2019 Hyundai Veloster R-Spec (danger, words)

So, I now own a 2019 Veloster R-Spec.  This will be more of an ownership thread than a build thread.

How did I end up with this?

Well, about a month ago, some E36 M3 hit the fan in my personal life.  With me being single dad, I did not have time to deal with the occasional issues that would pop up on my previous DD, the 1998 Saturn SL2 (currently for sale here).  Its an easy car to work on, but sometimes work needs to be done on it with an urgency, and after a long day of work and putting the kid to bed, working on a car that must be operational the next morning was no longer appealing.  Plus, that cuts into time I'd rather reserve for myself.

So, I began the car search.  I was initially focused on 2 cars:  A 8th gen Civic Si Sedan, or a 2.5/6spd Mazda 3 Hatch.  It turns out both of these are difficult to find.  Very limited selection within 100 miles, and the closest reasonable option for both was 50 miles away.  Fearing these options may not work out, I gave myself a 3rd option:  A Hyundai Dealer in town had a brand new ultra-base model Elantra listed for $11,998.  New.  With a 10 yr powertrain warranty.  Thats a lot of warranty for the money.

Prior to checking out the first car, I was driving the Saturn downtown one night and boom, it drops 2 cylinders.  I limped it there, did my business downtown, then limped it about 1/2-way home before it resumed working like normal.  Knowing this is likely a coil or ICM problem, I cleaned and checked all the resistances the next day and then grabbed a spare set of coils & ICM from the junkyard and stashed them under the seat with the 8mm socket & wrench required to do the swap.  Also, this nonsense finished off the catalytic converter, which triggers the check engine light, meaning it would fail the inspection required... by the end of December of course.  berkeley.

Anyway, back to car shopping.  First I went to check out the Elantra.  It was perfectly appliance.  Power was adequate, transmission was ok.  Dynamics were... not great, but it was quiet and solid feeling (compared to a 21 year old Saturn almost anything is).  The numbers didn't really work out though.  $11,998 quickly ballooned to $14xxx with taxes, tags, doc fees, a discount that I didn't qualify for (but was included in listed price) etc. so I walked.

A couple of days later I was again on my way downtown, and this time the valve-body in the Saturn started going nuts.  Shifts were delayed, lots of them at full line pressure, etc.  This problem did not go away.

I was fed up with the Saturn at this point and decided "berkeley it, I'm just going to go grab the nearest Si sedan I can get my hands on".  I made arrangements with a local dealer that I guessed was super shady based on their website.  A friend/coworker took me there during an extended lunch to look at it.  Sure enough, the dealer was indeed super shady.  The had 2 Civic Si Sedans on the lot.  Both acquired at auction and had bad paintwork done to them.  One was pretty rusty looking underneath.  Headliners falling down, window trim coming off, etc. 

I test drove both of them.  The first (125k miles) felt tight, but had a valve train noise that I didn't like.  All the little issues with it scare me away.  The second (75k miles), I test drive with an almost flat rear tire because "you'll be fine" says the dealer.  I did this knowing I was not going far, and that if it went flat, I'd just walk back, toss them the keys, and leave.  This one was tighter, but had a whole different set of issues.  When I went to release the handbrake the handle came off in my hand lol.

So, in conclusion, no luck.  After all this, the pressure was on even more to acquire a car.  I didn't have time to go driving 50-100 miles here and there to look at pieces of E36 M3 like this.  I bumped up the budget and foundd no real additional options.  So I made up my mind that I'd go back to Hyundai, simply pay for the Elantra and be happy to have one element of stress removed from my life.

The following day my buddy drove me back to Hyundai.  On the way in we looked around at a few cars.  The Veloster R-Spec was right out front and it caught his eye.  I glanced at the price tag and thought "no" and walked in.  I went back to negotiating on the Elantra.  I counter offered again and got nowhere.  In the time the sales guy had to go off and speak with his manager yet again, my buddy convinced me to "at least drive it" (Veloster).  I gave in and accepted a test drive.

We went out for a drive.  It was fun.  It was a whole lot more car than the Elantra, even though I'm sure they share many parts.  Suspension felt sporty, engine was much nicer, shifter was nicer, everything about the interior was nicer, etc.  We got back and my buddy says "You were smiling an awful lot driving that thing.  Were you smiling when you drove the refrigerator (Elantra)?  You should at least see how the numbers look."

