Is the brilliant N recipe just as compelling in SUV form? Buckle up …

Price: $69,990.

Powertrain and economy: 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder, 206kW/392Nm, 8-speed direct shift automatic, FWD, combined economy 9.0L/100km, CO2 194g/km.

Vital statistics: 4215mm long, 1800mm wide, 1565mm high, 2600mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 361 litres, 19-inch alloy wheels.

We like: Astounding engineering, sounds great, maintains Kona practicality.

We don't like: Driving position could be improved, audio system logics are a mess.

MOTORSPORT lineage can be a very handy polishing cloth for any hard-out performance road car.

Just look to how an amazing success in the world’s greatest races, not only on the circuit but even in rallying, has fuelled the Porsche 911’s status. There are so many other examples. Even after brands retire from the grid, that doesn’t keep them from reminding of the times when their products were in the ultimate game. Subaru, with the WRX, is one example; that car remains linked to a world rally campaign the factory curtailed in 2008.

Two of the three products offered by Hyundai’s N brand directly relate to successful motorsport endeavour. The i20 N and i30 N create their status on being as as-close-as-can connection to the models the factory respectively supports in world championship rallying and world touring car racing.

The Kona N, on the other hand, doesn’t come with a helmet and race suit in its kit bag, even though there is a Kona in motorsport; developed right on our own turf, in fact.

As brilliant as the Kona electric rally car created by our own Hayden Paddon is turning out to be, it’s not a factory project. Association to in-house N sub-brand can only be claimed by our Kiwi hero himself. The Hyundai team that employed the sole New Zealander to win a WRC event from 2014 to end of 2017 was all, ultimately, part of N-sport.

However, the Kona N has had not been borne through motorsport and, further, there is no obvious role for it to take in that arena. If it came from Japan, you’d call it a ronin; a wandering samurai.

Deep down, you know why. As much as the performance SUV genre has proven to be a licence to print money for many brand (again, look at Porsche – Cayenne’s massive success basically saved the brand) hotshot SUVs are complicated, inherently compromised, products.

Even those that are relatively low-slung aren’t exactly ground-huggers; at least not like pukka sports cars are. That factor, the weight issues … well, it’s hard to say if there is a single one that doesn’t ultimately fall afoul of the unbending laws of physics. There never will be, either.

Knowing this, I slipped into the Kona N with expectation that it’d be all too much of a compromise, unable to reveal any virtue that might allow it to seem worth the additional $4000 spend over the i30 N delivering with the same 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder, making the same power and torque, married to the same (albeit as an option to the six-speed manual) eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and offering all but identical five-door practicality.

Now the dust has cleared, my mindset is more clouded. Is it better than the hatch? The head and heart say … erm, ask me another question. Where, then, does it sit in overall N-dom? Hard to say until we get to drive the i20N but it could be contended that the Kona does add an interesting alternate flavour.

Basically, the test period really hammered home that this is not a product to be underestimated. For sure, the dynamics are different from something sitting a little closer to the ground, but Hyundai's engineers have done an impressive job of faking it.

Brand testimony about Kona N having been through a particularly rigorous testing and development programme patently isn’t PR bull. There’s no doubt that Hyundai chose the right people (a lot of Germans) and the right place (Germany) to sort this car. Surely, you knew this. No? Well, to recap. The ‘N’ is named after Namyang, South Korea (Hyundai Motor's global research and development headquarters) and the Nurburgring, where Hyundai has a test centre dedicated to honing N models on the famously demanding racetrack just over the road. It’s patent the car spent much more time in the second place than the first.

What’s evident from the outset is that, because they’ve gone in so strong – particularly through bunging in a lot of competition-spec equipment – it’s really not only no less bonkers than the other cars in Hyundai’s sub-tribe, but also incredibly removed from any other Kona.

That goes for even basic construct. Yes, all Konas share a common shell. But only this one has extra welds on the A-, B-, and C-pillars for improved body stiffness, with additional structures also added to the chassis tunnel and strut tops. You normally only do that sort of stuff when preparing for motor-racing.

The test car was the first N I’ve experienced that didn’t present in the special Sonic Blue paintwork that is the sub-marque’s hero colour – instead coming in a light grey that potentially better suits its lines - but you’d have no trouble picking it out.

Naturally, it’s all hunkered down and more squat than the donor. Such a cliché, right? And conceivably, that kind of treatment migt have hindered the Kona, given it’s a bit of a chubby thing in natural state. And, yet, somehow it escapes looking dumb.

The rear might be a bit fussy for some with a double-wing spoiler, a massive diffuser, big exhausts and lots of little bits of trim, but you’d have to say that it fronts up very nicely and those 19-inch forged alloy wheels with red brake callipers look ‘right’ sitting within the wheel arches, rather inflated to accommodate changes in the suspension geometry delivering a 20mm wider front track and 7mm wider rear track.

