothing

05:31 Most other cars on the market at least have an inbuilt voice recognition system that allows you to

05:35 Bark commands at the car whereas this requires your phone to be paired with screen mirroring before that button does anything

05:42 So it's kind of counterintuitive. Now if you want a full in-depth review of this exact infotainment system

05:48 Make sure you click on that link up there and that will give you all of the details about the system and exactly what it

05:54 Does but it does have some handy features in there that you're going to find out about. In terms of connectivity

05:58 Bluetooth, audio streaming, you have an auxiliary plug despite the fact that that has been killed from a lot of cars these days

06:04 You have two USB ports. One of those is for charging

06:07 So it's like a higher powered port which means it'll charge your devices quicker

06:11 You have a 12-volt outlet there as well. In terms of other features specific to this car

06:17 You've got a lane keeping assistance that will keep the car within its lane helps with the steering a little bit. Not a great system

06:23 It's quite sort of tuggy at the car and I'll explain that a bit more when we do go for a drive

06:27 You've got a reverse view camera, rear parking sensors

06:30 The reverse view camera quality is actually really surprisingly good as well

06:34 Even at nighttime where a lot of these systems tend to struggle you have autonomous emergency braking

06:39 But keep in mind that it only works at city speeds

06:42 So once you get above city speeds, it really isn't going to do a great deal, which is a little bit disappointing

06:47 I don't like it when they skimp on safety technology

06:50 And this is one example of where they really could be fitting a better system to this car

06:54 But aren't because they're trying to save cost. I don't know am I being pedantic here

06:58 I always talk about the AEB systems and I cop a lot of flack from people because they're like

07:02 Oh, I'll just learn how to drive but genuinely this will be activated the one time

07:07 You're not concentrating or the one time someone pulls out in front of you or a kid runs out in front of you

07:11 You can seriously save yourself not so much saving your life

07:14 but saving yourself lots of money and just

07:16 Wasted time with having to fix your car when you've run into something or if someone's pulled out in front of you

07:21 It doesn't always come down to your driving skill. Let me know in the comments below

07:24 Am I being oversensitive with this stuff? If you're buying this car for your kids, would you want a better safety system there?

07:31 Would you buy a different car if they had a better safety system? Let me know in the comments below

07:34 Okay, let's talk practicality and comfort. You will notice cloth seats here

07:38 Normally cloth seats are fairly cheap and nasty, but they're kind of nicely textured and they look pretty cool

07:44 You've got these little square things on them

07:46 So it makes you feel like you're not driving an absolute base model almost as old-school as the key is the single zone

07:53 Non-automatic climate control so you've got to change all of these yourself

07:57 So it's not a system where you can set a temperature hit auto and then you know

08:00 Just wait for it to do its own thing in terms of cup holders

08:02 You have two here, but while you can fit a bottle of water into that one

08:06 Fit it into that one

08:09 I actually don't know what you can fit in there because

08:11 Even coffee cups are gonna have the same sort of base width as this actually out. We've got a coffee cup there

08:16 Hey, can you pass that to me?

08:18 He obviously drinks cheap coffee

08:21 I don't know if it's okay

08:23 There you go. I stand corrected Hyundai. Sorry about that

08:25 You've got cup holders in the doors as well in terms of other storage spaces your phone can live virtually anywhere here

08:31 Which is fantastic. My big phone fits nicely there. No wireless phone charging. There's another slot for it in there

08:36 You've got storage here in the center console

08:39 That's fairly deep as well and then a big glove box here as well

08:42 So that fits that giant manual plus anything else you need to store in there

08:46 So in terms of storage, you are very well catered despite the fact it's not a massive car

08:50 So when I get myself comfy into my driving position, it's actually quite nice here because the steering wheel is a good size

08:57 I feel comfortable in the seat. Everything is easily adjustable

09:01 I can reach all the critical controls on the screen and I don't really need to take my eyes too far off the road if I

