New Owner in Indiana

Glad to have a new member on the forum.

From what I have seen its that towing is recommended with these but if you plan on hauling rear mounted cargo box or even a bike rack that shouldn't be an issue. What might you be looking to tow?

I have been eyeing the Kona for months and just saw that there is one in the color and trim that I want nearby but I'm hesitant getting one so soon. I have also been looking at the Subaru Crosstrek but I seem to like more things about the Kona other than the MPG. How is the actual MPG on the AWD? If it actually gets 29 on the highway then I think that's reasonable but I have an Elantra now that was supposed to get 38 highway and gets about 32 highway.

Yes would be good to know.

I did try the Crosstrek and as reported everywhere it is a bit sluggish.

As for mpg - l/100k -- I assume it is posted for the normal driving mode??

I did see some report that in Canada there will be Eco, Sport and Comfort driving modes as in Europe and Australia --Comfort being "normal" , but in the US there will not be Eco as drivers may forget it is in Eco and complain about poor pep. (bit of an uncalled for dig on Americans - can't be right -- ??)

Shel said:

Yes would be good to know.

I did try the Crosstrek and as reported everywhere it is a bit sluggish.

As for mpg - l/100k -- I assume it is posted for the normal driving mode??

I did see some report that in Canada there will be Eco, Sport and Comfort driving modes as in Europe and Australia --Comfort being "normal" , but in the US there will not be Eco as drivers may forget it is in Eco and complain about poor pep. (bit of an uncalled for dig on Americans - can't be right -- ??)

Click to expand...

I bet as cars get more advanced with voice commands and smart systems that pick up on our driving habits we will eventually have the system ask us which mode we would like to be in and if/when we want to switch.

I have a good feeling these kinds of modes will become automatic in the future, to maximize a cars efficiency based upon your average speed and driving habits. Its also important to keep in mind when comparing it to the Crosstrek that its a couple grand less and comes with twice as long of a warranty plan.

Update after a couple of weeks of ownership

armitchell88 said:

I have been eyeing the Kona for months and just saw that there is one in the color and trim that I want nearby but I'm hesitant getting one so soon. I have also been looking at the Subaru Crosstrek but I seem to like more things about the Kona other than the MPG. How is the actual MPG on the AWD? If it actually gets 29 on the highway then I think that's reasonable but I have an Elantra now that was supposed to get 38 highway and gets about 32 highway.

Click to expand...

We have about 500 miles on the Kona now. We do a mix of city and highway and have beenb getting 28.9 mpg in the Kona. There are two driving modes "normal" and "sport" we have been using normal exclusively. The Crosstrek is at 40k we have a bull bar with flood lamps as well as a roof rack and we average between 28 and 30mpg with the same mixed driving. After driving both of them I can tell you that the Kona has significantly more power. Now i have a 2016 CrossTrek, but drove a 17 when mine was getting a tuneup and Subaru had recalibrated the 17 and it had more power feel then the 16 also.

On another note we got 6in of snow this week and the Kona did great (as well as the subie does) you have less ground clearance but did not seem to have any signifiant impact on the snowy roads.