Mike Hagerty
Sep 1, 20202 min
Updated: Jan 30, 2021
A neighbor stopped me the other day. He was out for a walk. I was driving. He wanted to talk about the cars in my driveway and how they changed every week. I told him about this site.
And then he told me that his son thought the 2020 Hyundai Kona Ultimate FWD "looked like a bass lure".
Well, let's face it, Hyundai didn't make Lime Twist, the color of our tester, to go unnoticed. And to those of us tired of white, silver, black and the occasional red, this is certainly a change...though we may be in the minority.
See, I just went to look up the colors you can get your 2020 Hyundai Kona in---and found that the two most....shall we say high-impact....colors (Lime Twist and Sunset Orange) aren't available on 2021 Konas. So if you find Lime Twist (I'm going to have to say "refreshing" or "to your taste" as much as I hate to, so just pick the one that makes you groan the least), you'll need to grab a 2020 model while they're still available.
Regardless of the color of your 2020 Hyundai Ultimate FWD's hood, what's under it is a 1.6-liter, 175-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine with a seven-speed EcoShift dual-clutch transmission with selectable drive modes. That'll knock back 0-60 runs in 6.4 seconds while still returning an EPA-estimated 28 miles per gallon in the city and 32 on the highway.
The 2020 Hyundai Kona Ultimate FWD starts at $27,750. The window sticker is at the end of this review so you can see the full list, but among the standard features at that price are 18-inch alloy wheels, a power sunroof, smart cruise control, heated power front driver's seat and a 315-watt Infinity Premium audio system.
It is so well equipped, in fact, that the only extra-cost option on our tester was carpeted floor mats ($135). So with $1,095 inland freight and handling, the as-tested price comes to $28,980.
A fun, quick, practical five-seat small SUV for under 30 grand all in? Color us impressed.