Topic: Test Drive: 2014 Hyundai Veloster Turbo

[Autos_Editor]

Can a turbo and some cannons help Hyundai's economical, um' hatchback get more exciting?

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[ChaosphereIX]

have driven one, was not too impressed vs. my old MINI or my friend's GTI.

Hyundai had the recipe for a proper hot hatch, and then made it lukewarm and sour. Bleh.

At least it is funky looking.

[jamesautos]

I did not the realize these cost $28500 before tax... Like the article has said,  there are a lot of better options that cost similar or cheaper...
Maybe Hyundai is putting lots of incentives on this car because I see a lots of them in markham and Toronto...

tapatalk

[Fobroader]

have driven one, was not too impressed vs. my old MINI or my friend's GTI.

Hyundai had the recipe for a proper hot hatch, and then made it lukewarm and sour. Bleh.

At least it is funky looking.

This is what Ive heard about this car, the room temperature hot hatch....but yeah, it stands out.

[Scaerio]

I did not the realize these cost $28500 before tax...

I added the automatic option to the Turbo using Hyundai's build and price - $30,372.15.  My C30 was about $2000 more.  I don't have leather, driving lights, back-up camera, or navigation, plus the Hyundai has one more gear, but I do have one more cylinder, 26 more hp, and 41 more lb/ft of torque, plus a higher-quality feeling interior.

[OliverD]

Looks cool but I can't imagine choosing this over a Fiesta ST or the now-cheaper Mini Cooper S.

[WRX_Pilot]

I'm waiting for the Forte5 turbo review... couldn't get over the big mouth billy bass looks of this one.

[Noto]

I added the automatic option to the Turbo using Hyundai's build and price - $30,372.15.  My C30 was about $2000 more.  I don't have leather, driving lights, back-up camera, or navigation, plus the Hyundai has one more gear, but I do have one more cylinder, 26 more hp, and 41 more lb/ft of torque, plus a higher-quality feeling interior.

Interesting.  You actually made me prefer the Hyundai over the Volvo.

Then again, my badge snobbery brings me back to Volvo.  Hyundais have to stop having the perception of "cheap" and I'm not sure how they will do that without splitting into separate luxury and mainstream divisions.

[naydek]

Bought exactly the same color and fully loaded about a month ago and loving every second of it... Here is why:

Last month we were choosing between Nirmo RS, Fiesta ST and Veloster Turbo.
We (me) wanted a fun-to-drive car (around 200hp, manual), not a killer on gas, still comfortable (nice seats, good sound, sunroof) and occasional seating for 4 (we have a 2 and a 5 yr old).
Overall, Nismo RS was the worst of the bunch... Those "amazing" seats didn't feel that great, especially getting in and out. You end up sitting relatively high and have to "climb" in or out over the bottom bolsters, which are quite hard. I will agree that if you are inside and somehow manage to drive with eyes closed (I should have tried that, Al Pacino style...), then it is great! Steering wheel does feel nice, shifts are precise and the engine does what's expected (well, what I was expecting; but so do the other two). But then you open your eyes (so much for Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade) and you see how cheap interior is, how easily plastic surfaces get scratched up (my watch scratched the door panel trying to adjust the seat) and then how little room there is in the trunk (granted, more than Fiesta ST).
So that was a NO for us.
Fiesta ST was much nicer inside (and outside), but lack of room in the back seat (my 2 year old had to wrap her legs around the seat in front of her) and neither my wife nor I being able to find a comfortable seating position (she is 5'5 and 120lbs, I'm 6'2 and 180 lbs) gave Fiesta ST a boot as well.
And then came Hyundai Veloster Turbo... An underdog in our books initially (c'mon, 3 doors? is there a trunk? family sports(ish) car? can't be!) but after a 2 month wait to try (and buy the same day) a manual model - we fell in love! It did everything that we were looking for; most comfortable seats, most room in the back (or as much as NISMO RS), large enough trunk (actually did a Costco run to try it out; larger that Nismo and much larger than Fiesta), lots of cool tech stuff,  great daily fun driver with good fuel economy... let's just say it brings a smile to our faces every time you push the gas pedal.

[JacobBlack]

I'm waiting for the Forte5 turbo review... couldn't get over the big mouth billy bass looks of this one.

You're in luck - I'm driving it this week.

[Scaerio]

I added the automatic option to the Turbo using Hyundai's build and price - $30,372.15.  My C30 was about $2000 more.  I don't have leather, driving lights, back-up camera, or navigation, plus the Hyundai has one more gear, but I do have one more cylinder, 26 more hp, and 41 more lb/ft of torque, plus a higher-quality feeling interior.

Interesting.  You actually made me prefer the Hyundai over the Volvo.

Then again, my badge snobbery brings me back to Volvo.  Hyundais have to stop having the perception of "cheap" and I'm not sure how they will do that without splitting into separate luxury and mainstream divisions.

When I bought my C30 it was one of the last two 2013s in Ottawa.  The dealership had knocked $5000 of the price, I also got a set of winter tires on steelies with Volvo wheel covers, 0% interest for 5 years, plus the remainder of Volvo's 5-year free oil-changes, brake work, and windshield wipers deal (the car had been registered by the dealer and used as a customer courtesy vehicle, hence the discounted price). 

