Photo: Hyundai
Albert Biermann is a man of many talents. After spending some time at BMW and the M division, the guy left the German automaker for the roles of president and head of performance development and high-performance vehicle development at the Hyundai Motor Group. And under his supervision, the i30 N and Kia Stinger came into this world.
But the South Korean automaker won’t be stopping here. In addition to those two and the Veloster N, there’s a hot version of the Kia Ceed in the pipeline. And a couple of sport-ified crossover utility vehicles, namely the Kona N and Tucson N.
Global head of sales Byung Kwon Rhim told the media in February 2018 that the Tucson N is under development, so what about the Kona N? This time around, it’s Biermann who broke the news to Auto Express, revealing that he has told the engineers “to build the car and we’ll see what happens with getting it approved.”
What that means is, test mules of the newcomer should start appearing anytime now, in and around the automaker’s Technical Center in Russelsheim, Germany and the Nurburgring Nordschleife racing circuit. Similar to the i30 N and Veloster N, the Kona N is understood to get the 2.0-liter T-GDi engine in two states of tune.
From the get-go, expect 250 PS (247 horsepower) and 378 Nm (279 pound-feet) of torque from the four-cylinder turbo. Opting for the Performance Package should result in 275 PS (271 horsepower) at 6,000 rpm. “It has to be the i30 N powertrain, really. Of course, we can give Kona different specifications on suspension and steering,” said Biermann, “because it’ll be front-wheel-drive, like the i30 N.”
A performance-oriented crossover with front- instead of all-wheel-drive is interesting, to say the least. In all likelihood, Hyundai plans to use the electronically-controlled front differential featured on the i30 N to keep things under control on corner entry and exit. On the other hand, the grip and traction offered by a well-sorted AWD system have no equal in a front-wheel-drive chassis.
What’s your take on this curious but interesting development? Would you take your Kona N with front- or all-wheel-drive?
Global head of sales Byung Kwon Rhim told the media in February 2018 that the Tucson N is under development, so what about the Kona N? This time around, it’s Biermann who broke the news to Auto Express, revealing that he has told the engineers “to build the car and we’ll see what happens with getting it approved.”
What that means is, test mules of the newcomer should start appearing anytime now, in and around the automaker’s Technical Center in Russelsheim, Germany and the Nurburgring Nordschleife racing circuit. Similar to the i30 N and Veloster N, the Kona N is understood to get the 2.0-liter T-GDi engine in two states of tune.
From the get-go, expect 250 PS (247 horsepower) and 378 Nm (279 pound-feet) of torque from the four-cylinder turbo. Opting for the Performance Package should result in 275 PS (271 horsepower) at 6,000 rpm. “It has to be the i30 N powertrain, really. Of course, we can give Kona different specifications on suspension and steering,” said Biermann, “because it’ll be front-wheel-drive, like the i30 N.”
A performance-oriented crossover with front- instead of all-wheel-drive is interesting, to say the least. In all likelihood, Hyundai plans to use the electronically-controlled front differential featured on the i30 N to keep things under control on corner entry and exit. On the other hand, the grip and traction offered by a well-sorted AWD system have no equal in a front-wheel-drive chassis.
What’s your take on this curious but interesting development? Would you take your Kona N with front- or all-wheel-drive?
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