The IT Nerd

The interior of the Hyundai Santa Fe 2.0T Ultimate AWD has a very compelling interior that Hyundai mostly got right. To be clear, it’s a very, very good interior. But there are areas where Hyundai could have taken this from very, very good to perfect. Let me walk you through the interior.

Normally I start with the drivers seat. However this caught my eye. You get an extra window between the A pillar and the side mirror to improve your vision. And it does make a difference when driving.

The door has all the controls for the windows, mirrors, and on the top right there are the buttons for the custom seat settings.

The drivers seat is made of leather and is heated, vented, and extremely comfortable. You get all sort of customization including thigh extensions which will be welcomed by taller drivers such as yours truly. Once you dial it in, it is a great seat to spend your driving time in. One interesting trick is that if the car detects that the outside temperature is cold, it will turn on the seat warmer for you and leave it on for about five minutes so that you’re not sitting on cold leather. That’s a nice touch!

On the top left you see the buttons for the electronic overseers and the panel lighting. You can also see the pedals which are pretty plain and I think that Hyundai could have put some sport pedals in to make things a bit cooler.

The gauge cluster is impressive. The gauges on the left and right are real. However, everything else is a large and very customizable LCD screen that is bright and sharp.

The steering wheel is leather wrapped, heated and feels good in your hands. It also has controls for the infotainment system as well as the cruise control system.One interesting trick is that if the car detects that the outside temperature is cold, it will turn on the steering wheel heater for you and leave it on for about five minutes so that you’re not sitting on cold leather. That’s a nice touch!

You get a tablet style 8″ screen for the infotainment system and below that are the HVAC controls. I should also note that most of the top of the dash is hard plastic. But closer to the front seats there is soft touch material.

Below the HVAC controls is this cubby with a pair of USB ports. The one of the left is the one for the infotainment system. The right is simply for someone to charge a phone. An audio jack as well as a 12v outlet is present as well. There is also a QI compatible wireless charger that fit my iPhone XS with room to spare.

The shifter is leather wrapped, and below it, you get the parking brake as well as buttons that controls for various functions. You also get two very serviceable cupholders.

They passed the Starbucks Venti coffee test with ease.

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The arm rest which is topped with leather has a deep storage area that has a small tray inside it.

You get a useful glove box. My wife pointed out that it wasn’t lit while the one in our Tucson is lit. Thus she felt that Hyundai could have made this lit as well. I think that she might have a point here.

My wife really liked this shelf on the passenger’s side as you can drop small items in there. For example, my iPhone XS fit in their easily.

There is a massive dual panel sunroof that seriously adds style to the Santa Fe.

Plus for the back seat occupants, there are sunscreens for the windows.

Beneath the HVAC vents is a cubby big enough for a phone and a pair of USB ports for charging said phone.

If you don’t need to seat three people (Which when I tried that with three adults it was very tight. Two adults or three children would work though), you an use these handy cupholders.

The Santa Fe has a ton of space if you fold down the second row seats (which move forwards and backwards to create extra legroom by the way). One thing that I should note is that most of the interior is covered by nice white LED lighting. Except for the cargo area which is covered by yellow incandescent lighting. Ditto for the lights in the vanity mirrors. Hyundai might want to consider making all the lights LED to make the look more consistent and to ensure that the bulbs outlast the life of the car.

But with the seats up there’s a ton of space for my groceries.

To help to flip down the seats, there’s a pair a buttons in the back on the right hand side to allow that to happen easily. You do have to flip them up manually though. There’s also a 12V outlet back here as well.

I was able to flip down the “40” portion of the 60/40 seats to facilitate picking up our cross country skis from being prepped for the upcoming ski season.

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There’s also underfloor storage that did come in handy during the week that I had the Santa Fe.

There’s another storage area to the right as well.

Overall this is a nicely executed interior. I do think that Hyundai could have done some little things to take this from great to perfect. But I doubt that you’d have any problems spending time in this vehicle. The next part of this review will cover the technology in the vehicle. It has a fair amount of it. Tune in tomorrow to find out what the Santa Fe has to offer from a tech perspective.

