Motoring journalist, Tony Yates, recently tested the Hyundai KONA Premium 1.0T-GDI 120PS – 6 Speed Manual.

The KONA is a great drive and perfect for someone who wants a car that ticks all the boxes when it comes to comfort and style.

Power and Efficiency:

Fitted with a 998cc turbocharged 3-cylinder, petrol engine with 120PS at 6000rpm and 172Nm of torque at 1500-4000rpm. 0-62mph is around 12.0sec, and fuel consumption is a decent 52.3 mpg combined with a top speed of 112mph.

Three-cylinder engines seem to have taken some stick lately for being noisy – but, actually they fascinate me - and I think they are pretty cool, thanks to key features such as the massive fuel-saving advantages over other engines - while still managing to be pretty powerful, even with only three cylinders doing all the work.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to balancing the mechanical efficiency, environmental performance and power of this engine - which I hope helps it stand out above some of the other, not so efficient units. Also, when it comes to CO2 emissions, the KONA hits the sweet spot at 125 g/km.

On the road:

Actually, it’s pretty nimble and frisky if I’m being honest, a little minx really – and that’s just to get you started. Take the nimble little KONA out on the open road, and you will soon feel how well it grips. Of course manufacturers spend an awful amount of money designing and developing the chassis and suspension, because they want it to be the best it can be. But sometimes there are compromises to be made.

Well after just a few hours driving, I realised the KONA had none of those compromises anywhere to be seen.

Design & Technology

I don’t want to speak out of turn here, but the KONA really is a handsome thing – Yes, it won’t suit everyone, but, then again – I don’t think the latest Ferrari is particularly ‘good looking’ - but people will still spend a lots of their cash trying to buy one ‘just because they feel they need it’.

Also, when I do any road tests out on the open road, I follow a pretty simple set of rules - its either ‘good or bad’. Well, I’m happy to report that the KONA is very much sitting with the ‘pointer’ firmly aligned with the word ‘Good’. So, there you have it, another decent car with very few faults.

Standard equipment on the KONA Premium starts with; 18” alloy wheels, air conditioning with climate control, automatic headlights & wipers, privacy glass rear and side, rear lights –halogen, cruise control with speed limiter, rear parking sensors, parking system – rear camera and guidance system, airbags – front, front side & curtain airbags, alarm & Immobiliser, ABS, Downhill Brake Control (DBC), Driver Attention Alert (DAA), ESC, Lane Keep Assist (LKA) and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Plus, Bluetooth connectivity, 8” touchscreen satellite navigation, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, RDS radio with DAB, KRELL premium audio (8 speakers), USB & AUX connections plus a wireless phone charging pad.

To sum up:

Hopefully, you will now go out and give it a test drive and see for yourself what the new KONA has to offer. Well done Hyundai.

Price: from £19,360 (excluding extras)