What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word Veloster?
If your mind works anything like mine the first thing you think of is a nasty little dinosaur, a little prehistoric creature with a bit of an attitude.
But the new Hyundai Veloster is anything but prehistoric. In fact the Veloster has been equipped with some of the most leading edge technology like a silky-smooth dual clutch transmission. Shifting up and down through the six gears in the Veloster, the dual clutch makes you feel like you are the only person skating on an ice rink just after the Zamboni exits the gates.
And what makes it even better is that when you flip the shifter to the right you get the use of the paddle shifters on the steering wheel making the buttery, gear shifts a ton of fun.
Tap, tap, tap down three gears heading into a corner or when you need some extra passing power, and the needle blips up the rev chart without a worry in the world and off you go smile on your face with
fingers extended ready for the next up shift.
Hyundai has done a great job with this transmission.
Not only does it change gears seamlessly, it helps the Veloster get a miserly 40 mpg in the city and 58 mpg on the highway. That's as near to diesel mileage numbers as makes no difference.
The Veloster, as a hatchback, seems slightly longer than you may expect a two door hatch to be, but it makes for added room in the back and more comfort up front.
The look is quite nice and the 18-inch 40-series tires and five-spoke wheels with the centre of each wheel the same Vitamin C colour of the Veloster adds style and sportiness to the vehicle.
From the back, the dual centre-mounted exhaust tips set into the bodywork are unusual yet appealing, much better than the normal mundane round pipes.
The set up is for two passengers in the back with the cup holders and storage for the iPod in the centre of the seat. But both passengers should be happy in their surroundings especially with the skylight overhead.
When you power back the oversized visor a moonroof is revealed in front with a nice skylight for the rear passengers.
The doors in the Veloster are larger than usual making it easier to get in to the back seats and they add a feeling of solidity to the car. A nice solid door with a good thunk when closed is a good thing.
Once inside it doesn't take long to see that instead of arguing about what options to put in the 25 grand Veloster, someone just said, "screw it, throw everything we have in there."
With that, you get a proximity key allowing you to open the doors with the key in your pocket and start the car via a large button on the font dash. Not too long ago this button could only be found in luxury sports cars.
Out on the road 138 horsepower may not be huge but with six gears to paddle shift through it can be fun and easy to hit a lower gear when extra power is needed.
The Veloster is also a quiet car until you crank the satellite radio with a little Flo Rida, as I did. Turn the stereo down to check the noise at highway speeds and it hasn't changed.
Flip the shifter into reverse in a local parking lot and the seven-inch voice-activated, navigation screen turns into a backup camera. There is also park assist, which will beep to let you know when you are getting close to an object.
The navigation is also a touch screen and the stereo controls have also been mounted on the steering wheel along with the buttons for the voice-activated Bluetooth phone
system.
Flipping through the settings on the screen I noticed one for valet mode, where you can lock out your personal info and settings so when you get back into the car after a nice dinner you don't feel like slapping the valet for messing with your settings. You can also change the background on the screen.
So if you want to earn some brownie points have a photo of the wife installed as a background.
Whenever you know she will be in the car her pic will come on as the background.
However, when she is at home and you are out you can have your favourite hockey team logo as the background.
The Veloster came with all the usual power options, heated mirrors and seats, 115-volt outlet, and all the safety and media abbreviations to make your drive not only happier but safer.
The Veloster is a nice little hatch with a nice little price.
