The 2012 Hyundai Veloster has received mixed reviews since its launch back in autumn (fall) of 2011. Whilst most will agree that it is a great looking car, potentially even mean looking for a 3-door, a lot have felt that it simply did not live up to its design or its marketing pitch as the engine had, quite simply, the acceleration of a tired snail.

 

(Please click here to watch our test drive in Show 1)

 

In order to put such critics to bed, Hyundai launched their latest version of this small car earlier this week at the Detroit Auto Show; the 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo.

 

No facelift has been required, but its undergarments have gone from loose boxer shorts to a pair tidy whitey briefs! The 3-door coupe is getting a 1.6 litre four cylinder that will punch out 201hp!

 

Immediate competition that spring to mind are the Honda Civic Si, Mini Cooper S and the VW Golf GTI, and apart from the first option, this is some seriously fast competition Hyundai has gone for. Although pricing has still not been revealed, but if pricing is ruthless and undercuts all competition, those established brands could be in for a serious surprise.  Let’s see how it handles before praising it entirely as simply putting a 200hp engine in a car will not make it the ideal car, but from an outlook, the speedy compact car segment just became a lot more appealing! 

 

 

Billy Lyon

MotoringTV online editor

 

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