09:07 Need to catch something on the screen and then you're backed up by all the steering wheel buttons

09:11 So you've got your volume controls call controls and a cruise control and trip computer here as well

09:15 So that everything ahead of the driver there including that little trip computer screen is easy to access and easy to read as well

09:20 Which is important for the critical task of driving

09:25 RIP legroom if you're going on a long-distance road trip, it's actually not terrible

09:31 But for a car that looks like an SUV on the outside, there isn't a great deal of knee room there

09:35 I've kind of got a squeeze in it. There is plenty of toe room though, which is good

09:39 But it is a bit disappointing that there's no matte pockets. No rear air vents. No charging back here

09:44 It is pretty barren and basic you do get some creature comforts though

09:49 Center armrest with two cup holders and then if you've got little ones you can install ISOFIX car seats here outside of that

09:56 With plenty of headroom. There's really not too much to see back here

10:00 Oh, yeah

10:01 Also make sure you avoid abrupt maneuvers and excessive speed because there is a higher

10:06 Rollover risk with a picture of a car on two wheels. So SUV shape does that mean you get plenty of boot space?

10:13 No, not really. It's not that much more than a hatch. So you are limited to

10:18 161 litres in that cavity there

10:20 I'll show you what that means in just a second

10:22 And then if you drop the rear seats, they sort of fold flat with a hinge in between that'll boost it to

10:27 1143 litres so that kind of makes that space a little more cavernous. Let me show you under here

10:32 So this is your load floor

10:34 You can see that it works well there because it is quite low means getting things in and out is going to be straightforward

10:39 But when you lift that you have this little secret hidey spot

10:43 So because this doesn't have a full-size spare tire

10:45 You can see the space saver in there you get this section

10:48 So it means if you do have any valuables you can stick them here and you can't see them through the car

10:53 Which is pretty good

10:54 And then if you do want to ever put anything in here that needs to be tied down you have these tie-down hooks

10:59 You can also remove this cargo blind. That is a very straightforward process

11:03 normally and

11:06 That will just sit down there so you then can load things onto there. So how much is

11:12 161 litres of cargo space. Let's try on the in. This is a big one

11:15 That fits in if you go sideways that fits in nicely actually and then our laptop bag sneaks in just next to it top of that

11:24 You have the top tether points on the back of the seats

11:27 There's three of them and then a little hole on this side of the boot as well just for little bits and pieces

11:32 So it's driving time in the Kona Active

11:37 Yeah, look I like this thing

11:39 It is nice and nimble out on the road and it doesn't feel like a big SUV despite the height rollover warning

11:46 Under the bonnet is a 2 litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine

11:50 110 kilowatts of power

11:52 180 newton meters of torque now that doesn't sound like a lot and you're right

11:56 It isn't a lot and that's because it uses what they call an Atkinson cycle engine

12:01 If you want to see what that is just click up there somewhere for our Veloster review and in there

12:06 I give you a detailed explanation of what an Atkinson cycle engine is

12:09 But the main theory behind it is that it's less power and torque but also less fuel use

12:13 So it's only using a little over 7 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres

12:17 So this is a really good economical option made it to that engine is a six-speed automatic transmission

12:23 Now the reason this is good is because it's not a dual clutch gearbox. I'm kind of just over

12:28 Manufacturers using dual clutch gearboxes in small cars like this. It really doesn't help performance at all

12:34 It's only there for the benefit of a fuel saving

12:36 So that means your gear shifts may not be as razor-sharp

12:39 But this gearbox is more than quick enough and it means that if you do step on it

12:43 It drops down and then it propels you along nicely

12:45 So it's got plenty of punch for what it is and you're never going to be really wanting for more power

12:51 This is a small entry-level SUV. Remember how's the ride and handling?