Again, I caved to peer pressure.  Sales guy asked me to make an offer.  I did.  To my surprise, they took it. 

Congratulations. I hope you have years of trouble free driving out of it. Our 13 Elantra was extremely reliable during our ownership and aside from a few nitpicks that I had with the ergonomics was a perfect A-B type car.

What does the R version get you over the standard Veloster? 

I don't have the full feature list, but basically the R-Spec is the lowest spec version of the Turbo.  It has all the performance features (not counting the 'N' model which is coming).  Their are two tiers above that add additional safety, entertainment, and various luxury features - sunroof, collision detection, power seats, heated seats, etc.

Not gonna lie, from everything I have heard I am lowkey thinking of trading in my 2011 Legacy for one.

ooh black it'll be a bugger to keep clean might as well get rid of it now.  what's the  most you'll take under $10k? 

funny tho' a girl that a crush on me bought a more sedate Velostar and walking by it I noticed the front bumper in front of the passenger wheel had come unclipped quite pronounced too.  Popped right back in.  She had no clue what caused it and it looked fine after. 

My buddy has a 2018 Kia Rio thats disturbinly good, especially in the corners after a swapping on a set of high performance all season tires.  Like rip your face off good.  I can only imagine how good V-R is!

This makes me so happy. 

Sweet ride! Among the few worthy current new cars to pick from. The funky aesthetics are way better than a Civic Si, in my book. Enjoy.

I like the weird three door cars. What was the surprising amount that you offered?

Congrats! 

I've actually started considering a Veloster N for 2020. The look is growing on me and everyone seems to love how these new Velosters drive. 

The 20th-31st of December is never a bad time to be in the market. It's a time when you can make stupid offers on current inventory and many dealers will take it. 

Enjoy your hassle free driving & commuting. 

 

Congrats! Definitely worth being in something that makes you smile at least occasionally when you walk up to it! The early Velosters were not super impressive to me (I shopped them back in 2013 or so) but the new ones are so much better in every way. I am really interested to hear how it treats you (probably very well) and how much you like it (probably a lot).

Thats quite the story and I was very entertained while reading it.  Thank you for sharing that snippet of life with us!

Also, congrats on the new car.  Thats sharp!

Not that numbers are that important here but this Veloster certainly came in more expensive then the $14,xxx Elantra right? 

Hope you got a sweet deal to close off the year!

Have an Elantra GT Sport 6-speed.  Can't imagine that removing 200lbs and adding more agressive tires somehow makes it suck.  Mine has 23K miles with no issues.  Love that it makes 200hp out of a 1.6L on regular unleaded.  Averaging 30mpg all around as well.  

Enjoy the Veloster. 

As as someone who's edging towards being a cranky old guy  I'm continually amazed at how genuinely good the offerings from Hyundai have become.  I hope your new purchase provides many years of happy motoring.

Good story, great score.

Awesome story, I have more or less the same car (Elantra Sport 6MT) and i do really enjoy driving it! 28k trouble free miles, just oil changes, and an air filter. lifetime average mpg is 32.2

My experience with Ford Dealerships has me looking at the N. The review from GRM enabled that 100%.

pinchvalve said:

My experience with Ford Dealerships has me looking at the N. The review from GRM enabled that 100%.

If I wouldn't face a divorce.....I'd be lining up for one. Sadly we're trying to pay off the house within the next 2 years or so and she wants to retire at 55. 

Dude great story and awesome buy! Please do share how much you offered. I have an 8G Si, I'm sorry the ones you test drove sucked. I like mine a lot, and would really like a 10G sedan, but these R-Specs have caught my eye! I actually think they look better than the Si.

This car is weird.

I’m just going to talk for a minute about the weirdness that is this car.  This mainly boils down to two things: It is a 3-door and the hatch is weird.

The Veloster 3 door is a bit different than your average 3 door.  Most 3-door cars I come across have a tiny suicide door behind the passenger door that opens to make ingress/egress to the back seat easier on that side.  Some trucks have this. The 3rd Gen Saturn SC2 is a notable example of this.

