Video: 2022 Hyundai Elantra N and Kona N: At the Track

But one area that Hyundai thinks it really needs to start excelling in order to really be considered that full line global automaker, is in performance. And you get there by creating a performance division, bringing on enthusiasts and creating a lot of passion for your brand. Well, Hyundai has started to do that with the new N division. Think Mercedes-Benz AMG, think BMW's M division. It's all about creating cars out of the ordinary passenger cars that could be taken to a track, driven on the track, and then driven home at the end of the day. Supposed to be a lot of fun. Well for 2022, Hyundai has come up with two new models for the North American market. We're already familiar with the Hyundai Veloster N, that's been here for a while, and we're frankly really big fans of it. This is the first of the two new models. This is the new Elantra N and it makes sense. Four door compact sedan, think Honda Civic Type R, or Subaru WRX. Compact sedan, lots of power, great grip, adjustable suspension. That makes sense to me for going on a track. The second model, however, is the new Hyundai Kona N. That's a compact crossover SUV. Really? Well, yeah, really. This is the new 2022 Kona N, and it's obviously a small crossover SUV, but it has all the same go-fast bits as the Elantra N, and much of the rest of the N lineup. It's got the 276 horsepower turbocharged engine. It's got a torque vectoring differential. It's got eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. It's got an electronically adjustable suspension as well. It's got all the go-fast modes inside that lets you adjust all of that as well. But it's an SUV. And to me, an SUV is a vehicle that you drive to the track, you don't drive the vehicle on the track. But Hyundai says, "You know what? It's gonna surprise you." They say it's a revelation to drive on the track. They say it's incredible that you can have all the cargo space and family space and still drive it home at the end of the day after you've done hard laps all afternoon on the track. And I say, well, Hyundai's just gonna have to prove it. (car engine revving) Now the point of the N vehicles, Hyundai says, is that you can drive them every day, you can commute with them, they're perfectly comfortable. And then you could take it to a track, do hot laps on the track, and drive it home at the end of the day. They're tuned to do that. And quite frankly, the street portion of this, is perfectly fine. It's comfortable, it's a little small for somebody my size, at least the Kona is, but it certainly isn't gonna beat you up. It doesn't feel high strung, but it still feels fun to drive even out here on the street. So I guess from that standpoint, Hyundai knows what it's talking about. Now, even in full on N mode, out on the street, which you probably don't necessarily wanna do because it does turn off some of the safety systems. It's still perfectly acceptable. Doesn't beat you up, isn't uncomfortable. steering's really nice and tight, and very communicative. Yeah. If you've got some favorite country roads, some favorite canyon roads, you could literally put it in N mode out on the street, and have a good time with it. The idea is you can take this SUV out onto a track for a track day. And actually you could drive it to the track, drive it at the track and then drive it home. It's tuned to be able to do that. It's got pads, brake pads, that will supposedly support that. They're not gonna fade on you and make it difficult to actually drive home. It's got electronically adjustable steering, electronically adjustable suspension, a torque vectoring differential. It's got all the go-fast goodies. And you know what? It is a lot of fun. But you still have the problem of it being very high, and it still feels fairly tall. My center of gravity is up high to begin with, and the seating position is such that you're fighting your own mass, basically. Some of us have more mass than others. Yeah. I'm sitting too high. This is just too tall. (car engine revving) It's certainly capable. It's quick, that's for sure. (car engine revving) And the transmission is nice, that DCT works really, really well. It's very predictive, very predictable, and it handles the available power quite well. It pulls, oh my god! It pulls out of the apex so beautifully. So yeah, you can drive the Kona N on the track. It works reasonably well, but quite frankly, if you're looking for a track car, a track Hyundai, well, out of the Kona and the Elantra, this is the one you want. The center of gravity is much lower. You feel a lot more controlled. You're not quite as tippy. It changes direction a lot better. Great control, only problem is, there's no headroom at all. (laughs) If you've got a helmet on, basically you're screwed, if you're a big guy like me or you're tall. So, the Kona is great, if you're a tall person or a large person, but if you're looking to maximize your fun, this Elantra N is fantastic, Such grip and it rotates beautifully. I just wish it had more headroom, or I had less butt. (laughs) Still, I'm grinning. And why wouldn't ya? It's got tons of power. This model has DCT, and it does absolutely great in matching itself to the power train, to the engine I should say, and providing tons of power, right when you need it, before you even realize you need it. And these brakes are just dynamite. No fade, lots of great repeatability. I'm digging it. This feels at least as good as a Civic Type R. However, I think the Civic had more headroom. (chuckles) But for a lot of people a track day doesn't necessarily mean a road course, it means an auto cross. Running through the cones in some big empty parking lot somewhere is what people sometimes do on the weekends, when they have a car like this. And both the Kona N and Elantra N do really well in this situation, but again, I think the advantage has to go to the Elantra N. You're just sitting up a little too high in the Kona, that center of gravity being higher than it is in the Elantra, does make a difference when you're negotiating the cones at speed. One of the great things about any of these N vehicles is the amount of adjustability and information that Hyundai actually lets you have. Now, first of all, you've got the digital gauge cluster, which changes depending on which mode you are in. Right now, it's in N mode, basically everything's turned up to 11. You push the N mode button here, on the center console and you've got a ton of information that they provide to you. Everything from position of your throttle percentage, lap timers, how hard you're pressing the brakes. And on some tracks, it actually has a track record of some of the world's best tracks including this one here at Atlanta Motorsports Park. And it'll actually show you where you are on the track as you're driving around it. It's incredibly cool. It's like playing Gran Turismo except if you pay too much attention to that, instead of the road ahead, you could die. However, this is where all the magic happens. You have adjustability to so many different systems. The engine performance, steering field, the electronic limited-slip differential, stability control, exhaust sound. All of this really does allow you to customize and experience for yourself. And it can be saved in two different custom modes, all of which is accessible through these buttons on the steering wheel. This one activates your N mode. This one goes into a couple different custom modes, and so you can switch between them. Say you're driving along the highway and you come to your off-ramp or your favorite canyon road. You've got your setting saved that you know worked really well on that road. You just, boop, push the button, it automatically changes things. You can drive your canyon road and when you're done with it, you push the other button, and you're back to just normal, comfortable cruising. That's more adjustability than you get in a lot of other high performance vehicles. And then there's this big red button. Now, they often tell you, "Never push the big red button." This is the big red button you wanna push. This is the N Grin Shift system. Grin is the operative word. You push this button and suddenly you get an over boost on your engine and you get 10 extra horsepower, which only lasts, I think, about 20 seconds, but still, for those 20 seconds, you get the full capability of the engine and the power train. And that can sometimes make the difference when you're in an auto cross. So, after driving them both, which is the better track car the Elantra N or the Kona N? Frankly, the Kona N is pretty good out on the track, it can do track things, it has all the various modes, it has plenty of power and it's got decent grip, but there's really no disguising in the fact that it is an SUV and you're sitting up a little bit higher, and that center of gravity's a little bit higher, so, it doesn't have the same kind of handling characteristics that the Elantra N does. And I have to say, for my pick in terms of a track car or a car that you can commute in, in the morning, drive to the track on a weekend, have fun, and then drive back home, the Elantra N really is, I think, the better choice. The lower seating position, the lower center of gravity. Yeah, it doesn't have as much headroom as the Kona N, but I think it more than makes up for it by the fact that it is just better to drive. If you'd like to learn more about the new 2022 Hyundai Kona N or Elantra N, you could look everything up on cars.com.