Hyundai nailed the hot-hatchback method when it launched the Veloster N for the 2019 mannequin yr. As a rambunctious salute to cut price efficiency, it initially supplied as a lot as 275 horsepower and a six-speed handbook transmission for lower than $30,000. Its rowdy lively exhaust emits all the correct snorts and pops. And its planted, extremely adjustable chassis makes for nice enjoyable on just about any highway or racetrack. With our long-term take a look at automotive persevering with to entertain us even because it approaches 40,000 miles, the information that Hyundai could be upping the fiery Veloster’s base worth and including a couple of refinements for its third yr in manufacturing was trigger for some preliminary concern. Fortuitously, these updates resulted in an much more fascinating sport compact.
First, that change to the 2021 Veloster N’s base worth: It is now $33,245, which is $4650 greater than it was final yr. Nonetheless, that sum does embrace extra customary gear, notably the beforehand non-compulsory $2100 Efficiency bundle that ought to have been customary from day one. The spotlight of that improve is a 25-hp enhance for the turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four (for a complete of 275), but it surely additionally provides an electronically managed limited-slip differential, bigger brake rotors, an lively exhaust system, and 19-inch wheels with Pirelli P Zero PZ4 summer season tires, which exchange the usual 18-inch Michelin Pilot Tremendous Sports activities.
The second main replace is the addition of an non-compulsory ($1500) eight-speed dual-clutch automated transmission (DCT). Whereas we’ll argue {that a} stick shift and three pedals are nonetheless greatest for maximizing the Veloster N’s playfulness, there is not any denying the DCT’s quickness. Our take a look at automotive shot to 60 mph in 4.Eight seconds and lined the quarter-mile in 13.Four seconds at 105 mph—useful enhancements over one of the best 5.2- and 13.8-second runs we have recorded for a handbook Veloster N. Extra vital, each of the DCT’s instances are a tenth of a second faster than one of the best efforts we have clocked for its chief rival, the manual-only Honda Civic Sort R, though the 306-hp Honda does submit a 3-mph quicker entice velocity on the finish of the quarter. In two-pedal kind, the Veloster N is now the quickest front-driver we have ever examined and one of many least expensive methods to realize entry to the sub-five-second-to-60-mph membership.
To summon the high-rpm clutch drop required for that Civic-beating takeoff, you may have to familiarize your self with the Customized drive mode show on the Veloster’s 8.0-inch central touchscreen. Given the Veloster N’s many chassis, engine, exhaust, and drivetrain settings, there is not any ultimate option to current all the alternatives. The earlier tile format required two pages, which Hyundai condensed to a single web page by shifting to a spider graph. The brand new readout appears to be like sharp, however manipulating the intricate toggles whereas driving takes a gradual hand. There are additionally preset mixtures—Eco, Regular, Sport, and N Mode—if you happen to do not require, say, loud exhaust paired with relaxed suspension.
The launch-control tab is built-in into the spider graph’s adjoining N Efficiency show. As soon as activated, you are given 5 minutes to set the launch rpm (in 100-rpm increments as much as 3500 rpm), flooring each pedals, after which launch the brake. Because the computer systems work the clutches, the Veloster N lunges ahead on the sting of traction and fires off rapid-fire upshifts so long as you retain the accelerator pinned to the carpet. We might desire it if we might provoke the process by merely mashing each pedals within the sportier drive modes, and we discovered that the system wanted a quick cooldown between repeated runs. However it’s efficient.
Designed in-house, the Veloster N’s eight-speed DCT is a marked enchancment over the Hyundai Group’s earlier dual-clutch containers. Its gear modifications aren’t as fast as a Porsche PDK’s, however it’s snappy and well programmed. (And hey, we’re speaking a few automotive that prices the identical as a couple of possibility packages on a 911 Turbo S.) Low-speed drivability is impressively clean, missing the jerky stumbles that on-off throttle purposes can provoke in this sort of transmission. Downshifts are fast and nicely timed. As a bonus, the automated Veloster N beneficial properties an overboost function referred to as N Grin Shift, which engages the automotive’s raciest drivetrain setting and will increase the engine’s torque output from 260 to 278 pound-feet for 20 seconds. However we regularly forgot about it as a result of it is activated by a small, unassuming NGS button on the steering wheel that blends in with the remainder of the controls.
In handbook mode, the Veloster N’s transmission will maintain gears as much as the engine’s 6750-rpm gas cutoff. Shifts will be cued up through paddles on the steering wheel or a console shift lever with a correct pull-to-upshift, push-to-downshift motion. We discovered that this handbook management got here into play extra usually than traditional when driving on the freeway, because the Veloster N’s eight-speed will not have interaction prime gear in any drive mode extra aggressive than Regular. At an 80-mph cruise, eighth gear equates to a comparatively subdued 2000 rpm. Left to its pc mind, the transmission solely goes to seventh gear in Sport (2500 rpm at 80 mph) and sixth in Sport+ (3100 rpm). For comparability, the handbook Veloster N registers 2900 revs at 80 when in prime gear.
At a gradual 75 mph, the Veloster N DCT returned the identical 30-mpg determine because the handbook automotive on our 200-mile freeway fuel-economy take a look at. That is unimpressive given its further ratios, but higher than what the EPA reckons: The automated’s federal estimates of 22 mpg mixed, 20 metropolis, and 27 freeway all path the handbook’s 25/22/28 rankings. Our take a look at automotive averaged 18 mpg throughout its two weeks with us.
That lowered effectivity partially stems from the burden penalty incurred by the dual-clutch transmission. At 3186 kilos, our DCT take a look at automotive weighed 96 kilos greater than our handbook long-termer, with the quantity of mass over the entrance wheels rising from 63.7 to 65.2 %. Hyundai compensates for the altered front-to-rear steadiness by retuning the DCT mannequin’s springs and adaptive dampers. This maintains the automotive’s glorious poise and physique management however modifications the trip high quality. In Regular mode, the DCT automotive rides barely firmer than the handbook mannequin, however in Sport+ mode it is extra forgiving. Pushed again to again, we nonetheless desire the lighter six-speed automotive’s softest setting for many conditions, because it brings one of the best steadiness of trip consolation and chassis management. On Hyundai-spec 235/35R-19 Pirelli P Zero PZ4 summer season tires, our DCT take a look at automotive exhibited barely extra skidpad grip than the stick shift (0.99 g to 0.97) and took negligibly longer to cease from 70 mph (157 ft versus a better of 154).
Fortunately, transmission selection has no influence on the Veloster N’s new customary efficiency seats. Extremely supportive for laborious driving but surprisingly comfy, these material and leatherette thrones are an enormous enchancment over the comparatively flat and plain-looking cloth chairs in our long-term automotive. Hyundai says every one can be 4 kilos lighter, however we’re extra impressed with how their sculpted design and the illuminated N logos on their backrests gown up the automotive’s in any other case drab cabin.
That the brand new seats aren’t heated is our solely massive gripe in regards to the newest Veloster N. Whereas that may sound like a trivial criticism, we drove the automotive in Michigan’s frosty late fall. We thought far much less in regards to the automotive’s new customary active-safety tech—lane-following and forward-collision assists, blind-spot and rear cross-traffic alerts, and driver consideration monitor—than we did in regards to the seat heaters and heated steering wheel that Hyundai makes accessible in different markets. The corporate says this cut up was to restrict the price and construct complexity of fashions bought in the USA. However we think about that discerning patrons of a extra subtle and costly Veloster N would really like a say of their automotive’s facilities. Rely us amongst that group, even when we would nonetheless selected the handbook automotive and its inherently higher involvement over the short new DCT.
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