The Veloster is all about the hip and trendy market and Hyundai is very sure this coupe's aggeressive design will punch a hole through that segment.
On looks alone, the Veloster certainly is different. On its own, it looks petite and compact but park another coupe or hatchback next to it and you suddenly realise it knows how to hide its sizeable proportions. The fact is, the Veloster is tallish and it can seat four adults comfortably.
Malaysians are a practical lot. We want something sporty but we also want doors at the back because somewhere deep in our cerebral cortex a car must be able to ferry five people even though there's no family in sight. Perhaps we are not alone in that, and that is why Hyundai decided to add a third door to a coupe. Thus, the Veloster was conceived.
Having that extra door makes the rear seats can fit in at the back. The only problem is the head is right under the rear windscreen and, if it is not tinted, getting one's brain to melt under the hot sun is quite a possibility. Anyway, the Veloster takes in four, including the driver, because the rear holds two separate seats, not the usual three-person bench.
The boot is 320-litres big and has a flat floor, so here again Hyundai plays the practical card rather well. Fold down the 60/40 rear seat and this can be a really hot delivery machine.
The rest of the cabin is interesting too. The dashboard uses similar design architecture found in other new Hyundai cars, namely the Elantra and the Sonata. To cater to the desire for premium touches, you get a 7-inch touchscreen display unit on the dashboard, a steering wheel littered with buttons, a full auto air-con,Bluetooth hands-free and a Supervision instrument cluster which has a design explained by Hyundai as "dual-cylindered like the twin pipes of a motorbike exhaust". However,why anyone would want a pair of exhaust-like objects pointing directly at the face remains a mystery.
Anyway ,the 6-speed automatic gearbox is the one also used in Hyundai's other madels. That said, the automatic variant of the Veloster is not as zippy as the manual version but it is still quite fulfilling when you know how to squeeze more torque from the engine. On the zig-zagging bits of trunk road in the innards of Negeri Sembilan we were very impressed with its surefootedness but we would really applaud enthusiastically if the local Hyundai importer were to be a touch more adventurous and bring in the turbo engine. With the currently available 1.6L, the chassis is somewhat of an overkill.Bring in the turbo and we are pretty sure the petrol junkies will start singing the praises of kimchi.
Things we do not like? There are a few actually, like the lack of power once it hits the open road, and the iffy sound insulation. We think Hyundai can do better in both instances.
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