Test drive: Hyundai says its oddball Veloster is 'playful'
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The Veloster (ve-LOS-ter) is an oddball, three-door hatchback that fills a niche not apparent to most folks. The small car has a big door on the driver side and two smaller ones on the passenger side. The styling is show-car wild. The $18,000 starting price and 40-mpg highway rating are tantalizing.
Hyundai calls it "playful" and says it's a "reverse-halo" car — a low-price model, instead of the more typical high-price one, that casts a glow over the whole brand. Hyundai says Veloster is aimed to attract "a new generation of Hyundai customers."
PHOTOS: More views of the 2012 Hyundai Veloster MORE: Index of James R. Healey's Test Drive columns
It's also a billboard for Hyundai's first use of a direct-injection gasoline engine mated to a dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT).
Ford Motor and Volkswagen also use similar gearboxes on small cars, with mixed success. Veloster's version, while flawed, seems the best-tuned, so far.
Source: USA Today