Test Drive: 2015 Hyundai Veloster Turbo - Better than before...but does it hit the spot?

It has been an interesting couple of years in terms of performance cars here in Malaysia. Car manufacturers have been busy launching performance biased cars. We've had a whole slew of junior hot hatches, hybrid sports cars, warm hatches and other interesting cars. Even Hyundai has joined in after a hiatus of sorts with a lack of a sports car in its local lineup after it stopped bringing in the Hyundai Scoupe years ago. They came back with the Veloster sometime in 2013. I drove that car back in August 2013 and found it tasteful in terms of looks and styling but sorely lacking in grunt.

That Hyundai Veloster was a poser car.It was all flash and no dash. But if I wanted a second car for the wife to run around it would make pretty good sense as it was very practical with a single rear door on one side. You could still bring your family out and they wouldn't have to squeeze into the rear seats via tilting the front seatbacks forward. I actually like the one door setup coupled with the nice fastback styling. Its design cues are in the same field as the Volkswagen Scirocco and the Renault Megane. Of course, without the power. Now, power was and still is an issue with that basic 1.6 MPI version. Everything else is pretty good nonetheless. However earlier this year Hyundai launched the Veloster Turbo.

The Veloster Turbo looks the same but with a more aggressive front and rear end (some larger driving lights up front and larger reflectors at the rear). No change in outright design. It even comes with the same size alloys and wheels – 18inch 225/40 series tyres like the non-turbo model. What really differs from the non-turbo Veloster is the engine, transmission and the suspension setup.

The engine is a big change from the non-turbocharged version. It is a 1.6liter turbocharged 4 cylinder engine with the whole package of variable valve timing and direct injection (which the non-turbo does not have). It makes a healthy 186ps and 265Nm via a 7 speed dual clutch transmission powering the front wheels. The non-turbo version makes 132ps and a piffling 158Nm which puts this tiny amount through a six speed torque convertor transmission. According to specs it does 0-100kmh in about 8.4 seconds with a top speed of 214kmh. So on paper, the Veloster Turbo is something like a warm hatch. Not a hot hatch in outright performance terms. Of course, it isn't only outright power that counts whenever I review a car. It is also how the car makes me feel. We'll get to that shortly.

So when you get into one what vibes does it give you? It does feels like an Elantra in some ways. I suppose it is the family architecture in play here. Slightly different dashboard and somewhat lower slung design but underneath you can still tell that it is cut from the same cloth. The seating position with its bucket seats is good but you could expect it to be slightly lower to get that 'one with the car' feel. But don't take my word on this. I got used to being in it after a while and visibility from the driver's seat was good. I do like the panoramic sunroof which gives the cabin a nice airy feeling. The materials used in the cabin are good. The steering wheel, gearknob, turn signals, lights and other major contact points feel good to the touch and while I think that it looks similar to the Elantra, the overall feel of the interior is sportier. It also has a lot more equipment. However the infotainment system has a large screen but has no built in navigation. Not that I actually use navigation on my drives. Just saying, folks.

The drive experience

Start it up and you will notice a nice sports car-like exhaust note. Quite aggressive and one of the better exhaust notes I've heard from 1.6liter 4 cylinder turbocharged engines (think Ford Fiesta ST, Peugeot 208GTI, Renault Clio – of course, all of these are smaller B segment hot hatches compared to this C segment cruiser). The ride is firm. Different from the non-turbo Veloster and a little bit too firm in my opinion. It is hard and you can feel every ripple on the road you're driving on. Add the bucket seats, exhaust note and the hard ride, you'd think you were sitting in a properly fast performance car here. It still in in the livable zone though. But it could be softer.

The 265Nm and 186ps also makes itself felt when accelerating. I did 0-100kmh in about 8seconds. This isn't the sub 7 seconds of the junior hot hatches mentioned earlier. But this car isn't a junior hot hatch. It is larger. It is actually something that is the size and weight of the Volkswagen Scirocco, Volkswagen Golf or even a Renault Megane. But it has the smaller engines and the horsepower of the junior hatchbacks. It weighs about 1310kg and hasa 1.6liter with 186ps to play with. This is why it has a 0-100 time of around 8 seconds and not a lower time. But the turbocharged engine does make driving less of a chore with its big fat turbocharged torque available early down the rev range.

