do you like small sporty fun to drive compact coupes well if you do just know
that right this very second there are probably fewer of you than there were
about ten minutes ago the segment is shrinking and everyone seems to be
flocking to compact SUVs but Hyundai says not so fast there are still a
number of people that like to drive and like to drive small cars and for them
they've made this this is the new 20
1909 inside and out and if you like a good value and you like cars that are
fun to drive you do need to check this out the changes from the 2018 to the
2019 are subtle in terms of styling it looks very similar to the outgoing one
but it is a little bit different you've got a wider grille up front you have
different headlights standard LED running lights and optional LED
headlights you have something in the front they call air curtains what are
their curtains I don't know what era curtains are I think it's a word they've
made up to now describe the fact that it's got vertical slats in the front
bumper down the side you've got much more prominent fenders than you did
before it gives it a longer look despite the
fact that it really isn't any longer than the old car the wheelbase is
exactly the same you get 17-inch tires and wheels standard these are the 18
inches you have three different kinds of 18-inch wheels as options depending on
the trim level that you have the velocity looks lower than before but the
height really isn't any different it's the same height as the outgoing car
they've achieved this through a little bit of a trick and design the roofline
slopes a little bit faster than it did before when that's led to this smaller
rear window and taillights that are up a little bit higher as well so they've
changed the proportions of the car but it still has quite a bit of cargo room
back here you've got more cargo room behind the rear seats than you view in a
Jeep renegade or a chevy trax so it actually can carry quite a bit of
stuff and when you put this rear seat down even more while all of the styling
is subtly different there is one element that is exclusive to the Veloster that
has remained there still one door on the driver side and two doors on the
passenger side they've updated the Velocity's interior as well as the
exterior and they've really rearranged what it's like in here it's asymmetrical
like the outside of the vehicle is wonder on the left two doors on the
right one theme on the left different theme on the right front seat comfort is
acceptable I'd say the seats are mostly supportive the backs a little supportive
there's two different kinds of seats depending on what trim level you get
some have cloth some have leather some that power lumbar adjust like this one
in the turbo ultimate some dunk but overall up front it's not bad
Headroom is a little bit limited when you get the sunroof but not bad at all
when you don't have the sunroof in back it's tight there's really not a lot of
headroom back there it's meant for sometimes bringing people along or
occasional friends or friends you don't really like that you're gonna take on a
long drive and hope to never see it again frankly either way it's really
just meant for an occasional use the third door on the right side is more
about convenience you could put things in a lot easier than you could in a
two-door it's a cargo feature more I think than a passenger feature but it's
definitely unique and it's a I think a selling point for the Veloster this
being Hyundai's sporty coupe they've given it a sporty option you can still
get a manual transmission in the Veloster it comes in two of the models
you could either get it in the base model 2-liter or you can get it in the
1.6 litre turbo now if you do get into the turbo you can only get it in the
r-spec which is the entry-level model for the turbo but that's actually kind
of a really neat deal for just under twenty four thousand dollars you get a
manual transmission you get pilot sport for tires
you get sports suspension you get all the racy details in here that's a really
decent price for that now the transmission itself the manual is pretty
good it's pretty Snicket e it's very precise it's actually a lot of fun to
shift I only have a couple of issues with it it's located on the center
console pretty far forward so anybody who's taller who's sitting back from the
steering wheel of a decent ways in order to be comfortable really has to stretch
in order to get to fifth gear or even sixth gear I mean it's it's a bit of a
ways out there the other issue I have with it is that
there's not a whole lot of room in the footwell the pedal box area is actually
kind of small so I keep hitting my foot on the bottom of the instrument panel
when I'm transitioning from the dead pedal to the clutch and back it's a
minor annoyance and if you don't have size 12 like I do it probably won't be
an issue but this really is a vehicle for someone who is smaller in stature
Hyundai is priced the Veloster to be what they call their entry-level halo
vehicle it's a downward halo as they're calling it which I don't know what
that's the circling on the anatomy but still it's something that's supposed to
be aspirational for first-time buyers so if you can afford to get in something
really cool and desirable the base model has the 2-liter non turbocharged engine
