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Last week I had the opportunity to finally drive the Hyundai Veloster N with the Performance Package that gives you more power, a limited slip differential, better brakes, and probably a few other little things. The car was surprisingly good and they did a lot of things right. It is not perfect, but for the money it is pretty tough to beat. If you are considering a GTI or a Civic Type R, it is worth a look. Below are some of my observations.
I told my Hyundai sales manager that if he ever ordered this car that he had to get red because I thought it looked great in pictures. It looks even better in person and much better than that awful robin's egg blue that I see everywhere. The styling is also another strong suit of this car in this class. It looks much more aggressive than a GTI or even a Golf R without being completely overdone like the Civic Type R. I just noticed it has those same little tiny vents at the bottom of the bumper like the M2 to maybe help reduce turbulent air to the radiator like we were talking about earlier. (The former head of BMW's M division may have carried over a few tricks and won't be the last. It also has similarly shaped DRLs to the M3) And look how HUGE the opening is for air to get to the radiator. This car has to have twice the air flow of our cars with a fraction of the power. Good luck overheating this car on the track.
This angle is also much better than the GTI/Golf R. For some reason the VWs have weird styling here that makes the back end look like a roller skate. I cannot figure out why. Fortunately, this car does not suffer the same issue and has a much more aggressive back end which you will see shortly. Also worth noting is that this car is the only true 3 door I know of on the market. Some find it quirky, but I think it is pretty smart engineering. The driver's door is larger since it will be used the most often and there is a small rear door on the passenger side since that is where most passengers will get in from the curb. Smart.
The back end is styled well like the front end. Properly aggressive without being too overdone. Not bad for a Hyundai.
Even the rear 3/4 view is pretty good. I think this is difficult to get right in a hatchback. I know the hatchback style is not for everyone, but this one has pretty solid styling.
We were just talking about exhausts with cutouts and fake tips. Hyundai did a pretty good job here. They made the chrome tip flare out, but it is actually connected to the exhaust rather than being a fake disconnected tip. They cut holes and darkened the area so they are really not noticeable. I thought they were to reduce soot buildup and maybe they are, but I thought they might be there to tweak the sound a bit since they go all the way around. Speaking of sound, there are a number of different settings, but the most aggressive setting is a bit too boy racer as it pops every time you lift like the system on the Focus RS.
The cargo area is pretty spacious, but it does have a bit of a high lift over height due to the styling of the rear bumper.
The inside was not bad, but could have been better. The positioning of everything was pretty good and the seats actually hold you in place pretty well. The gas and clutch are a little further apart than I would like which makes heel/toe downshifts easy to miss. Not the end of the world though as this car was designed for the street and maybe the occasional autocross rather than hardcore track days at the limit. (The hardcore guys can always bolt on larger pedals too.) Other missteps of the interior are the appearance of the seats and door panels which look cheap and the robin's egg blue trim which looked out of place. Fortunately, there is not too much of it. Hyundai also just released a more hardcore version of this car in Europe that has much nicer seats, an alcantara steering wheel and suede on the door panels. It looks much better and I am sure it is only a matter of time before someone starts importing these parts into the U.S. at a premium for the KDM guys.
A sea of hard plastic on the door panels. Reminds me of my STI hatch. The Infinity stereo is decent like most Infinity stereos. It sounds clear, but nothing to brag about. And it definitely does not have the same powerful clear base of our Bose stereos, but then again, what stock stereo has 10" woofers in the doors along with 2 other speakers?
I think Hyundai did a surprisingly good job with the gauges. Another BMW trick I noticed is the tach that changes redline based on the temperature of the engine. Here it is cold. (You will see the difference in the picture below.) Slick and unexpected on a car at this price point. Unfortunately, nearby there is an annoying, but small and not terribly noticeable shift reminder to always shift up to the next higher gear that pops up on the left of the trip computer. At the very top of the display you will see 5 cutouts that are much more noticeable and are actually pretty useful shift lights. Another nice touch in this class of car. The trip computer also has a G-meter (why?), and an actual oil temp. gauge as well as a lap timer. The lap timer also shows in the larger display above the dash and fortunately they sync unlike the strange dual lap timers in the Golf R. The speedometer is a bit optimistic.
The thing to note here are the two light blue buttons on the bottom of the steering wheel. They should probably be red because they make drastic differences in how the car drives. These two little buttons were probably the biggest surprise of the whole car. Very well done- BMW, please take note. These simple buttons completely transform how the car drives and are so much easier to use than the M3 while changing a lot more items in the car. The left button allows you to choose between eco, normal, and sport. The right button allows you to choose a custom mode that you get to pick all the settings. The default setting is Sport + for everything that allows it and is basically track mode. Sport plus for the suspension and exhaust is simply too much for the street, but every other Sport + setting is pretty fun.