This is the engine that powers the 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe 2.0T Ultimate AWD. It’s a 2L turbo four cylinder engine that puts out 235 HP but more importantly an impressive 260 pound feet of torque to all four wheels via an eight speed automatic transmission which you can shift yourself if you so choose. But don’t bother doing so as it is a well sorted transmission that seems to be in the right gear more often than not and is generally a very smooth shifting transmission.

The AWD system in the Santa Fe is worth mentioning in more detail. Hyundai’s HTRAC AWD system was developed as a multi-mode system, providing an electronic, variable-torque-split clutch with active torque control between the front and rear axles. If any of this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a similar system that is used in the Hyundai Genesis that I reviewed a few years back. But unlike that system, it is front wheel biased rather than rear wheel biased.

Driving Hyundai Santa Fe 2.0T Ultimate AWD is pretty rewarding. The power comes on pretty early in the rev range and pulls strong through the middle part of the rev range. So what that means is that you have lots of power off the line, as well as to pass transport trucks and merge onto the highway with ease. I never felt that this vehicle was lacking in power in any way. Handling is superb as it is very nimble at any speed. Body roll is very well controlled and it feels solid thanks to a combination of the in house high strength steel the Hyundai uses and the suspension which doesn’t beat you senseless while being firm. Quite frankly, it feels like I am driving my 2016 Tucson, only with a bit more power at my right foot. It’s also generally quiet to drive even with the winter tires that are on the vehicle.

Fuel economy is surprisingly good for a vehicle of this size. I say surprisingly because I was not sure what to expect coming into this test drive. I am currently floating around 12.1 L/100 KM in largely city driving, which I think is pretty good. That is being aided by an engine stop/start system which will power down the engine at a stoplight when you have your foot firmly on the brake, and power it back up when you start to take your foot off the brake. You do notice that process happening and I have to admit that the first few times that it happened I was kind of unnerved at the engine stopping and starting. But after about a day or so you stop noticing it. Another thing that I should note is the drive modes. You get three in this vehicle. Comfort, Sport, and Smart. And they’re appropriately color coded (e.g., a red speedometer border for Sport) so you’ll never have to guess which drive mode you’re in. My advice is to set it for Smart and leave it there as that will give you the best balance between performance and fuel consumption.

Next up I’ll walk through the interior which Hyundai has clearly brought its “A Game” to. Tune in tomorrow to find out why I say that.

Crossovers/SUVs are all the rage at the moment. And you’d be forgiven if you think that you only have three choices when it comes to size. Which is sub compact, compact, and 7/8 passenger variants. But there is a fourth option which is the mid sized five passenger variant. There’s only a handful of entrants in this space and Hyundai is one of the leaders in that space with the Santa Fe which has been redone for 2019:

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I have to admit that it does look very bold. While it does carry over some of the styling cues from the previous Santa Fe, it also has styling cues from the Hyundai Kona. Specifically the front and rear lights. They are arranged like this from the front:

• Top lights: Daytime running lights.
• Center lights: Headlights
• Bottom lights: Foglamps

And from the back:

• Top lights: Brake lights
• Bottom lights Turn signal and backup lights

But unlike the Kona, people who saw the Santa Fe didn’t find the look to be anywhere near as polarizing as the Kona which people either loved the look or hated the look. That’s important as Hyundai really wants to continue to be one of the leaders in the mid-sized crossover/SUV space.

One thing that did stand out for was the design of the 19″ alloy wheels:

I’m not sure why, but I really felt drawn to this wheel design. The same was true with my wife who said the exact same thing,

My review of the 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe 2.0T Ultimate AWD is made up of five parts:

• Exterior
• Engine, transmission, handling, fuel economy, and driving comfort
• Interior
• Technology in the vehicle
• Wrap up

The next part of this review will cover the engine, transmission and driving comfort. There’s a fair amount going on here that I think will appeal to buyers of a vehicle like this. Tune in tomorrow to find out why I say that.

