Coupes have the right lines, but it can be awkward to take more than one person along for the ride, even if the car has four seats.
Hyundai decided to split the difference by adding a third door to create the Veloster. It looks like a coupe from the driver's side (with just the one door).
What It Is
The Veloster is a compact three-door (and four-seat) sporty hatchback.
It is similar in size and general layout to cars like the Mini Cooper hatchback, but it offers much better access to the back seats — on one side, anyhow.
Prices start at $18,100 for a base Veloster with a 1.6-liter engine and six-speed manual transmission.
Turbo Velosters, which have the same engine but are goosed in output, start at $21,600. The price is $23,800 for a performance-calibrated seven-speed automated manual transmission.
What's New
Hyundai is offering all the Turbo's looks — and many of its features, including the sportier suspension — without the turbocharged engine. This is the Value Edition for $21,350.
What's Good
It's the only coupe you can buy with three full-size doors.
It looks like nothing else on the road.
It's almost capable of 40 mpg with the standard engine.
What's Not So Good
The back seat is easy to get to but still cramped.
The styling is like sashimi: You either really like it or you really don't.
Under the Hood
The Veloster comes with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine that can be turbocharged or not. Without the turbocharge, the engine has 132 horsepower. With the turbocharge, it has 201 horsepower.
The non-turbocharged engine comes paired with either a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed automated manual.
The turbocharged version is also paired with either a six-speed manual transmission or an optional automated manual. But the latter has seven gears , giving the Hyundai one more gear than others in its class.
Both of the Veloster's available engines, including the turbocharged one, are designed to burn regular unleaded gasoline, which will save you about 20 cents per gallon at each fill-up versus premium.
On the Road
The non-turbo base engine Veloster is a bit of a slowpoke. On the upside, it is capable of outstanding gas mileage and therefore justified as a very practical commuter car that can be lots of fun in curves.
The Turbo Veloster, meanwhile, lives up to the promise of those twin bazooka tailpipes.
Hyundai did an excellent job with the clutch: It's not grabby or abrupt, and you get a very good sense of how much you've engaged it as you ease your left foot off the left pedal — all of which makes the car very pleasant to drive in stop-and-go traffic.
The turbo Rally package ups the ante in terms of handling, with firmer suspension calibrations plus the lightweight Rays alloy wheel/tire package. Be advised, though: This one's a rough rider. Be sure you can live with it for more than 30 minutes at a time.
At the Curb
The driver rarely sees the Veloster's third door, giving him the sexier visuals of a coupe on his side of the car.
But Hyundai went to all that trouble and then sloped the Veloster's roof so sharply that you have to duck down to get in there. And once you're in there, you'll have to figure out a place to put your head and legs.
The Veloster has just 35.3 inches of headroom in the second row, which is several inches less headroom than in a similar-sized compact sedan like the Mazda3.
Also, the Veloster sits 2-plus inches lower to the ground than the Mazda3 (55.1 inches versus 57.3 inches) and 3 inches lower to the ground than the similarly sized Ford Fiesta (58.1 inches tall).
The Veloster's 31.7 inches of second-row legroom are slightly better than the Mini hatchback's. But they fall very short of the Mazda3's almost-midsized sedan back seats, which have 35.8 inches of legroom.
This is the inevitable result of splitting the difference. The three-door Veloster is a bit more practical than a two-door coupe, but it's still compromised compared with a five-door hatchback with about the same overall size.
The Rest
Hyundai will continue to sell the 2017 model into the 2018 calendar year, which probably means lots of new 2017s that will still be waiting to be sold after the end of this year. That is bad news for the Veloster but good news for you, if you want a new one. The deals are likely to be really good.
The Bottom Line
This isn't a car for everyone, but it might be a car for you.
If that's the case, you'd better hurry.
Eric's new book, "Don't Get Taken for a Ride!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
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