Sunday, May 6, 2012

Hyundai Veloster Turbo Review (2013)


CAR GARAGE | Hyundai Veloster Turbo Review  (2013) | Hyundai's Veloster Ultimately Turbo will be compared with the likes of the Volkswagen Polo and Golf GTIs, Peugeot 208 GTi upcoming as well as the Renault Clio RS. For an expected starting price of below $ 35,000 (official prices are yet to be confirmed for the Australian market), the turbocharged Veloster retails well above the Polo GTI ($ 27.290) but below its bigger brother, the Golf GTI ($ 38.990). Rear-seat headroom is compromised by the slopping roofline but there is noticeably more leg and shoulder room than its light-sized hot-hatch rivals. From the outside the Hyundai Veloster is Certainly a unique proposition.


If a Volkswagen GTI with a badge appeals to you Because of its understated nature, the Veloster Turbo simply is not for you. On the inside the Veloster Turbo is very similar to its naturally aspirated variants. Our test car featured special leather sport seats with the word Turbo embedded, a slightly different interior color and the Addition of a standard sunroof. With the vehicle still a few months away from its anticipated arrival in Australian dealerships, Car Advice headed to South Korea to drive a six-speed manual Korean-specification left-hand-drive Veloster Turbo around the green and mountainous countryside.


Powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engine, the sporty Veloster Produces 155kW of power and 265Nm of torque. That's exactly same output power as the much larger 2.0-liter turbo found in the Golf GTI but 15nm less torque. However, the Veloster Turbo Happens to weigh roughly 100 kg less (1270kg curbs weight) than its German competitors, the which Gives it a better power-to-weight ratio, the which Hyundai claims is currently the best in its class.


Facts and figures aside, get behind the wheel and the Veloster Turbo feels just as quick as any comparably priced sports car on the market. In-gear acceleration is Relentless with the factory-made turbo kicking in at around 2500rpm and pulling hard beyond 5000rpm. Arguably the real thrill of owning a hot-hatch has never been about the 0-100km / h times unnecessary facilitate That drags at the lights, but the car's cornering ability and the go-kart steering feel That thrills around winding roads. To be clear, the Veloster Turbo is Certainly no Megane or Clio RS.


Up through Korea's Hilly and twisty countryside, we found our Veloster Turbo Could obliterate both sharp and winding corners. The Veloster's front-wheel-drive set-up is not as well as its European rivals tamed (the Kumho solus tires, 215/40R18, also leave room for improvement), but there's hardly any torque steer out of corners.  This leaves the Veloster Turbo as the flagship company's performance until the next-generation Genesis Coupe Becomes available in right-hand-drive in a few years' time. Thankfully though, the Veloster Turbo is an admirable starting point for the Korean giant. Overall, the Hyundai Veloster Turbo presents an excellent choice for a first-time or veteran hot-hatch buyer.