The hi way between where we live and the larger town about 65 km away, that we have to attend for medical appointment, has been closed due to a major rock slide. The closure is expected to last a month or 2. The 2 hi way detours are about 3.75 hours each way. We did them today. 9 hours round trip instead of the usual 90 minutes. The government this afternoon has announce that to forest services roads will be opened for car at a maximum 6okm/hr speed. These will significantly speed up the detour time. The FSRs are really all weather logging truck road, that are mostly hard packed gravel, with no ruts or rocks. Is it wise to take our Kona on these roads. I wonder about the odd piece of gravel hitting the battery at 60km/hr?
Much less to worry about than an ICE car. The battery is well protected from gravel & rocks. Worry about the logging trucks with rocks on the windscreen; that's the reason for the 60 km/h limit. Well worth the shorter detour.
lt might pay to make sure your auto insurance will cover any damage while on that road. There have been two reports out of the US recently (on Reddit) where Hyundai have said the battery warranty is void because of visible road scratches to the battery underside, which occurred on public roads. In those cases it becomes an insurance claim to replace the battery. Having said all that, I'm sure the Kona's battery will be fine on a forestry road.
I suggest you double your following distance to keep rocks from hitting your windshield and painted surface.
Due to where I live I often travel on gravel roads and forest tracks. At 38,000kms the car is showing no signs of undue wear. I hope Hyundai Australia don't try the road scratches excuse because almost every rural Kona will have those. Hyundai have never indicated the Kona is only to be driven in cities or on perfect roads.
I used to take my Prius up all kinds of crazy fire roads and gravel tracks back in the day when I was roadtripping through the western US, and there was *nothing* between the ground and the delicate lower surface of the all-important alloy transaxle case. A rock bouncing the wrong way might have put a fatal hole in it, leaking the precious lubricant out. I was hoping someone would market a skid plate for it, but such never emerged. Two-wheel FWD seemed to do just fine where I went. The Kona has the extra layer of aero under-covers which would handily stop small to medium objects kicked up, but not really protect the powertrain if you seriously high-centered on something rough. It comes down to carefully evaluating your terrain as you come to it, and a bit of driving skill to avoid the worst hazards. Taking off the seatbelt and sitting as forward on the seat as you can helps in seeing what's immediately in front of the car. On rutted twin-track, shifting the car toward right or left helps ride the wheels up the sides of the ruts and effectively raise the center ride height. If they're opening forest roads to deal with thjs they probably believe it's safe enough for most vehicles. Go explore! It could be a fun adventure. _H*
