Do I want a Veloster as badly as I think I do?

I've been seeing them all over the place, and they look REALLY good - like, what the CR-Z should've looked like. Of course, I'd have to hold out for the turbo. Anybody driven/own one?

In reply to poopshovel:

Holy crap I have a different opinion of them! That's what's great about opinions I guess Totally Fugly IMO. So no, you don't want one as bad as you think you do.

I saw a Veloster on the highway today. I kind of like it from the back. But the front? Hell no! You either get the N/A version which looks like a buck-toothed hamster with its cheeks full, or you can wait for the Turbo with the Cylon grille.

I'm torn on the their looks. I see one unexpectedly and about 50% of the time I think that's the ugliest car ever and the other 50% I'm thinking "what is that, it's kinda cool"

BUT

From what I've heard they have no suspension under them to back up any kind of sporty looks or future turbos. That would be a deal killer for me.

Watch the headroom. If you're over 6', or maybe over 5'10" with a long torso, you may find your head hits ceiling getting in or especially out.

I'm really anxious to test drive one of these. I don't see them holding value very well, so I expect to pick up a 3 year old example in about 5 years. At that point, it would be replacing our Astra as my wife's daily, and I'll probably hold onto the Astra and drive the wheels off of it.

I've driven the NA one. I really wanted to like it, but there was a dead spot after every up shift unles you were flooring it. I didn't think it would be enjoyable on a daily basis. I do wonder if that is something that could be fixed by one of those drive by wire signal modifiers. Hopefully the turbo is better in that sense.

blueafro wrote: Watch the headroom. If you're over 6', or maybe over 5'10" with a long torso, you may find your head hits ceiling getting in or especially out.

That is really odd as the Elantra has room front and rear for 6'6" people, I regularly have tall and big people comment on how much space there is.

GRM should test it. :D

I would say, no, you don't.

i like how they look. don't know more than that.

A brand spanking new one (non-turbo) showed up at the autocross two weeks ago and did quite well in the rainstorms. Looked like it handled pretty good IMO. It's definitely an "exciting" design. The bright colors are cooler.

never heard of it until i saw this thread title..

give me a minute to do a google image search...

ok, i'm back..

ok, now seriously- that's a real car that people will willingly buy and be seen driving on public roads?

carguy123 wrote: I'm torn on the their looks. I see one unexpectedly and about 50% of the time I think that's the ugliest car ever and the other 50% I'm thinking "what is that, it's kinda cool" BUT From what I've heard they have no suspension under them to back up any kind of sporty looks or future turbos. That would be a deal killer for me.

That 50% is due to which side you are seeing. When I was looking for a good wagonish thing to replace my E39 touring I looked at them and one side looks great and the other doesn't. I got a MZ5.

The looks are growing on me the more I see them. Not in love, but I really want to see if they do any visual tweaks for the turbo.

Looks pretty good like this:

No doubt I LOVE the looks *(minus the goofy stickers ) But yeah, it sounds like the resounding answer is "NO." I will make it a point to drive a turbo next year though.

aussiesmg wrote:

blueafro wrote: Watch the headroom. If you're over 6', or maybe over 5'10" with a long torso, you may find your head hits ceiling getting in or especially out.

That is really odd as the Elantra has room front and rear for 6'6" people, I regularly have tall and big people comment on how much space there is.

I didn't realize they were the same car.

novaderrik wrote: ok, now seriously- that's a real car that people will willingly buy and be seen driving on public roads?

I agree.

I like funky looking stuff, but that's a seriously ugly car.

Zomby Woof wrote:

aussiesmg wrote:

blueafro wrote: Watch the headroom. If you're over 6', or maybe over 5'10" with a long torso, you may find your head hits ceiling getting in or especially out.

That is really odd as the Elantra has room front and rear for 6'6" people, I regularly have tall and big people comment on how much space there is.

I didn't realize they were the same car.

Do you just lurk out there waiting to say something stupid whenever I make an Elantra comment?

Just wondering.

ok, now seriously- that's a real car that people will willingly buy and be seen driving on public roads?

Says the guy with the clapped out rustoleum "almost black" bitchin camaro that probably smells even worse than it looks?

I just saw one in the parking lot at the video store. My first thought was "What the berkeley is that thing?"

Not a fan.

I've driven manual and DCT. The DCT is horrible, totally sucks the life out of driving it. Suspension is pretty stiff, which folks like us love, but a lot of people I know who've also driven it bitched a lot about its roughness. Meh. Steering is good, but not a lot of feedback. This appears to be a Hyundai thing, I noticed the same thing with the Genesis R-Spec. If you like gadgets, it's totally loaded for a car at its price point. Nav, backup – things that don't come standard on a $35,000 german luxury car. It's more fun with a stick, but yeah, not really geared for sportiness. Haven't driven the turbo – yet. It's not as small as it looks - parked it beside my MX-3 and it dwarfed it.

Its unique looking. That doesn't bother me.

I sat in one at the auto show, wasn't very impressed. Fit and finish was good, but I walked away mostly thinking "why?" -I mated my phone to it and played with the bluetooth, which is voice controlled, but by the head unit, not by your phone, so it performs worse than my $150 Alpine.
-Like Lesley said: it isn't small, it just looks like a tiny car, but scaled by 130%. -The Accent has the same powertrain but weighs less, has a useable hatch area (not a super high loading height), and has better rear visibility.

ProDarwin wrote: rear visibility.

I think it's hideous, but that's entirely subjective. I am curious to know if the visibility is a poor as it looks. It looks like it has a back up camera because you really do need it.

poopshovel wrote: I've been seeing them all over the place, and they look REALLY good - like, what the CR-Z should've looked like. Of course, I'd have to hold out for the turbo. Anybody driven/own one?

The back window is about the size of a business envelope. I can't imagine seeing anything out of that car that's between about 8 and 3 on the clock.