Here is the performance readout on the main screen on top of the dash. Being able to change settings is pretty easy and the lap timer might be fun, but the other displays are useless in a real performance setting like an autocross or track day.
These are the default settings in Custom mode and as aggressive as they come. Most settings have 4 modes to choose from between eco, normal, sport, and sport +. Only a few top out at the "Sport" setting. As mentioned earlier the Sport + setting for the exhaust is ridiculous. A lot more bark than bite. The e-lsd works well to put the power down on acceleration, but is limited in corners probably only by the tires. In a roundabout it under steers pretty predictably at the limit. It would definitely be more fun with some stickier tires.
The suspension adjustability is by far the most impressive technological advancement on this car. On a rough road it literally goes from Cadillac smooth in Eco mode to the pogo stick ride of a $500 Civic on cut spring coilovers in Sport +. Normal and Sport modes are both tolerable on rough roads, but all 4 settings offer drastically different rides. I have never experienced a car where each suspension setting makes such a difference. Nicely work Hyundai! In comparison, an M3 Competition rides like crap on a rough road in all 3 suspension settings. On the flip side, I did not notice a huge difference in the steering feel, but I did not really test the different settings in hard cornering. Most corners were taken in Sport or Sport + and both cornered similarly unless the surface was rough.
So there it is- a surprisingly good car that punches well above its weight in most categories. A few small upgrades to the appearance of the interior and you have a very well designed hot hatch, possibly one of the best. That being said, I don't think it is the right replacement for our cars unless you are looking for something fundamentally different from what you have now. I would miss the sleeper look of our cars, the exhaust sound, the RWD handling, the stereo, the power, and the overall interior fit and finish of our cars. However, you do gain a nice shift light, a tach. that warms up, an actual oil temp. gauge, a lap timer, and unmatched adjustability in the drive modes- especially the suspension. It's not a step up from our cars, but maybe a step over if you have been thinking about hot hatchbacks lately.
FWIW, you're getting really good at these reviews.
Thanks man! I didn't realize how much I remembered about this car until I started looking at the pictures. When I originally posted up it didn't work because it was too long. I only drove the car for 5-10 minutes, but it took well over an hour to type everything up. I will keep them coming as long as we keep getting interesting cars at the store.
Road & Track did an issue a while back comparing the original M3 to the M2 and I believe, the M240i. It was interesting. But the better read was more recently when they compared the M2 Competition to the Camaro SS 1LE. They were shocked that the M2 Competition felt more like a muscle car with its endless power and torque and the SS 1LE was the canon carver and sharper handling car- probably due to its magnetic shocks and super wide and sticky tires. I came away from reading the article thinking, "why in the world would anyone pay another $15-$20k for the M2?" Then I remembered that it is much easier and cheaper to add wider & stickier tires and springs to the M2 to make it handle like an SS 1LE than it is to add another 200 hp to the Camaro like you can to the M3 motor in that M2 with a simple tune.
In the real world the M2 definitely has a nicer cabin, better proportions, a bigger back seat, better visibility, and probably a more usable trunk. However, even on the used car market the SS 1LE will probably remain a huge bargain and I am sure it will ride nice with the magnetic shocks. I will definitely have to take a serious look and drive both cars to be sure if I do end up going with a 2 door.
Agree with your conclusion, there are just so many more SS Camaros out there that it will be a tremendous value compared to the M2/Competition.
Originally Posted by 4DRZ
Last week I had the opportunity to finally drive the Hyundai Veloster N with the Performance Package that gives you more power, a limited slip differential, better brakes, and probably a few other little things. The car was surprisingly good and they did a lot of things right. It is not perfect, but for the money it is pretty tough to beat. If you are considering a GTI or a Civic Type R, it is worth a look. Below are some of my observations.
Good write up and pics. You're comments echo want other reviews have said. Hyundai seems to have nailed the driving dynamics of the car, it just needs an interior upgrade. Definitely a tremendous value considering it nips at the heels of the CTR for $5K less. The GTI does terrible in comparison because of the standard equipment all-season tires. GTI aftermarket support is huge, something I doubt the Hyundai has nearly as much of, and the interior is Audi like in comparison.
GTI aftermarket support is huge, something I doubt the Hyundai has nearly as much of, and the interior is Audi like in comparison.
Close friend has the Veloster turbo (not the N, so YMMV) and there seems to be a ton of aftermarket support. Intercoolers, ethanol injection, turbo and computer upgrades... hers is a beast and fun to drive. Goes to tons of velociraptor club meetings.
I could only imagine there will be the same for the N.
Wow, I am shocked that the Veloster N was faster than a Golf R!?! I would expect it to give a GTI a run for its money, but a Golf R? Wow!! You would think on a tight track that the AWD of the Golf R would help it, but I guess not. In that case I would save the $10k and get the Veloster N and upgrade the interior a bit instead of getting a Golf R. Never thought I would say that because I really like the Golf R.