Today marks three years since my wife and I purchased our 2016 Hyundai Tucson, and I wanted to provide an update on what our experience has been with the vehicle. The reason being is that I feel that it is important to see how reliable a vehicle is as it ages as that will govern things like if I will buy another vehicle from the same brand, or if I will speak positively or negatively about the vehicle when asked.

First of all, let’s have a look at the Tucson three years in and freshly detailed by Vanquish Car Care. You can also see the Yakima roof rack that my wife and I use to transport our bikes to and from our rides:

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I still love the looks of this vehicle after three years. It’s classic, but at the same time it’s a bit edgy with the character lines down the side . I think that this is a look that will still look good for years to come as it isn’t the “flavor of the month” from a car design perspective.

Now let’s get the negative stuff out of the way. Which really isn’t all that negative. But still merits mentioning. Specifically:

• The turn signal switch would sometimes not work at all when you used it to indicate a left turn, or it would work and stop working. A number of people on the Hyundai Forum had exactly the same issue which prompted me to take it to the dealer. But in my case it took two visits to the dealer before they could replicate the problem. Then it took three weeks to get a replacement switch in, only to discover that it was the wrong switch that they ordered. Which meant I had to wait another week to get the proper switch in to resolve the issue.
• The drivers door handle started to require two pulls to open. Of interest, a few other people on the Hyundai Forum had the same issue. The dealer traced the issue to a door actuator going bad. But they didn’t have the parts in stock. But he offhandedly mentioned that if I had a Santa Fe he has the part in stock because “they go bad all the time.” Food for thought quite clearly. The part was ordered and came in 2 days later and that solved the issue.
• Frequent readers might recall that when my wife and I were travelling across the country last year, the AC would stop working part way through our drives. At the time we thought it was user error. But in reality, it was a issue that Hyundai had not only documented, but launched a service campaign to fix. And the fix was to update the software that runs the climate control system and to replace the Evaporator Temperature Sensor with an improved version. This did not impress many on the Hyundai Forum who paid out of pocket for the later to fix their AC issues.
• I had a clunking sound coming from the front end of the car which was more pronounced if I was turning right at the time. It took the dealer a few tries to figure out what was going on, but they finally traced the issue to the sway bar links going bad. Apparently they’re considered to be a consumable item and replacing them makes this issue go away. It also means that I can expect this to happen again.
• The Tucson has had the dual clutch transmission software updated a couple of times to try and address long standing complaints that some owners have with it. Specifically that at low speed it is jerky and that it in certain situations can cause the Tucson to stall. In my case, I love this transmission as it shifts quickly and is great on gas. While I have seen the low speed jerky behavior at times in stop and go traffic, I have not see the stalling issue. Plus many other dual clutch transmissions that I have tried have had similar behavior from my experience. Thus it doesn’t bother me. But I can see how it might bother others. Having said all of that, it appears that Hyundai has given up using this transmission in the Tucson as they are going to the engine/transmission combo that is in the Santa Fe when they refresh the Tucson for the 2019 model year. What they are going to is a six speed torque converter style transmission and an engine that is up on horsepower but unfortunately down on torque. I should note that the turbocharger is gone too as this is a normally aspirated engine. Plus you can expect that fuel economy will go down too as there’s one less gear to work with and this is a bigger displacement engine.
• This is more of an annoyance than anything else, but the key fob is super sensitive. You can open the rear hatch by accident simply by having it in a the pocket of a tight fitting pair of pants with other objects in said pocket. The worst thing is you’ll never know this happened until you go out to your car and discover it open. Hopefully with all your stuff still in the vehicle.

