When Hyundai had their Coupe in the lists it was quite a popular car over its two generations, for a number of reasons, writes Brian Byrne.
It looked sporty, because that's what coupe are supposed to look like. It looked cool, because coupes do.
It was accessible pricewise, because that's what Hyundais were in those days, cheap and cheerful. And it could carry back seat passengers in a degree of comfort, without chopping them off at the neck or knees.
But in many ways it also felt cheap. Still, for all the good reasons, it was bought, mainly by young trendies. Hyundai here missed the Coupe when it was retired. That's a few years ago now. But in the meantime they had a lot of things on their hands, totally refreshing their models, seriously upshifying their style. And improving their perceived quality by a quantum.
All that done, it was time to take a look again at a coupe. One for the greater audience still. They looked, they drew shapes, they built ideas. They got Veloster.
In some ways it is the spiritual successor of those old-model Coupes. The size is right, the practical elements are in place. The shape is ... well, the shape is stunning. There's no pulling back so they don't scare the horses, or the potential customers, now probably of an older profile here in Ireland than the previous car's.
There's an overall sense of shark about the Veloster. That large but elegant mouth on the front end. The rakish profile shifting seamlessly onto a neat rear hatch that looks small until you lift it. The on-rear view has hints of Alfa Romeo's Mito, but better. The integrated dual exhausts look awesome.
There's a twist here too. From the driver's side it looks like a two-door coupe, but on the passenger side there's a second side door, allowing access to the back seats. Assymetrical, they call it. It sounds odd, but nobody minds. After all, you can only look at one side of a car at a time.
And that third door is really useful. It provides safe access (they make sure it is on the sidewalk side regardless of the market, unlike Minis) to a space in which even I can travel in comfort. Also great when you want to throw things on the back seat, or extended cargo floor when the rear seats are down. One reason I don't like 2/3-door cars is that front seats have to be moved before doing any of that.
The interior is quite simply brilliant. OK, I confess to being a little less comfortable with some of Hyundai's somewhat extreme styling of the moment, albeit executed very well indeed. Probably an inate bit of conservatism in me somewhere. But in the Veloster it is absolutely right for the car. The highly-designed dashboard and instruments could have gone all wrong, but in fact are right on the button. There's a real sense of stealth aircraft about how it looks. The blue theme of Hyundai instruments adds to that.
There's a superb touch screen in the centre of it all, with really clear and large graphics. You can tap it dark at night-time. The screen doubles duty with the standard rear-view camera. Standard also is a full climate control, a cruise/limiter, and Bluetooth phone and personal music link.
A cool driving position, with a steering wheel just so, and operating a system that has a nice amount of weighting, and is very direct in use. The shifter for the 6-speed manual box is, quite frankly, the best I have used in years.
That last is hooked up to a 1.6 petrol engine, a gasoline direct injection unit that offers 140hp of power yet is comfortably in Band B for Irish road tax purposes. It is a smooth and quiet unit, especially after driving a year of mostly diesels. There is no diesel option, and there's no need for one.
The ride is medium rare in the balance between sporty and soft, and I like my steaks the same way.
The fuel-saving bits include a stop/start, which is very quiet and I hated it. It let me down a couple of times, and if I owned the car (or any) I'd have the system switched off.
I also had a reservation about rear view through the split hatch window, but it is not nearly as much an issue as with cars like Toyota's Prius, Honda's Civic, and the late and unlamented Audi A2.
Finally the numbers. Road Tax is €225, the car is priced at €25,495 plus charges, and it comes with all the '5's of Hyundai's Triple Care scheme—five years' warranty, five years of Roadside Assistance, and five years of free 'health' checks of your Hyundai pride and joy. There's also an option of setting a five-year Service Plan for €600, pinning down your costs neatly over the period.
Nice numbers all. Nice car too. Reckon there's still a place in my heart for cool.