A VW GTI will definitely have a lot more aftermarket support just because it has been on the market for 40+ years. This being the first year of the Veloster N we will probably not see too much right now, but because it is turbo I am sure the aftermarket will take kindly to it eventually.
I saw this article yesterday about the BMW M2 CS. Unfortunately, it sounds like it will be limited to 2,200 units globally. But the good news is that most of the mods seem pretty tame and easy to do to a M2 Competition. So I think the best buy on the used car market in a few years is the M2 Competition.
Now I am finally starting to understand why it costs $12,000 to put a manual transmission in a new Supra. I knew it would not be cheap since there would be a lot of work involved, but apparently they are also redesigning the dash, center console, knee pad, moving the climate controls forward to provide more room for shifting, etc. And it comes with a warranty. The company that does this specializes in putting manuals in Ferrari F430 Scuderias and it sounds like they are getting requests for putting a manual in the C8 Corvette. I wonder if the manufacturers will catch on.
Wow, I am shocked that the Veloster N was faster than a Golf R!?! I would expect it to give a GTI a run for its money, but a Golf R? Wow!! You would think on a tight track that the AWD of the Golf R would help it, but I guess not. In that case I would save the $10k and get the Veloster N and upgrade the interior a bit instead of getting a Golf R. Never thought I would say that because I really like the Golf R.
A VW GTI will definitely have a lot more aftermarket support just because it has been on the market for 40+ years. This being the first year of the Veloster N we will probably not see too much right now, but because it is turbo I am sure the aftermarket will take kindly to it eventually.
The N is only down 17 horsepower to the R, and it weighs like 400 pounds less, so I'm not surprised it was faster around a track. The R smoked both the CTR and N in a strait line though.
40 years or not, the MK7 has only been on the market since 2015. You've got like 6 tuning options alone, and a dozen different options for swaybars. While I'm sure the N market will catch up to some degree, I doubt it will have the same depth as VW, just due to the volume of cars alone. And remember, the MQB platform and 2.0T are used across Audi and Porsche as well. Porsche Macan Brembo calipers are a direct bolt on, for example, as are the 6 pots off the TTRS. Hyundai doesn't have that sort of platform commonality that I'm aware of.
Originally Posted by 4DRZ
Now I am finally starting to understand why it costs $12,000 to put a manual transmission in a new Supra. I knew it would not be cheap since there would be a lot of work involved, but apparently they are also redesigning the dash, center console, knee pad, moving the climate controls forward to provide more room for shifting, etc. And it comes with a warranty. The company that does this specializes in putting manuals in Ferrari F430 Scuderias and it sounds like they are getting requests for putting a manual in the C8 Corvette. I wonder if the manufacturers will catch on.
I toyed with the idea of an F4 Phantom stick as a shift **** when I first got into performance cars. Had a thrown-away one from the USAF, repaired the internal switches, and had a long think.
Glad I decided not to do it, but... 5 buttons and a 4-way hat switch. What *couldn't* you do with that?
I toyed with the idea of an F4 Phantom stick as a shift **** when I first got into performance cars. Had a thrown-away one from the USAF, repaired the internal switches, and had a long think.
Glad I decided not to do it, but... 5 buttons and a 4-way hat switch. What *couldn't* you do with that?
I toyed with the idea of getting a Hurst T-handle when I got the car, because I had one in my Trans Am back in my youth.
Glad that never happened, LOL. Way-y-y out of place in a G37.
Ever since we had that M2 Competition at our store I have been thinking about these cars. There is a surprising amount of room in the back seat and the seats fold down for my mountain bike. (Those are the two practical options I have been looking for in a 2dr. for a long time.) The fact that the Competition has the M3 engine that is easily tuned to 600 hp and even bigger brakes than the M3 for track days makes it an extremely versatile car for me. The 3rd important thing with this car is that they are relatively affordable. A lot of options in the low $40k range and it looks like the Competition model is depreciating at a similar rate. This might be a real option for me in a few years when my daughter is old enough to climb in the back seat by herself.
I couldn't sleep last night during a big storm and looked at M2 options on Autotrader. I found this one in white that just looks so good with only a different set of wheels and a set of springs. (And I didn't think I wanted another white car)
Funny you say that... every time I think I don't want another white car I run across a photo of a car that just looks phenomenal in white. I've got the new car bug right now and have also been perusing Autotrader the past several weeks and keep running across several different cars that all seem to look better in white than any other color. Although, for some reason every time I seen an NSX in Valencia Red Pearl it makes me want one. When the sunlight hits it just right is seems to have a shimmer of orange under the red. Love it!
I will keep them coming as long as we keep getting interesting cars at the store.
