Hyundai Veloster Turbo SE
With more power and jazzed-up looks, does Hyundai’s most powerful Veloster manage to excite?
Aside from the new bonnet scoops and restyled front and rear bumpers, Hyundai has fiddled around with the Veloster’s gearbox. It’s the same one you’ll find in the standard car, but with longer ratios to cope with the additional power. The suspension setup has been tuned specifically for our roads too, and the power steering has been adjusted for a “more natural feel”.
Volkswagen and Vauxhall have a pair of rivals in the Scirocco and Astra GTC, and the latter’s 1.6 Turbo probably gets the closest – beating the Veloster to 60mph in 7.8 seconds and going on to a higher top speed of 137mph. It’s marginally less economical, though, and misses out on a large chunk of equipment. The VW, meanwhile, is both slower and less well equipped.
Turbo-badging aside, this Veloster isn’t a Scirocco R or Astra VXR rival – it’s not as fast for one, but it’s also a little low on outright thrills. The 1.6-litre turbocharged engine is very well executed, but its decidedly everyday soundtrack just doesn’t get the pulse racing, even if the pace might. Think of the Turbo as the car the standard Veloster should have been – a capable cruiser with some extra style, a little B-road spirit, and oodles of torque to play with in the process.