But that being said, all is not well here. There is a certain hesitancy in terms of power delivery right smack in the mid-range. Somewhere between 3,000rpm to 4,000rpm there is a step up in performance. Like a camshaft switchover point. It says 265Nm is available from 1,400rpm to 4,500rpm but I doubt this is true. There is a switchover point somewhere between 3,000-4,000rpm and some hesitancy here before it comes back after 4,000rpm straight to the redline. It isn't so apparent if you're on full throttle or driving in normal traffic but it flares up if you are trying to make progress but you're not attacking some mountainside road somewhere. I also thought the gearbox was a little schizophrenic in its delivery, but I think that the slightly hesitancy in the gear changes if you're not going all out for it is due to this switch-over point. The dual clutch gearbox was a little bit confused by the engine tuning. You could overcome some of these characteristics if you use the pedal shifters and choose your own shift points. So the car has ample performance, but I think Hyundai's engineers should have spent more time getting the engine and transmission to work properly. I suppose this is because the Veloster Turbo is one their the first Hyundai cars with the dual clutch gearbox. But I cannot fathom why the direct injection turbocharged 1.6 isn't as smooth as the 2.0liter direct injected normally aspirated version that I drove in the Hyundai i40 sometime ago. Now that, was a fantastic engine and gearbox setup in a Hyundai.

So if you went flat out in the Veloster Turbo, the drivetrain would work perfectly fine. And you used the pedal shifters too. But the firm ride adds to slightly fidgety handling. The steering whilst nicely accurate lacks in feel. The Veloster Turbo can feel a bit twitchy on high speed corners and not having much feedback from the tyres can be unnerving at times. Overcook this car and it may punish you with a bit of lift-off oversteer that you would not expect it to come because you can't feel it coming. It may have 225 series tyres on a mid-sized hatchback but I somehow needed more assurance to really go for it. I had the car from a few days and I believe that I would need more than a few days to actually feel at home if I were to really take this car to the limit. I think the softer suspension settings in the non-turbo Veloster was better so that there is more roll and pliancy to tell you what's coming next.

My dream Veloster could be the 204ps version that Hyundai sells in America. Maybe that car has the tuning sorted out and the hesitancy found in this 186ps version is because the engineers held back a bit in this model. The 204ps version does 0-100in around 7 seconds. Another option which would be unique would be a 2.0liter GDI n.a version with a traditional 6 speed gearbox. That would be a long legged cruiser with its 177ps/213Nm engine. It would give a sub 9 second 0-100kmh time but a drivetrain that is smooth as silk.

Hyundai have recently come up with a few winners like the Elantra, Sonata and i40. I suppose coming up with K-Pop hit after hit is quite hard actually. And since this is one of their first efforts in combining their new direct injection (GDI) engine with their new dual clutch gearbox. I'm going to excuse this hiccup and actually state that I am glad that Hyundai decided to bring in this turbocharged version for us to have a chance to buy. A flawed performance car is better than having no performance cars on the market.

Conclusion:

Does this mean that I think that the Hyundai Veloster is a disappointment? I suppose it is if you want an all out fire breathing hot hatch it is. It may not suit you, O driver from hell, who would only bat an eyelid if it did 0-100kmh in under 6 seconds. But that being said, it isn't slow. It still has enough performance to satisfy most people out there. Although it does have flaws in its power delivery which could be irritating to some. 

BUT if you want something that looks stylish, packed full of user friendly equipment with ample performance to take you and a few friends from Kuala Lumpur on that highway trip to JPO to do some shopping then it is fine as that turbocharged 1.6liter engine would be able to do it quite effortlessly (compared to any bread and butter C segment sedan out there).

As it is still very practical, it would even be very suitable for the wife, or mistress, or girlfriend. Buy this for them as they would like it more than you would. Unless you just like it for the looks of course. Then forget what I just said as for RM154,000++, nothing much on sale would look this sporty and practical at the same time.

SPECIFICATION

Hyundai Veloster Turbo (Gamma 1.6 Turbo GDI)

Pros: more power than the non-turbo Veloster, high equipment specs, nice sports car styling, practical single rear door, sporty exhaust note

Cons: engine and transmission a little hesitant, tricky on the limit handling, vague steering, some may find one rear door a bit weird

Price:        from MYR 154,437.49

Engine 1591 cc turbocharged direct injection petrol

Power  186ps

Torque 265nm

Top Speed 214kmh 

0-100kmh 8.4 s

Kerb Weight 1313 kg

Warranty 5 years / 300,000km

Equipment 

Power Steering 

Electronic Stability Programme

Alloy Wheels

Climate Control

Electric Mirrors

Front Electric Windows

Rear Electric Windows

Electric Sunroof

Cruise Control

Rear Parking Sensor

Leather Seats

Passenger Airbag

Front Side Airbag

Alarm

Split/fold Rear Seats

MP3 Connectivity

Bluetooth

Remote central locking

Rear door only on this side. Unique.

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