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Hyundai's sporty car heritage is thin at best, but it's really tried to tie one on with the unusual Veloster hatch.
Its biggest point of difference is its truly unique four-door hatchback design, with a single door on the driver's side and two doors on the passenger side (plus the tailgate, of course). The Veloster can be had with two different drivetrains; a 1.6-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine with the choice of a six-speed manual or six-speed dual clutch transmission in the $24,420 Veloster (base), or a more potent 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with the choice of a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual clutch in the $44,000 Veloster Turbo Premium TTR.
You’ve layed out some challenging requirements here. You’d like a small SUV with a bit of ride comfort and clearly a bit of performance too, given your question about the i30 N.
I think you’ll find the ride harsh on the i30 N, especially since you found the ride on the Kona harsh already. Keep in mind the i30 N is a hot hatch and has the suspension to match.
I find the Subaru XV has very nice ride comfort for the small SUV segment, but I also feel that you will be disappointed with the performance from its 2.0-litre engine. You may also want to consider the new Hybrid Toyota C-HR. The Hybrid drive gives it a smidge of extra kick and it’s a fuel consumption hero, too.
For a better blend of performance and ride, really only the Volkswagen T-Roc and Skoda Karoq are going to excel in the small SUV crowd. In terms of ownership both now have five year warranties, and you can (and should) pre-package five years of servicing on top at a discount.
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I can understand your concern but there is a growing number of cars that now run on premium unleaded. You won’t use much in the Veloster, which is pretty economical.
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The Veloster should be fine and I have a nephew who has driven 40,000km in his and loves it. It's not a sports car but a stylish coupe that's practical as well. It gets The Tick from me.
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With a unique asymmetrical door layout, the Veloster seeks to blend the looks of a stylish coupe with the practicality of a hatchback. The reality is that the rear seats are cramped and compromised, only seating small children comfortably. The rest of the interior though, works well if not standing out from the rest of the class. At the centre of the dashboard is a large 7.0-inch floating screen multimedia system with smartphone mirroring, while sports seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and climate control also features. Two trims are available, but both offer the same small boot space, as evidenced in these images.
The Hyundai Veloster is available with five seats. The Veloster comes Sports bucket seats with Black cloth seat trim with Blue inserts. The Veloster Turbo variant comes with Black cloth and leather combination bucket seats with Red inserts. The Veloster Turbo Premium comes with Black leather bucket seats with Red inserts.