Now am I upset at any of the above. Sure they’re annoying. But cars are machines. And machines break. The only part that should be a cause for concern is that it in a couple of cases, it took weeks to get parts which seems to be a pattern with Hyundai Canada that started when the blind spot monitoring system went bad. Which at the time I said this:

That’s a major #fail as a car company the size of Hyundai should have a parts inventory that allows dealers to get parts quickly so that their customers can get their issues resolved in a timely manner. Hyundai has stepped up its game to make their cars ones that scare car companies in America, Japan, and Germany. But when it comes to parts availability, they seriously need do something about that if they want to be considered a top tier car manufacturer. 

I said that in 2016 and that commentary still applies today. Hopefully Hyundai Canada makes some changes on that front to improve the customer experience.

Here’s the upshot. All of the above was covered by Hyundai’s five year warranty. So we were not out of pocket for any of it. Plus we have two years of extended warranty coverage on top of that in case anything else goes wrong.

Now here’s the positives. This is a great highway vehicle. It’s excellent for road trips as my wife and I drove it to Newfoundland and back last year and enjoyed the experience. Not to mention other road trips like the one to Prince Edward County and to Ottawa and the 1000 Islands. It feels solid and handles exceptionally well. It’s great on on gas and has a lot of get up and go to it. Plus it’s roomy as I’ve been able to take four other adults in the vehicle with ease. Maintenance costs have been decent when it comes to things like oil changes and other routine service as well. But the biggest thing is that people comment on how upscale the Tucson feels, especially with the dual pane sunroof that it comes with.

The Tucson has aged extremely well. None of the interior looks worn and that includes the leather. Of course some of that might be due to the fact that I have it detailed once a year or more. From an engine perspective, it’s still quiet and mechanically sound. That’s important because what brought us to the Tucson was the oil burning problems that our previous vehicle that was made by Toyota had. And the fact that the company would not address because it wasn’t burning enough oil. For the record, I have had zero oil burning issues with the Tucson. As in zip, zero, nada. That’s a very good thing.

Gripes? Well, it doesn’t come with tire pressure monitoring. To be fair, that’s not required in Canada. But when most if not all of your competition in Canada comes with tire pressure monitoring and you don’t, you need to up your game. It also has only one USB port which means that you’ll have to grab a couple 12V to USB chargers to keep all your devices charged. But those are really minor gripes on an otherwise stellar vehicle.

Now I have made some modifications or “mods” as the kids would say to the vehicle. Now before I get into what those modifications are, let me say that they are very minor in comparison to the people who put bigger turbos, new suspensions and the like in their cars. And in no way will anything I do void my warranty and cause issues later on. But these “mods” will enhance the vehicle in ways that will improve the driving experience and comfort. Not to mention make it look even more upscale than it already is.

For starters, I wasn’t happy with the brightness level of the headlights. On dark country roads they were fine, but in the city you would never know that they were on. So I enlisted the help of this guy who works out of his home. He isn’t the fly by night sort as he is fully insured and knows what he is doing. He upgraded the HID headlight bulbs from 4300K to 6000K as well as installed these LED fog lamp bulbs that I got from Amazon which made the light output match the 6000K headlight bulbs. For bonus points, I also replaced the high beam bulbs with whiter ones from Amazon to complete the look. The net result was this:

This gave me the brightness levels that I wanted and it also enhanced the look. As a bonus, everything is still legal which is really important.

The next thing I did was the backup lights. I converted them to these LED light bulbs from Amazon as not only does it enhance the look of the vehicle, but LED lights use less power and last longer. In theory, I should never have to replace any of the LED bulbs that I installed (more on the other LED bulbs that I installed in a moment). It was a fifteen minute job that I did myself to get this result:

As you can see, the backup lights which sit under the brake lights (which interestingly enough are LED lights straight from the factory) are very white and bright. I should also point out the license plate lights which I used these LED bulbs to get the look that you see, and those only took five minutes to do.