Inside, it's a blend of familiar and N-new; the sports seats and the racy steering wheel are obvious additions. The chairs offer plenty of adjustment but aren’t positioned quite low enough nor are they the best I’ve sat in; Renault, for instance, achieves better performance perches in its RS product. Still, the steering wheel feels good and, though some of the cabin plastics are that special, there are nice blue accents in the stitching that add to the overall sporty feel. Lots of room in the back seats and good boot space complete the practical side of things. It's fully equipped; everything from all the usual safety features and modern essentials like USB ports, Bluetooth music streaming and digital instrumentation.

All good, but other Konas are also just as comprehensively-kitted, so that’s not the reason why you’re looking, right?

Where the N stands apart is with its high-performance driving features. So there’s a Launch Control and N Grin Control System, which offers five drive modes (Eco, Normal, Sport, N and Custom) designed to match driving conditions.

No-one is going to care about Eco. Chances are, even though the car regresses to Normal at start-up, it’ll be out of that mode as soon as the engine warms up, because it’s just not special enough. I mean, it feels frisky, but that’s about it.

Sport and top-tuned N-mode are altogether different. Life becomes far more interesting in the first but, of course, it’s the ultimate that’s all the more feral still.

With a capital ‘F’. While it’s noisy and focused in Sport, everything hardens or sharpens up considerably more in N-mode. The engine noise, the throttle feel, steering, the suspension is turned up to ‘maximum brat’, with a snarling, barping utterly insouciant ‘straight from old-school WRC’ soundtrack to go with. The latter is so aggressive you’d half expect to see flames emitting from the pipes when driving at night. And the acceleration is breath-takingly fantastic.

While it is very capable of managing the gears on its own, switching to paddles provides a more involved experience. There’s more if you care to deep dive into the menus. One for committed enthusiasts to zero in on allows you to change everything from steering to engine response. Once that’s sorted (or not), you can access an N screen that shows you all the essential data like percentage acceleration and g-forces.

N-Grin mode sounds awfully gimmicky, but it’s really fun. Push the red button on the steering wheel and the revs push up to 6800rpm, you get every bit of power, the active exhaust goes especially rumbly and you have 20 seconds of full-on rocket blast to enjoy. Pick your moments wisely. You also get launch control. Yes, in a Hyundai crossover! Again, it’s not to be used imprudently.

So it’s got the power. Has it the talent to contain it? For the most part, yes. It’s incredibly agile with fantastic grip; they’ve given it top-shelf tyres and the brake package is decent, too.

Obviously, the harder you push, the busier it becomes and the ride is just so firm that on any roads affected by imperfection – so, basically, any average NZ country byway – it tends to be a jumpy, jolty little thing. Generally it just gathers itself up and keeps attacking, but your utmost attention is demanded.

The level of involvement isn’t as intimate as with the i30 N hatch simply because, I suspect, the driving position isn’t as well sorted. You can sit lower in the car and that makes for a closer connection. It’s not the same with the Kona.

Regardless it has a well-considered and quite clever electronic differential, with all this grunt going through just the front wheels, there’s unavoidably still some torque steer. It’s not emulating the wrist-snapping strength that blighted so many old-school hot hatches, yet you’re aware of it nonetheless, not least if you get too eager with the throttle when banging out of corners.

Was it an error not to have equipped this car with all-wheel-drive? Kona was never conceived for that, being among those crossovers developed to lend more of an all-paw look than any ultimate ability. I only drove on dry roads, and that was … erm … ‘entertaining’ enough. There are modes for gravel and snow, yet you’d likely as not have to keep your wits about you on wet tarmac.

Still, the fun factor is such that I cannot imagine how anyone will be able to drive it without an enormous grin on their face, all of the time. That happened with a friend who not only has extensive motorsport experience, but is pretty good at it.

Pre-drive, he’d seen the car as a bit of a toy. Post-drive, he admitted to being gob-smacked by its depth of talent. Me mentioning to him that, until recently, the N programme was headed by the bloke who used to run BMW’s M division helped his understanding. But even then “I had no idea Hyundai had the ability to create a car like this.”

Sure, being the heaviest N product yet, the one with highest ground clearance and also a car that isn’t the most svelte in body shape has an unavoidable repercussion. And there are other hurdles. Drive it hard and it drinks even harder. A single evening’s brisk driving took care of almost half a tank. That makes it an expensive accomplice.

Talking of money, there’s also the price. For sure, the Kona N doesn’t seem to have very many direct rivals, but there is one obvious alternate, that being the the Seat Cupra Formentor which also runs in front-drive, packs 228kW and 400Nm, is equally civilised for everyday used and just as compelling when the reins are loosened, looks even better in the metal, has a nicer cabin and better driving position … and costs $1000 less.

I’d say it’ll be a thorn for Hyundai. At least, for once, there’s no Kia equivalent to undermine things. ‘N’ is the one development the owner brand keeps entirely to itself.

No argument. It’s utterly brilliant cars as mad as this exist. The N product is driven much less by logic than by pure passion; like the Ioniq 5, it reminds how far Hyundai has come – and why it needs to be taken very, very seriously. That alone makes it worth celebrating and supporting. I’d still take that i30 N hatch over it, all the same, though it’s a close-run thing.