The Veloster is more like the driver’s side of a 2 door coupe and the passenger side of a 4 door hatchback attached together.  The driver’s side has the traditional long door of a 4-seat coupe, while the passenger side has the 2 normal sized doors. What makes this especially weird is the B-pillars are in different spots.  The passenger B pillar is inches fwd of the driver’s side (see below).  Weird. So Weird. Additionally the windows are all different sizes.  

It works just fine though.  Honestly, I’d rather have the car just have 4 doors.  Maybe it would sell better. But as mine generally only carries 2 people, it works great.  

There is plenty of space for a child seat.  People obviously have different opinions on what is acceptable here.  I find that most parents have a rule that is something like “If a 6’8 person can’t sit comfortably without a child behind them able to kick the seat, then there isn’t enough room”.  Ever since my son was born, my DD has been a 98 Saturn, which I think has plenty of rear seat room for a kid. The Veloster is a bigger car with a 1.9” longer wheelbase and a published rear leg room of 1.3” more.  It’s also a bit taller. I find it plenty easy to get him in the seat and to lean in and help buckle him in.

What I did notice about the back seat is:  once you put a child seat on the passenger side, getting to the driver’s side of the back seat is certainly not easy.  Generally nobody sits here in my car, but that is where I usually toss my jacket, work bag and workout bag. Oh well, there’s still a hatch area for that.

I cannot figure out what drove the engineering/design of the rear hatch of this car.  The rear hatch door could be at least 30% larger without negatively impacting the car.  The loading height is 32” , even though the hatch floor is approx 11” below that opening.

The good part is that if one can get something through the small hatch opening, there is actually a fair amount of space inside.  2 roller bags and a ton of xmas presents fit fine for my trip this past week. It certainly appears that if the seats were folded down (haven’t tried this yet, because child seat) there would be a substantial amount of cargo area.

One odd bonus of the tiny hatch door that I hadn’t thought about until trying it.  If the car is backed up until its approx ~1” from a wall (or a garage door in my case), the hatch can still be opened.  This saves me valuable space in the garage. The nose of the car sticks just beyond the ½ way point of the garage by maybe an inch or two.

In reply to ProDarwin :

Your comments about the driver’s side rear seat/floor access & rear hatch opening mirror my own thoughts about the loaner Veloster we had for a month a couple years ago. It was an enjoyable car otherwise, but those 2 points became somewhat irritating after day-to-day use. 

I gave the R-Spec some serious thought assuming it would be an HS car for SCCA autocross since it's performance specs mirror the Fiesta ST.  Once I found out it will be in a different class I kind of threw it out of my "too buy" cars.  Darn-it if it doesn't keep coming up in my mind.  Is it a good driver's car?  It's suppose to be a fun little car.  I miss having a small econo-car that makes me smile.  How good of deal did you score on yours?

Ozzy said:

I gave the R-Spec some serious thought assuming it would be an HS car for SCCA autocross since it's performance specs mirror the Fiesta ST.  Once I found out it will be in a different class I kind of threw it out of my "too buy" cars.  Darn-it if it doesn't keep coming up in my mind.  Is it a good driver's car?  It's suppose to be a fun little car.  I miss having a small econo-car that makes me smile.  How good of deal did you score on yours?

I can tell you the SCCA has no idea how to class Korean cars. My old forte was a GS car that went to STF. At the time PAX for Gs was .804 and STF which allowed wheels/tires/suspension/intake/exhaust and tubes was .798. Whiskey tango foxtrot? Then they wouldn’t allow the Rio/Accent into STF because they were too much car but did allow the rsx s. 

I doubt there will ever be a competitively classed Korean car so if you’re buying in class alone you’ll lose. But if you want a fun to drive good price decent piece of kit you’ll win. 

RE: Hatch Size

This is likely styling and cost driven. With the hatch/truck of the car open, you still need to have visible tail lights. 99% of the cars out there use two-piece tail lights, so one part stays put when you open the hatch/trunk. This in turn dictates the size of the hatch. Hyundai could have made the hatch bigger by having incorporating all of the tail light into the hatch, but they would have had to incorporate a secondary tail light that's only visible when the hatch is open (a la Buick Cascada).

In the end, cost wins and you end up with tiny hatches...unless you're the Germans, then it's usually complexity that takes the victory.

Moar reading 

Interesting. I've never seen one of these with the doors open and always assumed that the 3rd door was a suicide type arrangement. Does the drivers seat tilt forward for rear seat access like a 2-door coupe?