"Tripper" (tripe46)
10/04/2016 at 15:27 • Filed to: None
4
24|
"Tripper" (tripe46)
10/04/2016 at 15:27 • Filed to: None | 4
| 24 |
As some of you know, I had to take an
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
this weekend to say goodbye to a good friend. That road trip happened in a Hyundai Veloster that my friend rented because we did not want to shell out $800 for plane tickets. Our trip from Philadelphia to St. Louis and back was a total of 43 hours. I spent 32 of those hours in the Veloster. During that time I was the driver, a front seat passenger, a rear seat passenger, and I even had to sleep in it for a few hours. Since I got to experience the Veloster in ways I will never experience even my own car, I figure a review is pertinent.
The Veloster is a weird car. It’s got three doors! That is one more than two, and one less than 4! We decided as a group that either of those numbers of doors would be fine, but 3 was insurmountably weird. Who did this car think it was with its 3 doors? I understand that this sounds silly and it is, but none of us could get over it so I’m mentioning it.
I started out in the front passenger seat, which was felt good at first as I noticed more bolstering that in any other Hyundai I have been in. After about an hour I was ready to jump out of my skin. I could not find comfortable spot for my back/neck. This seemed even more odd after I drove the car as the drivers seat was plenty comfortable.
Out of the 3 of us, I’m the shortest at 5' 10". The guy who rented the car is 6' even, and guy #3 is 6'3". Naturally we stuffed 6'3" in the excuse for a back seat because we had to wait for him then go out of the way to pick him up. Before we picked up 6'3" I tested out the back seat and laughed openly as my hair brushed the roof on the way back. Needless to say he was miserable, and I only gave him the front seat when he asked...about 8 hours into the journey. It’s worth mentioning that 6'3" also thought that the Veloster was pronounced Vee-lo-star accenting each syllable as if it was its own word.
It was my turn in the back seat, and it was now daylight. I was able to get myself comfortable enough, however I was disappointed that they had swapped the “bitch” seat out for cup holders and a tray for collecting sticky drink residue. This made laying across the back seat unappealing. I also noticed that the sudo hatchback back window comes up a lot higher than most, so I was just getting beat on by the sun while I was back there.
It was now my turn in the drivers seat. I did’t expect much from it, but I was impressed. The car was much more planted than any other Hyundai I have driven. I remained impressed as we drove though several soft highway curves. I went faster than I thought that I should expecting to get nervous, but I did not. 6'0" complained that it felt terribly sloppy on tight corners, but I only got to drive on the highway, so I can’t confirm or deny that.
I called the “Veloster slow and whiny”, after flooring it on the on ramp. 6'0" agreed, but 6'3" piped up and said. “You guys have such a distorted view of what fast means, you think any car that takes longer than 4 seconds to get to 60 is slow.” 6'0" and I looked at each other in agreement, then retracted the slow statement. Both 6'0" and I agreed that we would be more satisfied by a Veloster with a turbo, which I hear they’ve got.
On the way home we had to pull over and sleep for a few hours. It was only 6'0" and myself on the return journey as 6'3"’s employer paid to fly him home early. So we were able to throw the front seats all the way back! To my surprise the seat went nearly flat which means I was able to get a few hours of semi-restful sleep. This is a big deal for me because I have a problem sleeping anywhere besides my own bed.
Since I did very little in the way of driving I can’t really review this car with numbers, so I’m going to chalk it up to pros and cons.
Pros
-Comfortable drivers seat/position
-Competent on the highway
-Good on gas
-Can sleep comfortably
Cons
-Uncomfortable everywhere besides the drivers seat
-Economy engine note
-3 doors, this is personal and I must at least perceive symmetry.
-Infotainment screen controls were not working and the screen was obnoxiously bright.
-Back seat is a joke/oven
That was the longest road trip that I have done to date, and also the shortest amount of time spent at the destination. I can’t wait to sleep!
Bourbon&JellyBeans
> Tripper
10/04/2016 at 15:46 |
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I drove from MD to FL and back last April in a base Veloster. I agree with pretty much everything you’ve said except the competent on the highway part. I suppose that’s mostly perspective though. I found it to jump around on bumps and it had just enough power to just barely accelerate at full throttle from 60mph. And it definitely does whine. The engine is asking, “What’s the rush, tough guy?” I had to stop sitting in the back after a couple shifts because it was making me seriously car sick for some reason. I can also agree with the oven part. That sun will beam right in on you and there aren’t any AC vents in the back. Gas mileage was excellent. All in all, I’d rather do it in an SUV or even CUV, but in a pinch, the Veloster was probably more accommodating than my Mustang would have been. My Mustang would can soak up some serious pedestrians per mile...I mean miles per gallon on the highway.
mazda616
> Tripper
10/04/2016 at 15:56 |
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My friend has a 2014 Veloster Turbo and he never lets it warm up, even in the winter. Just hops in, pushes the “start” button, and takes off. Don’t know if that’s the cause, but it currently blows out black sooty smoke every time he accelerates.
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Tripper
> Bourbon&JellyBeans
10/04/2016 at 16:04 |
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Yea I agree that it jumped around a lot and if I did go too hard into a turn it got squirrely really fast. One thing I forgot to mention was that it kept dropping a gear while cruising. I would then have to put forth way too much effort to get it to skip into overdrive again, I can see how someone would get car sick.