12:55 It's actually really good

12:57 And the reason for that is Hyundai Australia takes the Korean tune and then does all of their own work to it here in Australia

13:04 So that means it handles bumps potholes very differently to the Korean cars

13:08 Generally, the Korean tuned cars are very soft and can be quite floaty here

13:13 They're a slightly tauter tune and with the chubbier tires that this is running. It means that it's very compliant

13:19 It's soaking up bumps nicely and it's not going to be tiring or fatigue inducing if you are going for a long country drive

13:26 Only thing I'm not loving here is the amount of noise inside the cabin. The engine is pretty thrashy

13:32 Hear that? And then on top of that you also get a fair bit of tire noise as well

13:36 I mean that's partly due to the insulation not really being fantastic here

13:40 So while you are paying a price premium for an SUV like this, you're really not getting the premium drive experience

13:47 This car plays a few tricks on your mind. Visibility is actually really good out of it

13:52 Despite the fact you're not sitting that much higher than the standard i30

13:55 So it gets big ticks for great visibility out the front, the sides, the wing mirrors are really big

14:00 It's just the rear visibility that isn't fantastic. It's quite a narrow window opening

14:05 So it's a little bit tricky to see out the back there. Now I mentioned earlier as well the lane keeping assistant

14:09 That's the technology that basically uses this camera to look ahead, look for the lines and then keep your car within them

14:15 Well, it's really not that great

14:17 So when you've got it switched on you go through a corner and you think the system's not going to react

14:22 But then it all of a sudden detects a line and it starts sort of pulling you a little more

14:27 Violently than you thought it would. Then sometimes when you expect it to pull the car around a corner

14:31 It doesn't notice the lines at all. So it is a pretty counterintuitive system and it just doesn't fill me with confidence at all

14:38 So I just switch it off and there's a button down here to do that and just do it all yourself

14:42 Let's talk drive modes for a second. You've got three to choose from. There is comfort, eco and sport. The differences between comfort and eco

14:50 Genuinely couldn't tell you. I do notice though as I go into sport mode

14:56 The gearbox starts behaving a little bit differently

14:58 You get a slightly sharper throttle response and you also get heavier steering as well

15:02 Now despite everything that I've said about the way this engine lacks torque and power because it's an Atkinson cycle

15:09 I can tell you it's surprisingly fun to drive

15:11 So if you do find yourself a couple of corners when you tip it in the steering is so responsive

15:17 It has plenty of traction and the brakes bite nicely as well

15:21 You would think that this would be a snore inducing car through corners, but it is surprisingly fun to drive

15:26 I started off the video not really knowing where to start and I kind of finish it not really knowing where to finish because you're

15:33 Either going to love or hate the design of this car

15:35 Which means you're either going to love or hate the price because it is more expensive than an i30

15:40 Which is exactly what it's based on and it is virtually the exact same car

15:43 It just looks slightly different but people aren't immune to paying extra for things that they like

15:48 I mean people buy branded handbags, watches, all sorts of stupid stuff that they don't need but they pay extra for and that's kind of

15:54 Where these SUVs fit. They don't go off-road. They don't really have any extra room

16:00 They're not any more practical than something like a hatchback

16:03 You do get a fairly basic interior, but you get all the tech bells and whistles that you would expect

16:07 So from that point of view, it's a good car

16:09 But just keep in mind that you really are paying extra for you know

16:14 I hate to say this but a tarted up i30 and it's the same as any other SUV in this segment that is based off

16:19 A small hatchback. Now, I want you to tell me do you buy this car?

16:22 Let me know in the comments below what you thought how much did you pay for it?

16:25 And what are you thinking of it so far?

16:27 What's Hyundai like to deal with from an ownership perspective?

16:30 If you did like the video hit like make sure you subscribe as well and also hit the bell icon because that will tell you

16:35 Each time we are driving something new until next time. Take it easy

Detailed review: 2020 Hyundai Kona – it's small and fun, but is it a bit cheap? | 4K CarExpert

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