I had also test-driven the Veloster Turbo and was quite impressed with it.  Had the car I wound up buying or the other C30 been sold during the week or so I spent weighing my options, I would have happily headed to a Hyundai dealer and picked up a Veloster Turbo.  As similar as they are, the Volvo is a class above, and you can feel it in the weight and the stability of the vehicle - it just feels more solid and substantial.  I used to own a '93 850 GLT and driving the C30 doesn't feel much different (in all the right ways) than driving its larger ancestor.

[Nuttygent]

  It's interesting Mark mentions the Forte5 with the same engine. I've been waiting for quite a while to test drive one, seems it's not going to happen. The Guelph dealer tells me they won't be getting any...period. They said there might be some in 2015 but Canada is only 2% of the world market for Kia so there is limited chance of even that happening. A bit frustrating as seeing the car at the auto show revealed at very well finished car and my Mazda 3 GT does come with a manual anymore and she's getting on and ready for replacement.

[Northernridge]

I did not the realize these cost $28500 before tax...

I added the automatic option to the Turbo using Hyundai's build and price - $30,372.15.  My C30 was about $2000 more.  I don't have leather, driving lights, back-up camera, or navigation, plus the Hyundai has one more gear, but I do have one more cylinder, 26 more hp, and 41 more lb/ft of torque, plus a higher-quality feeling interior.

...and style. The C30 is the looker between the two.

[OliverD]

  It's interesting Mark mentions the Forte5 with the same engine. I've been waiting for quite a while to test drive one, seems it's not going to happen. The Guelph dealer tells me they won't be getting any...period. They said there might be some in 2015 but Canada is only 2% of the world market for Kia so there is limited chance of even that happening. A bit frustrating as seeing the car at the auto show revealed at very well finished car and my Mazda 3 GT does come with a manual anymore and she's getting on and ready for replacement.

Mazda 3 GT manual will be back for '15 apparently.

[EV-Light]

I have a really hard time thinking someone would buy this for $30k....

[Snowman]

Fack, if it weren't for the Focus and GTi the hatch segment would be dead IMO.

[dirtyjeffer]

Fack, if it weren't for the Focus and GTi the hatch segment would be dead IMO.

the new Forte5 Turbo is a pretty good car too.

they liked it over at MotoringTV:

http://motoringtv.com/episodes/motoring-2014/episode-12-motoring-2014/?cur=4055

the only slip up in the video is they quote the 0-60 and 80-120 times for the non-turbo model.

[jyarkony]

Bought exactly the same color and fully loaded about a month ago and loving every second of it... Here is why:

Last month we were choosing between Nirmo RS, Fiesta ST and Veloster Turbo.
We (me) wanted a fun-to-drive car (around 200hp, manual), not a killer on gas, still comfortable (nice seats, good sound, sunroof) and occasional seating for 4 (we have a 2 and a 5 yr old).
Overall, Nismo RS was the worst of the bunch... Those "amazing" seats didn't feel that great, especially getting in and out. You end up sitting relatively high and have to "climb" in or out over the bottom bolsters, which are quite hard. I will agree that if you are inside and somehow manage to drive with eyes closed (I should have tried that, Al Pacino style...), then it is great! Steering wheel does feel nice, shifts are precise and the engine does what's expected (well, what I was expecting; but so do the other two). But then you open your eyes (so much for Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade) and you see how cheap interior is, how easily plastic surfaces get scratched up (my watch scratched the door panel trying to adjust the seat) and then how little room there is in the trunk (granted, more than Fiesta ST).
So that was a NO for us.
Fiesta ST was much nicer inside (and outside), but lack of room in the back seat (my 2 year old had to wrap her legs around the seat in front of her) and neither my wife nor I being able to find a comfortable seating position (she is 5'5 and 120lbs, I'm 6'2 and 180 lbs) gave Fiesta ST a boot as well.
And then came Hyundai Veloster Turbo... An underdog in our books initially (c'mon, 3 doors? is there a trunk? family sports(ish) car? can't be!) but after a 2 month wait to try (and buy the same day) a manual model - we fell in love! It did everything that we were looking for; most comfortable seats, most room in the back (or as much as NISMO RS), large enough trunk (actually did a Costco run to try it out; larger that Nismo and much larger than Fiesta), lots of cool tech stuff,  great daily fun driver with good fuel economy... let's just say it brings a smile to our faces every time you push the gas pedal.

Good work finding the right car for your needs - the Veloster sounds like a perfect fit!

I hear you about the Nismo seats - those bolsters got me every time. But once in them, I thought they were fantastic.

How do you feel about the Veloster's steering/handling and the how it puts power down to the ground? I wonder if it was the tires, but I thought it really struggled coming out of corners and putting power down.

[Jaeger]

Can I just say - again - that Hyundai is NUTS not to offer this engine in the Elantra?  I can?  Thanks, I feel better now.

[SaskSpecV]

Can I just say - again - that Hyundai is NUTS not to offer this engine in the Elantra?  I can?  Thanks, I feel better now.

You think there's some sort of directive there from HQ to not do so?  My speculation would be that since is Kia is using it for the "sporty" Forte, Hyundai is "discouraged" from using it in the not-so-sporty Elantra.  I know H/K are, in theory, separate companies which are supposed to compete head-to-head, but hmmmm......

Using it in the Veloster turbo is OK, but not a direct competitor to the Kia line-up.  Likewise, why isn't this engine offered in the Soul?
But I've also said the same thing, many times, about Nissan not using their 1.6T from the Juke in the Sentra (or Versa)