New Hot Hatch Daily Driver

Goal is to have my commute be a bit entertaining and be able to haul mountain bikes.  I have track and convertible duty covered with a 350Z and Suzuki Cappuccino covered.  I've driven the Fiesta ST, Hyundai Veloster, and VW GTI.  The top contenders are the GTI (S trim with no options) at about $24k vs the Veloster (turbo R) at about $21k.  Either one with the 6 speed #savethemanuals

Leaning towards the GTI since it just seems like a better car especially with massive discounts being dangled in front of me plus the limited slip.  The only real downer is that it's just boring looking on the outside ( but the plaid seats!) and I already have one German car to maintain (the wife's Cayenne).

Thoughts from the collective?

I'd probably get the Elantra GT N-Line, and then maybe get an aftermarket LSD.  But, then you're at Civic Si prices.

We've heard very good things about all 4 cars over the last year, iirc 

sleepyhead the buffalo said:

I'd probably get the Elantra GT N-Line, and then maybe get an aftermarket LSD.  But, then you're at Civic Si prices.

We've heard very good things about all 4 cars over the last year, iirc 

+1 

I own a Veloster.  I would not buy one again.

I don't dislike the car, I just think the Si is far more practical, has a diff, wider wheels, and more room in the wheel-wells for basically the same price.  Plus the throttle programming of the Veloster is terrible.

I'm sure I would have issues with an Si also, but over less major stuff.

I also wouldn't buy a Fiesta ST because I'd put it on its roof.

The GTI I would totally consider, even with my fear of VW. 

In reply to stumpmj350 :

The new GTi's come with a 6 year 72k mile warranty on the whole car from their sorry for dieselgate 

They're properly quick and fun, and if you need a hatchback and aren't interested in going up to the Veloster N with PP prices.. then it's your best bang for the buck. 

It would be my recommendation since you're not interested in the Civic Si because it's not a hatch. 

 

I know a guy is a serious autocrosser who went from a GTI to a Veloster N. He says he really likes the Veloster. Electronically adjustable suspension is nice, it sounds great, he said it's pretty punchy and the back is a bit loose which suits his driving style.

In reply to NickD :

There's a Veloster N that shows up at our autocrosses.  Two folks codrive it.  It looks decently quick on course, though I've never ridden in it or particularly paid attention to their results.  It certainly seems to scoot and the handling looks pretty decent from the sidelines.

In reply to Duke :

I will say, the first person to make a carbon fiber hood for those cars is going to make a fortune. They have a steel hood that is disproportionately heavy. I don't know if Hyundai hid lead weights inside the structure or what.

I'm picking up my new Golf R this weekend.  For a daily driver, non track car it's really hard to beat the GTi/R.  They're SO much nicer inside than the rest of the competition and have an enormous warranty to cover anything that happens.

As far as I'm concerned, that's a mike drop, unless you need to have some sort of track animal, in which case the Civic Type R is the best of the bunch, if you can deal with how fugly it is and the "market adjustments" that all the dealers are doing.

NickD said:

In reply to Duke :

I will say, the first person to make a carbon fiber hood for those cars is going to make a fortune. They have a steel hood that is disproportionately heavy. I don't know if Hyundai hid lead weights inside the structure or what.

pedestrian crash standards.

Like has been said, not super interested in the Si since it isn't a hatch.  I really like hatches and wagens. I did drive a Civic sport hatch.  Didn't really bond with it.  Just seemed too grown up or something but maybe that was due to it being an auto.  Maybe worth trying to drive a stick to be sure?

I think the N line cars are too out there for a daily driver.  I didn't have any throttle issues with the new Veloster.  Maybe they recalibrated the throttle for 2019 along with the redesign?

Don't care about track or autocross performance.  This will just be a daily driver and bike/dog hauler.

So right now it's two votes GTI, zero Veloster plus two votes for the N line Elantra GT which is out for other reasons.

The Fiesta ST is way more fun to drive on the daily grind than the other options, but the interior is 2-3 steps down from the GTI and I can't imagine that you could get bikes inside as it is also 1-2 steps down in size.  I love mine, but I don't drive it daily. 