The final thing that I did externally is to convert the front and rear turn signals to LED as well. That was a bit more of a challenge as modern cars monitor the lights to see if the bulb has burnt out. And putting in LED lights often cause those warnings to appear and the bulbs to blink way faster than they should (which is known as hyperflashing). The common fix for that is to splice in a resistor into the wiring to the bulbs to fool the car into thinking that it has an incandescent bulb installed. Or use an error cancelling device to achieve the same effect. But I didn’t want to go either of those routes. Thus while it took a bit of hunting around, I found LED bulbs from this Korean based company which would be plug and play. Here’s a video of the result:

That takes care of the exterior. Now onto what I did to the interior. To give myself some extra storage space, I replaced the fuse box cover to the left of the steering wheel with this one which gave me space for my gas cards.

Then I got this center console tray to give myself some extra storage for the center console as I was able to put my frequently used items in it.

Now over to the cool stuff. I replaced the pedals with stainless steel sport ones to make the Tucson look more upscale. Mainly because the footwell area looked kind of dark and boring. Plus in Korea, the Tucson comes with sport pedals in the upper trim levels. Not to mention that the sister vehicle to the Tucson which is the Kia Sportage comes with these pedals in Canada. I used an OEM part to do this so that there would be no issues and it took 20 minutes of work with a socket wrench to get this result:

This looks far more upscale. The final thing on my task list was to convert the interior lighting to LED bulbs. Now Hyundai did do some of this for me by having LED lights for most of the interior. But for whatever reason, they missed the vanity lights, glove box light and rear cargo area light. Which meant that there was a yellowish light which was noticeable because LED areas of the interior had a very crisp white light to it. These bulbs were very easy to swap out and here’s the results starting with the rear cargo area light:

The glove box light:

And the vanity light:

None of what I did required anything like splicing of wires, drilling or the like. It was all plug and play with the help of the odd screwdriver or socket wrench. But they all made a difference in terms of how the vehicle looks and how comfortable I feel in it.

So, let me answer the central question. Would my wife and I purchase the Tucson again? The answer is yes. It has been great to us and we’ve enjoyed having it and look forward to many more years of it being a central part of what we do. Hyundai really nailed it with the Tucson which is little wonder why we see so many of them on the road. Clearly they have a winning formula that resonates with buyers in the compact SUV space.

So I’ve come to the end of my week long review of the 2018 Hyundai Kona 2.0L luxury and I think Hyundai has a competitor in this space that stands out in more ways than just looks. It drives well, has a very good interior and a fair amount of tech. One thing that I need to circle back on is the drive mode button. It has three modes:

• Eco absolutely dulls the drive experience to save you gas. From what I can figure out, it saved me about 0.1L on a 20KM drive. On a longer drive it will likely save you more gas.
• Sport hangs on to gears longer and the exhaust sounds louder so that you can get every last HP out of the engine. It also tightens up the steering to make the Kona more sporty.
• Normal is a balance between the two.

To be honest, I kept it in normal mode outside the time I experimented with the other settings as normal works pretty well. It’s main competitors are going to be the Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-3, Ford EcoSport, Jeep Renegade, and Fiat 500X among others. But I think that the Kona is going to get a lot of looks from people looking for a sub-compact SUV given what this vehicle has to offer. Assuming that they can get past the looks which some might see as polarizing. At least that was the feedback that I got during my week with it. Take my advice on this: Judging this car by only its looks would be a mistake because you’d be missing out on a great looking package if you did.

My final fuel economy was 9.3 L/100KM’s which is pretty good considering that I made liberal use of the 2.0L engine’s torque while driving in a mix of city roads and highways, not to mention rush hour traffic.

The 2018 Hyundai Kona starts at $20,999. The 2,0L Luxury trim level that I drove this week goes for $27,499. It tops out at $31,999 with a 1.6 turbo engine and fully loaded.

Hyundai has a strong contender in the sub-compact SUV space with the Kona. If you’re in the market for a sub-compact SUV, head to your nearest Hyundai dealer and test drive one. I think that once you get past the looks, you’ll be driving away with one in short order.

