The Volkswagen T-Roc R is about to face
some serious competition from Hyundai’s N division, which is working on a hot
version of the Kona. Scooped testing last fall at the Nurburgring in a
premiere, the sporty version of the subcompact crossover has returned, only
this time with thick camo covering the athletic styling and other visual
changes of the facelifted iteration.
It may be hard to discern what’s new just
by looking at the pictures down below, but the Kona N is expected with bigger
bumpers at both ends and more aggressive grille at the front. The head and
taillights will be revised, although that’s part of the mid-cycle refresh of
the entire range, and the hot model will also get beefier side skirts. The
prototype was equipped with a double-pipe exhaust system and uprated brakes
with red calipers.
We heard that the fire power will come
from the i30 N compact hot hatch, which uses a 2.0-liter four-pot rated at 250
PS in the regular model and 275 PS in the
Performance version. The top-spec i30 can reach the 100 km/h mark in
6.4 and 6.1 seconds, respectively. One of its main rivals, the T-Roc R, has a
300 PS 2.0-liter turbo-four, so this could perhaps convince
Hyundai to launch it with the more powerful tune.
The 2021 Kona N is believed to be just a
few months away, with an expected premiere taking place this summer.