What prices are you seeing for the GTI's these days? I know they had been dropping and weren't selling all that well when I was looking about 6 months back. If they are at the very low 20's and have that massive warranty it seems like you can't really go wrong.

Can't you also get APR Stage 1 done by a dealer and stay in warranty?

In reply to CobraSpdRH :

If you get the APR+ tune, then APR takes over the powertrain warranty.  So the VW warranty is affected but if something happens APR should take care of it.

pinchvalve said:

The Fiesta ST is way more fun to drive on the daily grind than the other options, but the interior is 2-3 steps down from the GTI and I can't imagine that you could get bikes inside as it is also 1-2 steps down in size.  I love mine, but I don't drive it daily. 

My bike is super long wheelbase and (barely) fits in the fiesta with the front wheel off. I think you could fit another one in there too but it would be tight. That said the GTI sounds like a pretty good deal. I don't regret buying the fiesta but I do have some regrets about not at least test driving a GTI first.

I'm a VW skeptic and I bought a 2016 GTI SE as my daily because it truly was the best "whole package" out of all the hatches.

Mazda3 was the only other contender but the interior was kind of cramped and the sloping rear hatch sacrificed a lot of cargo space.

If I could live without the cargo space the just-introduced new Mazda3, new Corolla Hatch, and new Veloster R would be high on my list. The interior of the new 3 is stunning. I did not find the Civic hatch to my liking.

since you already have a more track focused car, I'd say the GTI rises to the top of the heap for its superior interior and those plaid seats.  Plus, as you noted, all the new ones now come with what you used to be the optional performance pack brakes and limited slip, and a pretty stellar factory warranty.  

FWIW, the Veloster "hatch" is more like the back glass on an older wagon.  The loading height is crazypants high and super berkeleying annoying.

My wife’s 2015 GTI is a great driving car, has loads of space, and is very comfortable.  And it has had way too many trips to the dealer for unplanned service.  If you go for the VW, just make sure you are willing to take more than the typical number of trips to the dealership.  You may be lucky, you may not - that seems to be the way it still goes with Volkswagens.  At least in her case, nothing that broke prevented her from using the car.

eastsideTim said:

My wife’s 2015 GTI is a great driving car, has loads of space, and is very comfortable.  And it has had way too many trips to the dealer for unplanned service.  If you go for the VW, just make sure you are willing to take more than the typical number of trips to the dealership.  You may be lucky, you may not - that seems to be the way it still goes with Volkswagens.  At least in her case, nothing that broke prevented her from using the car.

Stories like this (plus personal history) are the only thing making me hesitate on the GTI.  Maybe I'll go give the Honda another shot...

I liked the 2019 Veloster turbo R. I thought it drove nicely. The price is great and you get a lot of features for the money. The lack of a diff is a bit of a problem. It depends how much fwd and tire squeel bother you. I didn't notice any throttle issues and the engine was linear.

I haven't driven the GTI.

In reply to stumpmj350 :

I'm not discounting eastsideTim's experience but that's been very contrary to my personal experience and that of my friends.  I've put 100's of thousands of trouble free miles on my VW/Audi's, as have they.

Snrub said:

I liked the 2019 Veloster turbo R. I thought it drove nicely. The price is great and you get a lot of features for the money. The lack of a diff is a bit of a problem. It depends how much fwd and tire squeel bother you. I didn't notice any throttle issues and the engine was linear.

I haven't driven the GTI.

I also liked the Veloster.  The problem is that VW dealers are discounting the GTIs so heavily it's tough to not spend an extra $2000 and get the GTI.  The interior is just a nicer place to be.  At the MSRP difference of $6500, the Veloster looks really good.

docwyte said:

In reply to stumpmj350 :

I'm not discounting eastsideTim's experience but that's been very contrary to my personal experience and that of my friends.  I've put 100's of thousands of trouble free miles on my VW/Audi's, as have they.

That’s why I put in the “you might get lucky, you might not”.  On the positive side, the MK7 seems to be an improvement over previous generations in that the problems I’ve heard of don’t leave you broken down on the side of the road.

You might want to at least drive the new Mazda 3. Gorgeous interior (to my eye) and if it’s at all like the last gen, good driving dynamics.