but for a few dollars more you can get this turbocharged model which has
considerably more horsepower and a lot more scoop to it now for the price of
this one this is the r-spec model it's just under twenty four thousand dollars
which is a pretty decent price for an entry-level sports coupe you've got the
more powerful motor you've got the manual transmission
you've got aggressive summer tires you've got all the looks and race eNOS
the seats actually look fantastic you've got standard apple carplay or Android
auto depending on which system that you have which personal piece of electronics
you own that's really an excellent deal quite frankly for a car that is a lot of
fun the driving position is actually quite
good you've got decent forward visibility the
problem is the visibility out back the low roofline means you've got a very low
rear window and frankly I don't think I can see anything more than about a
hundred feet beyond the back of the car most vehicles behind you you're going to
see the bumper and that's really pretty much it if there's a cop coming up on
you from the horizon you're not gonna see it until it's actually on you the
car makes all the right noises too and it's kind of interesting in terms of the
noise that it's generating because you can adjust how it sounds now the engine
noise is piped into the interior but you can turn it off or you can turn it on
you can turn it louder if you really want to that's there's not many cars out
there that let you adjust just the noise usually that comes with adjusting the
exhaust as well but it sounds pretty good and the reason they they pipe these
kinds of sounds in is because frankly these engines don't make a whole lot of
noise unless you put a great big exhaust on them there are two possible power
trains for the 2019 velocity first we've got the base model engine a 2-liter
four-cylinder engine making 147 horsepower and the optional engine is a
1.6 liter turbocharged motor making 201 horsepower now that's the one you want
the biggest model engine is fine but the 201 horsepower turbo engine that is
really a lot more entertaining there are three possible transmissions the base
engine comes with either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic and the
upgraded one comes with either that 6-speed manual or a 7-speed dual-clutch
transmission like we see in this one here Hyundai has thoroughly reworked the
suspension in the Veloster gone is the torsion beam in the back now there's a
multi-link suspension back there it really does create a much more
entertaining platform everything really very tight the suspension is firm but
not punishing the steering is actually very direct it's got a very quick ratio
as well so you get a lot of responsiveness when you're changing
direction it's also got an adjustable steering feel you've got three different
drive modes in the automatic two in the manual transmission model the ride on
the more aggressive turbo model is firm I mean it's a little bit bouncy but it's
really not uncomfortable it is appropriate really to the sportiness of
the vehicle the handling is really quite good
you've got a multi-link rear suspension now instead of the torsion beam and that
really has enabled them to open up some options in terms of balancing the ride
on the handling this thing really is a proper little sports coupe when you put
this car on the Michelin Pilot Sport four tires that you get as part of the
r-spec package that handling is even better it is a little bit loud this
model does have quite a bit of road noise tire noise and out on the highway
you're gonna find yourself talking at louder than normal volumes but frankly
it's a sports coupe if you didn't want a little bit of noise in the interior and
you should have bought something a little bit more cushy acceleration from
that 1.6 litre turbo is really quite enjoyable 201 horsepower is nothing to
sneeze at and it makes a lot of its torque down low as well right around
1,200 to 1,300 rpm which is really quite reasonable there isn't really any turbo
lag at all and the DCT really ships quite quickly there's no lag there's no
springiness there's no rubber band style feel that we saw in the original DCT in
the velociter they've really retuned this well they've created something
that's frankly a lot of fun to drive I keep saying that the velocity er is fun
to drive and it really is it's frankly a lot more entertaining than the previous
model it's more comfortable it handles better the steering feel is better the
brakes they're firm they're progressive we haven't gotten too rough on them and
I urban drive around Detroit and some of the suburbs but you know we have to
think that under the track to really see how they hold up under serious sport use
but overall this package especially for the money it seemed like a winner
so for all of you out there that still like to drive cars and a fine
entertainment value in a small sports coupe you need to check out the 2019
philosopher and Veloster Turbo they start at right around nineteen thousand
dollars and fully loaded you'll go up to just under thirty grand which is a heck
of a lot of car for not much money these days if you'd like to learn more about
the Veloster look us up at cars calm
you