The trip would have been fine in the Audi, but I did not want to slap 1700 miles on it in two days. Even the E46 would have been fine, but I just took a road trip in it and had to have it towed home. My best friend drives an F350 so that was out because of fuel, and the other passenger only has a motorcycle....Veloster it is.
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Tripper
> mazda616
10/04/2016 at 16:07 |
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I don’t “warm up” the S3, but I also don’t go hard until its had a chance to warm up. If he’s gunning it with a cold engine, that’s bad to the best of my knowledge.
Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
> Tripper
10/04/2016 at 16:52 |
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My Mom’s 150k mile Vibe GT that weighs more and has only slightly more power feels significantly quicker than the Veloster we rented. The only thing I give the Veloster over my FiST is the appearance. Everytime I see a Turbo I get slightly envious, but then I sink my foot into the throttle around a turn. The jealousy quickly leaves.
Under_Score
> Tripper
10/04/2016 at 17:05 |
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No pics?
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Tripper
> Under_Score
10/04/2016 at 17:12 |
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Nah we did 90% of the driving at night. I’m also a weirdo in that I don’t take many pictures when I go on trips. I’m more of a enjoy and remember a moment kind of guy.
wiffleballtony
> Tripper
10/04/2016 at 19:47 |
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Sorry but six foot three is incorrect. It is slow. Zero to sixty is reportedly over 8 seconds. That would be acceptable, however the car is named Veloster. Clearly Hyundai was trying to make a play on the word Velocity. With that in mind, when I think of Velocity, I think of something quicker. When he stated your own measurement of speed being 4 seconds as fast, being twice that number still wouldn’t be fast in any measure. With that said if you disassociate the name of the car from the word Velocity by purposefully mispronouncing it as Vee Low Star then it has no obligation of speed.
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Bourbon&JellyBeans
> Tripper
10/04/2016 at 21:03 |
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Sounds like the Veloster was the best choice to me. What’s the Audi?
Orange Exige
> mazda616
10/04/2016 at 22:34 |
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I don’t warm up my cars either - just take it easy for the first few minutes. It’ll warm up faster too. Unless you got a diesel, when you “warm up” your car, you’re going to be running the engine as if it were moving a car - well, higher revs than warm idle (maybe 1.5k or so) at least - and if you drive easy, you can shift short and keep the revs almost as low as that anyway. Might as well waste less and put that engine to good use.
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Orange Exige
> Tripper
10/04/2016 at 22:36 |
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I enjoyed this review.
I like the Veloster Turbo so I was curious, but I’m under the impression that a base Veloster is quite a bit cheaper overall (not just price). I liked when I sat in one and was pretty impressed but I’ve never been in a base one (or driven either).
sn4cktimes
> mazda616
10/04/2016 at 22:55 |
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The Turbos have a “sooty” exhaust tip. Many people complain that they can’t keep the chrome pipe tips shiny. I just let mine go solid carbon colour. Just matches the back now.
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sn4cktimes
> Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
10/04/2016 at 22:57 |
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The Turbo is MUCH better than the N/A. And better yet with a stick. But the FiST has a lot more “oomph!” to it for sure.
Sinclair
> Tripper
10/05/2016 at 00:16 |
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You didn’t drive a turbo... Nuff said ;) I haven’t driven the base model, but the turbo is really fun to drive. Plenty of power and speed.
LongbowMkII
> sn4cktimes
10/05/2016 at 07:56 |
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A lot of DI engines make a lot of soot. It’s kind of odd.
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Tripper
> wiffleballtony
10/05/2016 at 08:22 |
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lol 8 seconds, I mean that is what it felt like, but 6'3" was quick to defend the v lo starr. I didn’t want to go the distance and google the car just to prove him wrong, and I was driving.
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Tripper
> Bourbon&JellyBeans
10/05/2016 at 08:33 |
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An S3.
Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes
> mazda616
10/05/2016 at 09:51 |
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My dad rips on his z06 immediately upon start everytime. He’s not car-stupid either. Makes me cringe.
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wiffleballtony
> Tripper
10/05/2016 at 10:27 |
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Truth be told it was probably even slower with the added weight of three people.
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sn4cktimes
> LongbowMkII
10/05/2016 at 12:03 |
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The Veloster T also has to have a specific plate holder bracket due to the proximity to the exhaust tip. Other holders can melt. It’s got quirks.
ChasePorker
> wiffleballtony
10/05/2016 at 13:30 |
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Actually the word you’re looking for is quick. The veloster isn’t quick. Once you get it to second gear and higher than 3000 rpms, now in the manual of course, you can get it going decently fast. We topped my friends out at about 140 mph, so for a 4 cylinder engine and no turbo that’s kind of fast.
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Bourbon&JellyBeans
> Tripper
10/05/2016 at 15:13 |
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Oh nice!
Probenja
> wiffleballtony
10/05/2016 at 19:03 |
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Here in Chile it’s dubbed “Lentoster” as the word “Veloz” means fast and “Lento” means slow, it’s clear that they took the spanish word “Veloz” and put an “ter” in the end. It doesn’t help that it got here without the GDI engine so it’s even slower. And the fact that is the boy racers car of choice makes it even worse.
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wiffleballtony
> Probenja
10/05/2016 at 19:46 |
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I would pronounce that as len-toaster, makes it funnier. I don’t see many boy racers in them, that’s reserved for the Scion tC.