We took the Hyundai Kona N Line on a fun fall road trip to see what it’s made of. We came away impressed.
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We are on the doorstep of fall here in New England, and the media fleet blessed us with a snappy-looking Hyundai Kona N Line. This vehicle has “fun on road trips” written all over it, so we loaded it up with an overnight bag and a cooler full of fun food and pointed it north out of Boston. We toured New Hampshire’s Contoocook River valley, winding our way alongside the south-to-north-flowing river and stopping at any excuse for a picture.
The Kona is a five-passenger compact crossover. The N Line is the trim in this car’s lineup that identifies as sporty. Our test vehicle was equipped with the brand’s excellent HTRAC all-wheel drive system.
2025 Hyundai Kona N Line - What’s It Cost? What’s the Warranty?
Price as Tested (2025 model year pricing): $34,005, including carpeted floor mats and Inland Freight & Handling charges, but not including added dealer content and dealer Doc Fees. Like all Hyundai’s, this vehicle comes with one of America’s best car warranties, which spans ten years for the first owner. It also comes with three years of included maintenance.
We loved the open-air motoring experience of the Kona N Line. Drop all the glass and open the generously sized sunroof, and the Kona is a great place to be. The wind is minimal and there is no buffeting. Visibility is great. It’s a superb back-roads adventure vehicle.
Bad news first: The Kona N Line has a too-tall first and second gear and/or a bit of turbo lag that conspire to make the starting-off experience a bit less than thrilling. Once underway, it’s fun to drive for sure. Sport Mode helps a lot, but there were times we pinned the throttle and could count “One chimpanzee” before any forward motion was felt. Its response profile is the opposite of the Kona EV, and that makes us long for the instant EV torque that version provides.
The good news is that the Kona N Line is one of those vehicles that feels really fun at speeds that won’t get you hauled off to the hooscow. If you use Sport Mode and the paddles, you can really get into a rhythm with this vehicle. You can make it sing if you work at it a bit. We’d call the Kona “engaging.” Over hill and dale, the Kona is fun to drive with all the glass open, arm up on the door sill, and your eyes on the horizon.
We must also give Hyundai credit for its build quality. Our tester was on its final tour of the media fleet and had just under 15,000 miles on the odometer. Yet, when we pounded down some rural dirt roads, the vehicle had zero rattles or squeaks. It felt solid.
The center information display and driver info display behind the wheel are outstanding in the Kona. We used Android Auto, and it was flawless. Instant pairing, wireless, no drops, no glitches. The wide screen offers a great Google Maps view. The audio is so-so.
The steering wheel is a bit thin, except at 10 and 2, so maybe that’s OK. We LOVED the cloth-covered, perforated, powered, and heated seats. This is the second Hyundai in a row with N its name that had this setup, and we are in love with the combination. We would not shed any tears if fake leather were retired from interiors by official decree.
The center console storage was missing a rubberized floor, so we put back some rubber there and it kept everything in its place. It's no big deal, but you can feel the car’s smallness and price point a bit here.
The Kona N has a spare tire! The sunroof is perfect! The excellent all-wheel drive system is engaged full-time.
Here are some of our other favorites in this segment:
- Mazda CX-30 Turbo. It’s a bit pricier but a better grand-tourer than the Kona N Line. Downsides include its infotainment.
- Subaru Crosstrek. If snowy conditions and off-pavement excursions were on our list of frequent driving adventures, we’d look at the Crosstrek, but it's darn slow.
- Toyota Corolla Cross Hyrbid. If your primary priorities are reliability and fuel economy, check out the Corolla Cross Hybrid.
- Kia Seltos. If you live next to a Kia dealer, you must try the Seltos as a cross-shop since it is so similar to the Kona.
We loved the Kona N Line. This is a vehicle we feel is among the best in this segment. Hyundai seems to be hitting each of its crossovers out of the park. We would suggest that shoppers drive the Kona EV if one is available where you shop. Check out the lifestyle adjustments needed to live with it and see if any local or state rebates help bring the cost down. Other than missing a spare tire, we like the Kona EV a bit more than its liquid-fueled sibling.
Images of 2025 Hyundai Kona N Line by John Goreham.
John Goreham is an experienced New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work at our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ Grammarly grammar and punctuation software when proofreading.
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