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MOTORING<br />
30 <strong>Ashburton</strong> <strong>Courier</strong>, <strong>August</strong> <strong>20</strong>, <strong>20</strong><strong>20</strong><br />
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz<br />
Fun plus in Hyundai’s Velostar<br />
BY ROSS KIDDIE<br />
Iknow life often means<br />
disappointments but it will take<br />
me abit of time to get over<br />
missing out on adrive of<br />
Hyundai’s new i30 Nfastback –<br />
ahighperformance car based<br />
around its hothatch<br />
stablemate.<br />
See, the turbocharged 2litre<br />
manual was acasualty of the<br />
coronavirus Level 4lockdown, I<br />
was due to have it within that<br />
period but it has since been<br />
seconded to duties in other<br />
parts of the country.<br />
That aside, the other<br />
Hyundai models Iwas<br />
scheduled into have arrived,<br />
and aweek with the latest<br />
generation Hyundai Veloster<br />
almost made up for not<br />
stepping into the i30 N.<br />
The Veloster has been<br />
around since <strong>20</strong>12, and has just<br />
undergone amajor<br />
transformation. Saying that, the<br />
one element that makes the<br />
Veloster stand out from the<br />
crowd hasn’t been changed.<br />
What appears to be a<br />
traditional twodoor coupe is<br />
actually athreedoor. Yes,<br />
there are two doors on the<br />
passenger side and just one on<br />
the driver’s side.<br />
The concept was first<br />
introduced with safety in mind,<br />
the rationale being that when<br />
children are seated in the rear<br />
they can only exit from the<br />
footpath side of the vehicle,<br />
egress to the road is denied.<br />
Bear in mind, too, that the<br />
Veloster is only afourseater.<br />
Some might say the design of<br />
the Veloster is outlandish, I’d<br />
say it is bold yet trendy, it is<br />
fresh and with an aggressive<br />
body and with vivid colours to<br />
choose from, the Veloster<br />
certainly makes astatement.<br />
The evaluation car was finished<br />
in amatte gun metal grey, it<br />
drew alot of attention during<br />
the time it was in my care.<br />
The Veloster arrives with two<br />
engine options –a2litre<br />
naturally aspirated unit that<br />
develops 110kW. Or else there<br />
is a1.6litre turbocharged<br />
option –the 150kW engine that<br />
powers several other Hyundai<br />
and Kia models.<br />
The evaluation car was the<br />
latter, and it is an engine I’m<br />
quite familiar with, it is no<br />
outright powerhouse like the<br />
engine in the i30 N, but it is a<br />
feisty little unit and stands out<br />
for its honesty and fussfree<br />
behaviour. Although it must be<br />
said there is genuine exhaust<br />
The Hyundai Veloster is abeautifullymade car and one which is both fun and exciting.<br />
sound, there’s aconstant throb<br />
under load and an enticing<br />
crackle between gears.<br />
When the Veloster first<br />
appeared, it was Hyundai’s first<br />
fullproduction vehicle with a<br />
dual clutch gearbox; that type<br />
of transmission is still used,<br />
although it now gets seven<br />
gears that can be manipulated<br />
through steering wheelmounted<br />
paddle shifters. In<br />
terms of driving, DCT units can<br />
be treated much like anormal<br />
automatic transmission, the big<br />
difference is that in itself it<br />
works like amanual but<br />
without amanual clutch and, of<br />
course, there’s no powerrobbing<br />
characteristics of<br />
traditional torque converter<br />
system.<br />
The result is aquick shifting<br />
unit that doesn’t load the<br />
engine, power is clean, and<br />
with astrong torque figure<br />
(265Nm) and available low, and<br />
all of the way between 1500 to<br />
4500rpm, the Veloster turbo is a<br />
quickreacting car which is no<br />
slouch against the stopwatch.<br />
It will lunge to 100km/h in<br />
7.5sec, which will satisfy those<br />
who are happy with moderate<br />
performance, but for me the big<br />
surprise is the midspeed<br />
performance, it will scorch<br />
through ahighway overtake<br />
(801<strong>20</strong>km/h) in 4.2sec, made<br />
possible through solid turbo<br />
boost and quickshifting ratios<br />
which are ideal for the wide<br />
crosssection of our driving<br />
styles and journeys.<br />
On the subject of figures, the<br />
Veloster turbo is rated by<br />
Hyundai with a7.1litre per<br />
100km combined cycle fuel<br />
usage average. At 100km/h I<br />
recorded an instantaneous<br />
readout of 5l/100km with the<br />
engine working over freely at<br />
<strong>20</strong>00rpm.<br />
Iguess if you explore the<br />
turbo boost frequently it will be<br />
hard to match Hyundai’s claim,<br />
and with just a50litre fuel tank<br />
you need to be mindful fillups<br />
may come around quicker than<br />
expected.<br />
Nevertheless, Ienjoyed the<br />
power and strength of that wee<br />
engine, it is delightful and<br />
provides the fun factor when<br />
you feel the need for aquick<br />
burst, taking into account that<br />
several drive modes allow the<br />
driver to choose how the car<br />
behaves, from economical to<br />
sport.<br />
In terms of handling, the<br />
Veloster feels sharp up front<br />
with definite turnin. Sport<br />
specification Michelin tyres<br />
(225/40 x18in) have highgrip<br />
properties and combined with a<br />
fully independent suspension<br />
the car feels well attached to<br />
the road.<br />
The Veloster turbo is only<br />
available in one fullyspecced<br />
level –Limited. It is loaded with<br />
goodies such as full leather,<br />
heated and cooled seats, heated<br />
steering wheel, headup<br />
display, satellite navigation,<br />
keyless entry and ignition, and<br />
all the other bells and whistles<br />
that make up Hyundai’s top<br />
level trim spec. It also gets afull<br />
safety suite of technologies.<br />
Hyundai has had along<br />
history of producing twodoor<br />
coupes, even though you could<br />
argue the Veloster is<br />
essentially athreedoor. When<br />
Ifirst started writing about cars<br />
in 1988, one of the first Idrove<br />
was the Scoupe, Hyundai’s first<br />
sporty car, that transformed<br />
into what Hyundai called<br />
simply Coupe around 1996, the<br />
Tiburon followed, then in <strong>20</strong>12<br />
the Veloster first landed in New<br />
Zealand.<br />
That history has served<br />
Hyundai well, the Veloster is a<br />
beautifullymade car and one<br />
which is both fun and exciting.<br />
It dares to be different with its<br />
styling, but that is part of its<br />
appeal, at $52,990 ($45,990 nonturbo),<br />
it’s an affordable way to<br />
make astatement.<br />
Rating<br />
Price –Hyundai Veloster,<br />
$52,990<br />
Dimensions –Length,<br />
4250mm; width,<br />
1800mm; height,<br />
1409mm<br />
Configuration –Fourcylinder,frontwheeldrive,1591cc,<br />
150kW,<br />
265Nm, sevenspeed dual<br />
clutchautomatic<br />
Performance –0100km/<br />
h, 7.5sec<br />
Fuel usage–7.1l/100km<br />
Restoration Rust repairs Insurance claims -Your vehicle your choice<br />
Deal directly with the owner, Bill Johnson<br />
Panel beating and painting on all vehicles, including horse floats, caravans and small boats<br />
2300982<br />
16 -18Cass Street, <strong>Ashburton</strong> l E: johnsons.panelpaint@gmail.com