Edgy design, practical 2+1 doors, more power
Polarising design, no rear headroom, needs more power
Just look at the thing… Wide, low, with big ducts, vents and scalloped winglets, the Veloster promises speed and sportiness. Which is why, when we got into the conventional base car, there was a distinct feeling of disappointment in its power – or lack thereof.
Enter the Veloster Turbo – the car it should always have been, with the engine it should have possessed from the start. But power comes at a price.
Hyundai Veloster Turbo Engine
Turbocharging the small 1.6-litre four-cylinder offers up a full 53kW and 99Nm more than the base car in nat-atmo form. The twin-scroll turbo develops 155kW and 265Nm, with tractable torque from around the 2500rpm mark, and peaky power with the engine happy to rev right up to its 6500rpm redline without dropping off the power cliff face.
It isn’t a rush to the head, this new-found power, despite the figures suggesting hot-hatch performance. Even in manual guise, the rise of revs is smoothly and deliberately matched to the turbo’s force-feeding to bring tractable velocity, not rapid acceleration.
Hyundai Veloster Turbo Interior
Confirmation of local specification will be revealed closer to the Turbo’s Australian launch in the third quarter of this year. However, the Veloster Plus specification of a moon roof, leather trim and chromed highlights are pretty much guaranteed. The Korean specced cars on test had scuff plates and “Turbo” stitched into their sports buckets, while the motorbike console theme – which is supposed to make the driver feel like they are straddling a bike tank – continues in the instrumentation and dial cluster.
The 2+1 door theme remains, with an integrated access door to the rear row opening up from the passenger side. Unfortunately, headroom in the second row is very tight, due to the combination of the design’s low sloping coupe line and the chamber for the sunroof.
Hyundai Veloster Turbo Exterior & Styling
The Turbo steps up to huge 18-inch alloys which fill the wheel arches nicely, gets a more overt aero bodykit and more obvious tips on its twin centre-mounted exhaust, and of course a Turbo badge.
The headlights and taillamps have been redesigned to both stand out more and set the Turbo apart from the standard car, and the hexagonal Hyundai corporate face is filled in with a contrasting dark treatment on the grille.
Hyundai Veloster Turbo On The Road
The Veloster proved a pleasant surprise on test, though most of the 300km of driving was done on smooth highway roads.
On one hilly descent and climb, in the wet, the car proved to have a well damped suspension setup with excellent rebound control. Corrugations are soaked up reasonably well, while larger lumps in the road don’t crash through the strut tops or bang away at the big 18’s and their skinny rubber.
The suspension tune will be tuned further to our roads when it launches here. This may or may not improve the handling further, which suffers mildly from that old Hyundai trait of vague steering on centre and kick through on rough corners, plus a mild resistance from a half-turn of the steering on the loaded, tighter corners. It’s still one of the better steering Hyundai cars this writer has tested – only the electronically variable rack in the new i30 is better.
The exhaust has a sweet if slightly muted note, while the engine comes on song over 4500rpm and loves to rev in the higher range. The power curve is smooth enough, though in comparison to some of its force-fed competitors the delivery of the turbo is a little underwhelming – again, Hyundai stipulate that the Veloster was never intended to be a “hot hatch”, rather a practical hatch with bespoke design and a competitive price tag. And even in Turbo form, that is exactly what the Veloster feels like.
Hyundai Veloster Turbo Challenges
Cannibalism within the Veloster range will be rife. With the Turbo offering a lot more power and a different bodykit, it will attract the younger and sportier crowd, but said crowd may not be able to afford the substantial premium that power brings.
At its Korean preview, Hyundai Australia would only confirm the Turbo’s pricing would start at ‘under $35,000’, which suggests the automatic, usually a $2000 option, will push the price up to almost $37K. The base car currently sells from $23,990 in manual form, with the “Veloster +” model, which houses much of the Turbo’s more premium spec, starts at $27,990.
Hyundai Veloster Turbo Competition
Aside from in-house fighting with the standard car and its aggressive price point, the Veloster will be thrown into the ring with many champion hatches in this overcrowded warm-to-hot hatch arena. The Mini Cooper S is an obvious contender, as is the benchmark of the class, the Golf GTI – and admittedly benchmarked by Hyundai when building the Veloster and its latest i30.
The likes of the Cooper S and GTI hold a price premium of around $5000, though their performance premium is for the hot-hatch tag, whereas the Veloster is warm at best.
Hyundai Veloster Turbo Verdict
A solid, sportier variant of an interesting and brave car from the Koreans, who keep progressing from strength to strength. But the price is getting up there, and the competition is strong.