The 2018 Hyundai Kona 2.0L Luxury is a sub-compact SUV packed with healthy amount of technology in it. Let’s start with the safety aspects of the vehicle:

• It has a back up camera with excellent clarity and a great range of vision. It also has lines on the screen to help you to position your car when backing into a parking space or parallel parking. Plus there’s rear cross traffic alerts and back up distance sensors to make sure that you don’t hit anything.
• You get autonomous emergency braking which will bring the Kona to a stop if it detects an object in front of it, and you take no action to avoid said object.
• Blind spot monitoring is included. Not only does it warn you when you are about to do an ill advised lane change, but it also alerts you based on distance and relative speed.
• One real highlight is that lane departure warning and assist functionality is included. It is one of the better systems that I have tested lately and I say that because any steering corrections that it makes are gentle and don’t freak you out. Plus if it has to make an audible warning, it does so in a way that doesn’t freak out you or your passengers.
• There’s an attention assist feature which monitors your driving and will suggest that you should take a break if it thinks you are getting tired.
• You get automatic headlights so that you never forget to turn the headlights on or off.
• Six airbags are standard.

The only thing that is missing from all this safety tech is tire pressure monitoring. While not required here in Canada, it is odd in 2018 to see a car without it.

The Kona also comes with a lot of technology to make life easier for you:

• Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are included which is important as there’s no built in navigation. That sounds like a negative. But it is not because most people I know who have access to Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in their cars never use the built in navigation system. Thus nothing is likely lost by its omission. It gets served up on an 7″ screen which is extremely sharp, has great contrast and is viewable in all lighting conditions. The infotainment system user interface was easy to navigate and didn’t display any lag whatsoever. That was completely in line with other Hyundai products that I’ve tried recently.
• There’s a six speaker audio system that sounds good as I had no complaints when I was listening to radio or tunes from my iPhone. You can serve up AM,FM, audio from your phone via USB (which will also charge your phone) or Bluetooth, or SirusXM Radio.

The final part of this review will tie up some loose ends and I’ll give you my closing thoughts on the Hyundai Kona. Stay tuned for that tomorrow.

The interior of the 2018 Hyundai Kona 2.0L Luxury is a utilitarian but well put together one that I believe you will like. Let me walk you through the interior.

The door has all the controls for the mirrors, plus there’s space for a bottle in the map pockets. The catch is that the doors are largely made up of hard plastic which gets dirty.

The seats are leather and heated. The drivers seat is power adjustable as well. It was easy for me to dial in my seating position and be comfortable while driving.

To the left of the steering wheel are the buttons for the electronica overseers. You can also see the dead pedal which is handy for long drives.

The steering wheel is heated and leather wrapped. It has buttons for the infotainment system as sell as the cruse control.

The gauges are bright and easy to read. There’s a monochrome TFT screen that allows you to place the info that you need in plain view.

The Kona comes with push button start which is located to the right of the steering wheel.

There’s a 7″ touchscreen for the infotainment system. Below that are the HVAC controls. The middle part of the dash is made of a soft touch material. Everything else around it is hard plastic.

The shift lever is leather wrapped, and you also have buttons for the heated seats, steering wheel, as well as AWD lock and the drive mode button.

Below that is a cubby that has two 12V outlets, and aux jack as well as a USB port. It holds an iPhone 7 Plus with ease. Above that is a second cubby for storage purposes.

You get a pair of cupholders and you can also see the parking brake.

The cupholders hold a Starbucks Venti sized coffee with ease.

Underneath the armrest is a deep storage area.

There is a decent sized glove box that’s lit.

Above you is a powered moon roof with a manual sunshade.

The back seats fit thee kids or two adults. I’m six feet tall and I could sit behind myself with a tiny bit of room of space for my knees and feet.

If you don’t need to seat three people, you can use these cupholders which are in a flip down armrest.

There is a tiny window in the back which does help with visibility.

The cargo area is surprisingly big and it includes a privacy cover. Folding down the 60/40 split seats gives you a flat surface to load your 65″ TV into.

The cargo area fits our weekly shopping with space left over.

Plus there’s under floor storage to boot.

