Bowing at the LA Auto Show is the Veloster Turbo R-Spec, aimed at pulling in tuner-oriented shoppers through a halo inversion designed to, someday, have them drive away in a Genesis sedan.
The R-Spec is driven by a 1.6-liter turbo-4 pumping out 201 horses and 195 lb-ft of torque through the front wheels, and weighs just 2,800 lbs thanks to a severe dieting regimen that actually removed luxury amemities from the base Veloster Turbo. Not only does this diet keep the price down, but it also allows the R-Spec to do 24 mpg in the city and 33 mpg on the highway.
In return, the R-Spec was given a B&M short shifter, higher spring rates all around, torque vectoring control to keep the turbo hamster from going off the road in a hard corner, and a healthy dose of red, from the front splitter to the leatherette seats.
The price of admission? Just $22,110, making the R-Spec the most affordable turbo Veloster around.
The Baleen Whale continues to transverse the plankton wastelands.
The “Baleen Whale” look would be the old Lincoln grill (with the numerous vertical grill slats).
Don’t know what this would be, but Ford did a better job with the hexagonal shape for the grill.
Carp or Catfish
This is the Veloster Turbo they should have made from the outset. The original car is a total bore.
This I am liking. Cheap speed is always a winning formula.
+1 These are cool little cars. If I was in the market for a small hatch, this would be pretty high up on the list. There have been a number of Hyundais in the family since 2000, and they have all been excellent little cars. And I bet there’s plenty of room to push that 201hp up a ways.
I think the Juke NISMO comes out ahead, if I wanted a hatch in this class I would definitely drive both.
Too bad the US does not get the Kia Pro_cee’d GT.
Much better looking and nicer interior.
The 274 HP 275 LB/FT RWD Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T is $24,250. That is a lot of value for $2,000.
And you aren’t even mentioning that the Genesis at least has an independent suspension out back. Everything I’ve read about the Veloster Turbo is that it is fun up until 6/10ths. After that the wheels fall off the fun train.
Makes the 305hp/280 lb-ft RWD V6 Mustang seem like a screaming deal at $22,200.
And we have a winner.
well if you put it that way, it makes an LS1/T-56 with a big ass blower shoved into an old S10 seem like a great deal too.
Lets take this to the logical conclusion and strap an F1 engine from the Saturn V Rocket to a skateboard.
I am seeing new V-6 Mustangs under $17K in my area! They are getting crazy cheap.
With my little one just outgrowing car seats, the V6 ‘stang is looking more and more a lock for my $$’s
Don’t forget there’s a 2.7 liter RWD 2-seater available with a manual trans for about $15K after rebates. Comes standard with crank windows and limited-slip rearend too. They call it the Taco for short.
I’ve heard bad things about Hyundai M/T shifters, so the B&M might fix this.
I didn’t like the 2nd gen Gencoupe shifter I tried out…
I installed the aftermarket B&M shifter into my ’11 Accent. It made it shift pretty well honestly, I was happy with it.
This is how you attract younger buyers. Established buyers are often hesitant to purchase two-door or three-door vehicles. They are less tolerant of road noise and lack of creature comforts. Young people don’t care. As long as they have a screen, USB/MP3, and Bluetooth, they are usually happy. In general, two door vehicles with two-functional seats, should be a mainstay of younger buyers.
However, I do wonder if it’s cheap enough. MSRP around $20K is still beyond the means of a hard-working high school students and debt-saddled college grads. Furthermore, the 201hp turbocharged engine will raise insurance premiums. It would have been smarter to do something like this with the base model, imo. Bolt on a few appearance upgrades. Drop the price.