Hyundai Veloster Turbo Premium 2020 Review

The Hyundai Veloster is a car the punters either love or hate. When the first generation arrived on the scene, the seven-day test vehicle at the time – finished in lime green – was the subject of many glances from passersby.

For this new model, Hyundai has toned down the styling, and homogenised it too, but what the Veloster may have lost in distinctiveness it has gained in dynamic ability and pragmatic packaging.

The whole asymmetric design idea leaves itself open to debate, however, with the Veloster's coupe looks lost to those standing on a footpath. What the punters will see is essentially a hatch with a semi-concealed rear door. It only looks like a coupe from the other side.

At least the rear door is located on the near side of the car, where kids and other passengers can board safely from the footpath.

The rear window on the driver's side is absolutely tiny, lending the interior a closed-in ambience on that side, but two adults of average height can slide into the rear of the Veloster.

Headroom is compromised back there, by the Turbo Premium variant's sunroof primarily, but kneeroom is fine and an adult could survive behind the driver for half an hour without feeling confined.

One further shortcoming, however, is the lack of adjustable vents for the rear-seat passengers. That's in contrast with the front-seat occupants who get the full gamut of climate-control comfort, including heated and cooled seats.

The Veloster's boot is deep and useful, thanks in part to the space-saver spare under the floor.

The instruments and controls in the Hyundai Veloster Turbo emulate the manufacturer's standard design conventions, so it's pretty easy to find your way around the dash.

A head-up display changes to an analogue-style rev counter when you pull the gear lever right for sequential-shifting sport mode. It took a little while to find the means of adjusting the height of the HUD, but it's there in the multi-information display between speedo and tacho, and operated by a button and toggles on the right spoke of the steering wheel.

There are three performance gauges available through the infotainment display (turbo boost, g forces and engine output), but the screen, being located in the centre stack, is unlikely to allow the driver to sneak a peek at higher speeds.

The seats are very comfortable and hold the occupant securely in place; there's also the right amount of reach adjustment in the steering column to place the driver the right distance from the pedals, even with the seat reclined slightly.

The engine under the bonnet of the Hyundai Veloster Turbo is well known to us already, powering Hyundai's i30 N-Line and the Kia Cerato GT as it does. Docile around town, and reasonably economical despite the car's lack of an idle-stop system, the powerplant also delivers sparkling performance when given a flogging.

In daily commuting the test vehicle was posting a fuel-consumption figure of 9.8L/100km, which is reasonable, given the car's urban-cycle figure is 9.1L/100km. On a test drive over 70km the consumption reduced to 7.6L/100km, which once again seemed fair when measured against the car's combined-cycle figure of 6.9L/100km.

The Veloster Turbo in both trim levels is available with a choice of manual or dual-clutch transmission, the latter fitted to the test vehicle. Short bursts of torque are punctuated by crisp gear changes altogether unlike a conventional epicyclic transmission or a continuously-variable unit.

Dual-clutch transmissions can be rough and ready, but the DCT in the Veloster is a slick example of the type, as we've found with other Hyundai DCTs in the past.

The dual-clutch transmission of the Veloster Turbo drives through the front wheels, and the 1.6-litre engine – turbocharged for added potency – has the sort of output to flummox front-wheel drive applications like this... except the Veloster was very impressive for its traction and the measure of competence with which it could deal with the power and torque available.

We didn't drive the Hyundai Veloster Turbo in the wet, and that's where the engine might overpower the front-end grip, but on dry road surfaces the Hyundai excelled (so to speak). Traction, in a straight line or out of corners, was outstanding, no doubt due in part to the Michelin 225/40 ZR18 tyres fitted, but also due to the car's torque vectoring control and its native chassis tune.

Torque steer makes its presence felt as the front tyres grapple with the torque at full throttle and the turbocharger on boost, but exiting corners the Veloster feels secure and lively. In fact, unlike other front-wheel drives with abundant torque on tap, the Veloster doesn't understeer at all. Ever.

Ease off into a bend and the car will maintain its already tidy line, but lift off the accelerator in a hurry (or worse, brake mid-corner) and the Veloster will try to swap ends. Yes, braking at the apex of a corner is a no-no – but sometimes unavoidable when there's something in the road ahead that warrants throwing out the anchors.

So the Veloster, from a handling viewpoint, is more fun than the proverbial barrel of monkeys. The steering is also sharp and communicative, although the test vehicle did tend to wander at the straight ahead – possibly a front-end alignment matter.

The brakes are strong too, and the pedal has a really nice feel to it – firm but with enough yield to moderate harder braking effort quite precisely.

The manufacturer's choice of local suspension tune for the Hyundai Veloster Turbo is bearable in daily driving, even over demanding country-road surfaces. Far more bearable, in fact, than buyers might expect from a car that is a sports hatch-cum-coupe.

The tyres produced some (acceptable) road noise at freeway speeds and on coarse-chip bitumen roads. There was some wind noise as well. The powertrain was relatively quiet by comparison, with the engine holding at 2100rpm for 100km/h.

While the headlights are bright enough for country roads at night, even when dipped, the Veloster in this specification also comes with an auto high-beam facility that generally works well. It can be slow reacting to oncoming cars. On a couple of occasions drivers were flashing their lights on the approach – although at least one of those drivers appeared to presume the Veloster's lights were too high when they were in fact dipped already.

But the only real niggle in every-day use is the car's front apron, which touches down on the approach to the driveway at home.

Priced above $42,000 by the time you add the metallic paint option, the range-topping Veloster Turbo Premium is encroaching on Hyundai i30 N territory. And if you can cope with operating a manual, the i30 N is an appealing prospect.

As far as the (external) rivals go, the Veloster can't match the Mazda MX-5 and Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ for power-to-weight ratio. Some will argue too that the Veloster also misses out by being front-wheel drive.

I don't agree. This is a fun car to drive, however you cut it; and as far as the packaging is concerned? Vive la différence.

Price: $42,585 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 150kW/265Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 6.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 160g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: TBA