To the right is another storage area for small items.

There’s a handle to close the hatch without getting your hands dirty.

So I will say that there is a lot of hard plastic inside the Kona. But to me, I think I know why. The people who are part of the target market for this vehicle are not only going to be in the city, but they will likely be doing stuff in the outdoors as well that may mess up the interior. Thus having hard plastic makes the interior easier to clean and it ensures that it will survive for years. I didn’t note any rattles or squeaks. And it all appears to be put together well.

The next part of this review will cover the technology in the vehicle. It has a fair amount of it. Tune in tomorrow to find out what the Kona has to offer from a tech perspective.

This is the engine that powers the 2018 Hyundai Kona 2.0L Luxury. It’s a 2L four cylinder engine that puts out 147 HP and 132 pound feet of torque to all four wheels via a six speed automatic transmission which you can shift yourself if you so choose. You can also push a button to have the AWD system give you continuous 50/50 power split between the front and rear axles as long as you stay below 30 km/h. Otherwise it shunts power where it needs it own its own. The AWD system also uses torque vectoring to allow torque to be redistributed along the rear axle to the wheel that has best traction, and will brake the inside rear wheel to mitigate understeer.

Now the 147 HP and 132 pound feet of torque does not sound like a lot. But don’t be fooled. This engine/transmission combo actually does a pretty good job of getting the Kona off the line, onto a highway, and around slower traffic. Aiding that is a suspension that is firm and controls body roll well without beating you up. That makes this sub-compact SUV very nimble in traffic. It’s also very solid feeling and very good of giving me more than enough road feel to know what the car is doing under me. The only noise that I hear at highway speeds is some tire noise at very muted levels. The accelerator is easy to modulate. Ditto for the brakes. Finally, visibility is excellent in all directions.

Now Hyundai has an optional 1.6L turbocharged engine that puts out 175 HP and 195 pound feet of torque which is mated to a 7 speed dual clutch transmission for those (like me) who want a bit of extra power. If this engine transmission combo sounds familiar, it’s because it’s used in the Hyundai Tucson. I can say from personal experience that it’s a great combo for someone who wants a bit more oomph in their SUV. My advice is to try the base engine first. If you like it, buy it. If you don’t, then go for the upscale engine.

Fuel economy is good. I am currently averaging 9.6L per 100 KM in mixed city and highway driving which is pretty good. I haven’t yet played with the drive mode button which gives you Eco, Normal, and Sport settings. The default being Normal. But by the time I wrap up this review, I will have and I’ll give you my feedback on that.

Next up I’ll take a look at the interior with is functional and good looking. Tune in tomorrow for details on that.

Sub-compact SUVs are the new and hotly contested car space that every car company is trying to get into. If you don’t have an entry into this space, you’re not a player. For that reason there’s a whole lot of choice and car makers have to find some way to stand out from their competition. Hyundai is no different and they are making quite the effort to stand out from the competition with the 2018 Hyundai Kona:

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Clearly Hyundai is trying to make this sub-compact crossover stand out from the competition as the looks are anything but conservative. If that’s not enough, Hyundai has some color choices that can be seen from space. When it comes to the lights, they are arranged like this from the front:

• Top lights: Daytime running lights.
• Center lights: Headlights
• Bottom lights: Foglamps

And from the back:

• Top lights: Brake lights
• Bottom lights Turn signal and backup lights

I’m pointing this out because this seems to be the number 2 question that I am asked about the Kona right after “what is it that you’re driving?” Personally I like the look of this vehicle as I am not into driving cars that look boring. But I can see how some might see this vehicle as polarizing. But at least it does stand out.

My review of the 2018 Hyundai Kona 2.0 Luxury is made up of five parts:

• Exterior
• Engine, transmission, handling, fuel economy, and driving comfort
• Interior
• Technology in the vehicle
• Wrap up

The next part of this review will cover the engine, transmission and driving comfort. All of which are more than you would expect. Tune in tomorrow to find out why.