Played with a Hyundai Veloster last night

[GoHuskies]

As in played with all the toys, sat in but didn't drive it. I walked into the dealership 25 minutes before closing so I didn't want to cause a big waste of time.

Black style+tech package with MT. $22,300 priced. Dealer does not accept the motozuma discount. For those in the know it's a discount program where you deposit up to $500 and participating dealers will match for up to $1000 off the price of a new car. Motozuma

+ The sunroof was a nice touch and opens very quickly. Visor screen is standard instead of an additional option with Honda.

- Rear seats are nice in a pinch but really useless in application. Any rear passengers are going to keep hitting the glass over head if you go over bumps or ruts in the road. I'm 5'6 - 5'8 depending on hair and I was already brushing the glass. Tough to find a good picture but this is right above your head in the rear. I imagine sitting here might not be fun in hot sunny parts of the US.


+ The sound system is very good. Has the mid range bass Honda lacks.

- No HID's. According to Hyundai US boss they are "coming" so I'm guessing that means an option with packages on next years turbo model.

US headlight:

ROW (rest of the world) We get these next year I assume. Projector halogen standard and HID optional.


+ Gracenote technology means display uses album info (if you've legally/illegally downloaded contest) Still a blank grey icon with MP3 ripped music.


- You have to use both the USB and AUX port for all content with iPhones and other devices. AUX port will allow you to play videos when parked. USB allows music and Pandora. Can also stream music but not Pandora or videos. Kind of annoying. If bluetooth is enabled it won't play Pandora. Screen alerted me I had to stop streaming so it seems you can't use phone bluetooth and play internet radio at the same time. Complicated.

+ Text to speech, voice activated navigation help, geo-fencing (watch where your kids drive), automatic crash response, automatic GPS updates, etc... so many cool features. For a price. Basic crash response is $79 a year, the text to speech and a few options $179 per year, the guides navigation and fancy parental content plus "eco-coaching" is $279 per year.

+ Veloster will automatically download all of your phone contacts via bluetooth. big win in my book since I gave up adding contacts one messed up entry at a time

+ bigger wheels. I love the wheels. Both style and style+techk packaged cars get 18" wheels. Sizing is not bad either, using tirerack decent all-season replacement tires are only about $200 more to replace for a set than our standard 16" wheels. With the tech package car the wheel has inserts that match the cars body color on everything except white/grays which use black inserts.

Style package wheels:


Interior overall: Some places it's nice others not so good. Hard plastics all around but a nice grainy texture (exactly like the CR-Z...) Has some of the same painted silver plastics as the Elantra (instead of our foil stuff whatever you call it) Paddle shifters I read are tiny little pinkie finger things and seem to draw the ire of reviewers. Overall I didn't find it that different than the CR-Z with the exception the controls are not as driver focused.

Car overall: Bigger than the CR-Z, and in reality weighs more with the style and tech packages. Nicer overall I must admit as Hyundai went the length for visual flair such as 17" and 18" wheels, sunroof, and standard 7-inch touchscreen. Lacking in some areas I like such as HID's, LED tail lamps the world gets, and a supervision gauge cluster we also don't get. That's my beef with every Kia/Hyundai product. We get shown gems then only get shards with a promise next years model with offer something new.

[kenoshainflames]

ugly

[dripkit]

Originally Posted by kenoshainflames

ugly

Nice little toys, but yeah when it comes down to it, that front end leaves much to be desired

[Willard]

Still a Hyundai. That brand was the bottom of the barrel in the '90s, just cant put trust in them again.

[wicked1]

My last car was a 2000 hyundai.. Never had a single problem w/ it in those 10 years. It was definitely nothing special! But, it did work flawlessly.

[kenoshainflames]

I think since Mitsubishi is building the motors and such they have gotten a lot better. none the less ugly

[MattB]

I would actually go against the grain here and say I find it attractive with one notable exception - I truly dislike the asymmetry.

[Varmint]

I don't think it's ugly. "Overdone" would be a better description for my thoughts. The exposed bone design in the front bumper is fine, but when you add the pseudo-slit between the headlamps and fogs... that's just too much. That's only one example. There's just no subtlety, IMO.

[gozoner]

How do you design a new Hyundai? Get you body designers to copy the shape/style of a Mercedes, slop in the rest and sell cheaply. Sorry, but these days I constantly see cars where I think "Hmmm, that's a nice Mercedes" and then get closer to see it is a Hyundai. Copy or Create but I won't buy copy. Piss on Samsung iPhone/iPad clones too.

[Tyrod]

Still a Hyundai. That brand was the bottom of the barrel in the '90s, just cant put trust in them again.

I have an 05 Elantra and an 08 Tiburon and neither has had to have any warranty work what so ever.

The Tiburon has the exact same rear seating issue as the Veloster, less the door (thank the gods). My 5'4" wife bumps her head on turns. The back seats are for kids, pure and simple. But, the kids would be comfortable with plenty of room other than headspace.

But alas the Tiburon will be traded for a 2012 CR-Z.

IMHO something about the Veloster just doesn't look right.