2012 Hyundai Veloster

Saw one at the Hyundai dealership today in my back yard. Has quite possibly the most interesting rear end on a car I have seen since the Juke.

Any one have any opinions yet?

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/11q3/2012_hyundai_veloster-short_take_road_test

No personal news yet

Love the way it looks but 2700 lbs!!!!!

WTF was Hyundai thinking?

Some one should have pushed this thing away from the buffet!

(In my best Korean-Chinese all you can eat buffet owner voice) "You go home now, you eat to much. YOU GO HOME!"

Yep my Elantra gets better mileage, has more power at 150hp, weighs 2660 and IMHO looks better

Before I found my toy, my plan was to hold onto the stock Sentra for a couple more years and pick up some small 1.6 D.I. turbo car. The Veloster was one of the leading candidates, but now it seems weak in comparison to my turbo Spec V.

There are fairly reliable indications that a turbo version of the Veloster will be out late next year. Best guess is the 210hp turbo version of the 1.6 in it now, and some claims say it should still have 40-ish mpg highway. Might make it a bit more interesting, especially if they spice up the rest of the car too. C&D's article: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/spied/11q2/2013_hyundai_veloster_turbo_spy_photos-future_cars

I drove it very briefly on sort of a drag strip affair in Korea last week. Very polarizing design. My (brief) impression was that it was a neat little car ( dual clutch/paddles) but underpowered. I've got a tester all next week so I'll have a better idea of how it handles. We were allowed to peer into the wind tunnel facility, there was a cloth draped over what was obviously a Veloster, but from the way the cloth was draped it appeared they'd done some work to the rear end/spoiler (evidently the original needed more downforce). It also had two round central tailpipes... although we pestered them to confirm or deny that it was a turbo-charged test mule, they just gave us that enigmatic berkeley you smile and said nothing.

We spotted another, heavily camouflaged, in the parking lot... but they freaked out when a couple of us tried to get closer.

I took one for a test drive. I found it handled pretty well, understeered at the limit with very little body roll. It has very little low end grunt (made my p5 seem torquey). I really didn't like the throttle (which I assume is not cable operated). It hesitated significantly after every shift unless you were close to full throttle. I couldnt accelerate the car smoothly because of this weird hesitation. My friend has a 2012 accent and it's got the same issue. Otherwise, I would probably buy a veloster. Hopefully the turbo version fixes this.

I've seen a few on the road this week in the Philly area. I like them a lot. Well at least the way they look.

There are VERY few cars that are nicely styled in the past 5 years or so. This one follows that trend. Saw one in a display at a mall yesterday. I threw up in my mouth a little bit.

and yet the style works really well for me

aussiesmg wrote: and yet the style works really well for me

Well... consider the source.

So.. mean..

I saw one in Boston last week. First things that came to mind were "for a hatchback that's huge, & it looks like it handles like a barge". I than saw another on a Hyundai lot next to their smallest SUV (name eludes me) & confirmed that it indeed is not small.

With the exception of this car & their SUVs Hyundai has been doing well in my eyes in the styling department.

Tiny back window-DO NOT WANT
Stupid high beltline - DO NOT WANT
Heavy - DO NOT WANT

Center exhaust - WANT
Turbo Version - WANT
3 door + hatch - WANT

My mind is not yet made up...

Good thing it has side mirrors.

If only there were already a recent multi-page thread on this subject:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/2010-hyundai-veloster-discuss/30748/page1/

In reply to ProDarwin:

Preproduction vs production doesn't count

Like looks, hate weight

doesn't matter I wouldn't fit anyway!

I still can't get over the rear-loading height. I think my roommate's tacoma tailgate is lower than that.

One has been in my neighborhood for a few weeks. They must have got the first one off the boat or something. As a replacement for a Suzuki SX4 it seems like a move in the right direction.

The one thing the Hyundai, Kia, Scion and that ilk have always lacked is an engine.

They always seem to give you less engine than all the other brands. Hopefully that's changing.

Eww, my eyes, no thanks.

In reply to carguy123:

except for....you know...that 274hp turbo sonata/optima.

failboat wrote: In reply to carguy123: except for....you know...that 274hp turbo sonata/optima.

Or the 400hp Genesis V8.

4cylndrfury wrote: Tiny back window-DO NOT WANT Stupid high beltline - DO NOT WANT Heavy - DO NOT WANT

You call 2500 lbs heavy? Not these days, it isn't, and if the turbo version doesn't gain much weight it will have a fairly respectable power to weight ratio.

Agree completely with the first two. I would put in a backup camera.