The Veloster is Hyundai’s most important product for the 2012 model year – on the surface, it looks like another inexpensive, sporty offering aimed at Gen Y, a crucial market for automakers who must try and sell cars to a cynical demographic that has come to see driving as an anti-social and wasteful act. While Hyundai was busy touting the car’s 40-mpg highway rating and light weight (only 2,584 lbs with the 6-speed manual) in the run up to the car’s launch, they were also making excuses. Claims abound that the Veloster was fun in the classic “driving a slow car fast” kind of way, and one Hyundai engineer told AutoGuide that the 40 mpg rating would be a bigger selling point than the car’s meager 138 horsepower rating (and he may not be wrong). The Veloster is supposed to be a mix of utility, performance, efficiency and technology, but compromise rarely leads to great automobiles.
SPECIFICATIONS
Type: Inline 4-cylinder S
Displacement (liters) 1591cc
Horsepower @ RPM (ULEV) 138 @ 6300
Torque @ RPM (ULEV) 123 @ 4850
Compression ratio 11.0:1
Valve train 16-valve with Dual-CVVT
Fuel system: Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) S
Ignition system: Electronic S
