NEW DELHI: HYUNDAI VELOSTER Series II has been intoduced and although the engine remains the same, ride and handling has come in for some spanner work by the Hyundai’s Australia-based boffins. Changes start with wider and taller tyres, 225/40/18 replacing 215/40/18. This will have changed the unsprung weight as well as grip characteristics, so there’s other changes such as a reduction in the diameter of the front swaybar from 24mm to 21mm in the non-turbo versions and from 24mm to 22mm in the turbo versions the difference is because the turbo engine is slightly heavier. Hyundai say the smaller bars “deliver greater initial roll response for sharper turn-in and increased droop on the unladen inner inside front wheel, for better drive out of corners”.
The problem with a thinner swaybar is more body roll. To combat that effect stiffer springs are used in the Turbos, and the front shock absorber settings have been fine-tuned. Conversely, the lighter non-turbo variants have softer springs.
At the back the rear torsion bar springs are the same, but the shock absorber settings have been tuned, as you can’t expect to make all those changes on the front and leave the back end entirely untouched.
The end result, Hyundai claim, is “enhanced front agility with sharper turn-in and more aggressive drive out of corners” which gives “the car a more ‘playful’ character, allowing the rear to be more actively involved during high-speed cornering.” Sounds good to us. There’s also a power steering upgrade, and all up Hyundai seem pretty confident they’ve improved the Veloster’s ride, handling and responsiveness.
All these changes show how much design and testing is involved in car tuning, and how changing one aspect of a vehicle has knock-on effects elsewhere. It would have been easy for Hyundai to use the same tune for the turbo and non-turbo variants what’s real world difference with 2mm difference in rollbar diameter but they didn’t, they went the extra mile and did the job properly.
The Veloster still offers two engines; a naturally-aspirated (NA) with 103kW at 6300rpm and 167Nm at 4850rpm. In Veloster Series II, SR Turbo and SR Turbo + power and torque are 150kW at 6000rpm and 265Nm at 1750-4500rpm respectively. The big news is the option of a 7-speed DCT automatic for the Turbo which has dropped fuel consumption from 7.6 to 7.1L/100km on the combined cycle. As you’d expect, there’s paddle shifters to go with the new ‘box. The non-turbo has a 6-speed DSG.
Big news on the pricing front is the Veloster SR starting at $29,990 plus onroads, a shot squarely into Toyota 86 territory which starts as the same price for the GT manual, and both cars undercut Mazda’s forthcoming MX-5. The non-turbo Veloster starts from $24,490.
Warranty remains 5 years unlimited km, with 12 months roadside assist.
