It took over six years, but the famed Hyundai hatchback finally reaches our shores. If you’ve been following worldwide compact car trends, you’ll know that the Hyundai Veloster is a consistent performer every year of its release, earning good if not great marks in design, safety, and performance. Now the question that you’re probably asking yourself is, is the 2017 Hyundai Veloster worth the wait? You can rest easy, because the car is as good as they market it to be.
The Veloster boasts an impressive list of standard features, all for the base price of P1.548 million. The trademark hexagonal grille introduces the Veloster with great confidence, and looking at the rest of it, the hatch looks every bit ready to make a splash in the local compact segment.
You can tell the Korean carmaker did its homework with the Veloster’s design, as it successfully melds the traditional hatchback look with some really quirky elements, plus the sportiness prevalent in many cars nowadays. You can call it a sport coupe or a hatch, and you wouldn’t be wrong either way. Many have tried to bend genres the way the Veloster attempts here, but few pull it off as well as this hatch (or sport coupe, if you prefer) does.
Unfortunately, the Veloster’s jaw-dropping look comes with compromises. The hatch door is short, so it preserves the roofline’s curves well, but it also means the cargo volume can’t match what other compact hatchbacks offer. And true to its coupe roots, the rear passenger space is cramped with barely any legroom.
There’s no question the latest Veloster features a handsome and modern interior. And didn’t we say that the car has quirky elements? For starters, the car actually has two doors on the passenger side, swing-out style. This makes it easier for rear passengers to enter and exit the vehicle. But as mentioned, rear passenger space is tiny, so staying there is another matter.
The Veloster certainly feels like it was built for Filipinos, as there is just enough room in the front seats for a driver of average height. That said, taller people are sure to find the cockpit wanting in the head and legroom department. The dashboard design is downright handsome, and though it does look luxurious, there are hard plastics in certain places, which is a bit of a letdown.
The Veloster is optimized for Euro-4-compliant gasoline, and that’s the main reason it took all these years for the car to reach our shores. The use of Euro-4 fuel was only mandated last year in the country, which gave Hyundai the go-signal that they can officially import their niche hatchback here.
The term ‘sport coupe’ comes full circle for the 2017 Veloster via a turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-4 engine that makes use of Turbo Gasoline Direct injection technology (T-GDi). Paired with a 7-speed Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT), the powertrain delivers 204 horsepower and 265 Nm of torque, which is transmitted to the front wheels. The front-wheel-drive with dual clutch transmission combo yields a really quick response in terms of shifting, as well as direct, near-lossless maneuvering.
When it comes to safety, the Hyundai Veloster is quite the mixed bag. Although there’s a bevy of safety technologies to look at—including hill start assist, rear parking assist, electronic stability program, blind-spot mirror, side and curtain airbags, and the ever-standard anti-lock braking system—its occupant protection ratings aren’t exactly glittering.
The local Veloster comes in seven color options (Sleek Silver, White Crystal, Dazzling Blue, Phantom Black, Sunflower, Vitamin C, and Veloster Red) paired with a healthy dose of black courtesy of the all-glass roof, front grille, rear under bumper lip, and optional black-painted 18-inch wheels.
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