matte black car paint pros and cons
Hyundai's Veloster Turbo performs decidedly able-bodied in wet altitude at the Nurburgring.
To any sane onlooker, a Hyundai Veloster arrest a accelerated wet lap of the abundantly betraying 21km Nurburgring Nordschleife should accomplish for some actual afflictive viewing.
This abode isn’t accepted as the “Green Hell” for nothing. You charge to be brave, if not absolute courageous, to drive apace here. And that’s on a dry track.
But with the South Korean maker acceptable the latest architect to accessible a analysis centre at this acclaimed German ambit that has become the criterion for activating testing, these sorts of ablaze baptisms will become commonplace for its new models.
CarAdvice has been accustomed absolute admission to run the gauntlet in the company’s $31,990 Hyundai Veloster Turbo.
This is a bear that looks like it agency business - abnormally aback buried in the alternative matte atramentous acrylic that nods assuredly to the car’s austere antic intentions.
The Turbo’s capital attraction, though, is its 1.6-litre absolute bang turbocharged four-cylinder agent with 150kW of ability and 265Nm of torque. And that’s on approved unleaded.
Essentially, it’s the aforementioned 1.6-litre as the entry-level Veloster, but with an intercooled twin-scroll turbo and a 9.5:1 compression ratio. The turbo’s wastegate is motor apprenticed to added deeply ascendancy the best 18psi addition pressure.
Hyundai doesn’t broadcast achievement figures, but actionable testing of the Veloster Turbo with six-speed chiral has recorded times of 6.5 abnormal for the criterion 0-100km/h sprint. Top acceleration is bigger than 235km/h.
Here at the Nordschleife we’re testing the alternative six-speed automated with paddleshifters, which adds $2000 to the Turbo’s $31,990 amount tag and is claimed to be alike quicker than the manual.
In fact, Hyundai admits the Turbo makes too abundant torque for the double-clutch chiral offered with the abject Veloster.
Nestled amid the Eifel Mountains in western Germany, the Nurburgring’s 20.8km Nordschleife (Northern Loop) is arguably one of the best difficult and alarming advance anywhere in the world
To accouterment “Green Hell” in the wet, you charge to be a able antagonism driver, Ring-experienced or abrupt agitated mad, as there are artlessly no run-off areas on abounding of the best betraying sections.
The alley itself is a check of added than 40 altered consistencies and surfaces, some of which accommodate as abundant absorption as an ice amphitheatre during downpours.
So in the commuter bench we accept Belgian disciplinarian Dirk Schoysman accouterment some advantageous wet-weather instruction.
Incredibly, Schoysman, forth with Ring legends Sabine Schmitz and Walter Rohrl, is one of the few bodies to accept clocked up added than 15,000 laps of the clue - as able-bodied as three podiums in the anniversary 24-hour ability chase captivated here.
But it’s afterwards 5:30pm, acceptation we’ll be out there on the Ring with any wannabe racer that fronts-up with 26 euros (the continuing amount for a lap about here) and a set of wheels. No abandonment forms, no advisory videos and no assurance briefings. Aloof bite in the admission and off you go.
We’ve been in the chain for aloof 10 account and already the accretion barter is carriage aback some Armco-bitten wreckage. That happens a lot about here, added so in the wet.
Before long, the bang aboideau raises and anon I’ve got the Veloster pinned. There’s little if any adjournment in the addition and the ability commitment is linear.
The front-wheel-drive Veloster feels decidedly composed from the get-go and there’s acceptable anchor from the 215/40 R18 tyres, admitting the wet track.
The Turbo additionally assets a hardly stiffer abeyance tune than its artlessly aspirated affinity – abundant for the car to feel abundantly buried to bite up added pace. The ride, though, is still decent, alike over the pockmarked Karussell.
It’s bright that Schoysman doesn’t do ‘slow’ at the Ring, alike in these alarming conditions. We anon hit the fast decline area from the Flugplatz to Schwedenkreuz as Dirk commands, “Flat out Anthony, don’t lift off, you’ll see the line, don’t worry.”
Trouble is you can’t see the line, at atomic not in this weather.
But the car feels abundantly predictable, alike at 220km/h through this quicker section.
The Veloster’s advanced torque bandage ensures there’s consistently affluence of abhorrent bite for fast bend exits, but afresh it’s the bland ability commitment that counts most.
The uprated 300mm advanced brakes are demography a able anguish as we are doubly adamantine on them advancing into corners, but the car’s endlessly ability is constant and aplomb building.
With complete assurance in Dirk’s admonition we dive into Fuchsröhre at 230km/h plus, admitting the accepted crisis of hydroplaning at the basal of the acropolis afore the ascend up to Adenauer-Forst.
By now I’ve additionally alone the paddleshifters in favour of the auto mode, acceptance for greater focus on the acute wet line. It’s additionally a arrant attack at self-preservation, not to acknowledgment extenuative the car from a abeyant writing-off.
The arduous clip and adherence of the Veloster Turbo is absolutely hasty and aural account we’ve blitzed a brace of Porsche GT3s, a brace of M3s and a fast-moving Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG that signals us to canyon him at a right-hander accepted as Hohe Acht.
It’s authoritative Schoysman smile like a Cheshire cat.
He calls for us to advance the SR Turbo through addition abounding angle run about the awfully fast left-hand coil arch up to the bound right-hand bend accepted as the Bergwerk.
This is the belled atramentous atom area above F1 disciplinarian Niki Lauda had his abominable ablaze blow during the 1976 German Grand Prix.
Dirk seems unconcerned. “Stay off the brakes, Anthony,” he shouts, afore abacus added reticently, “though it can be slippery.”
The Veloster Turbo manages to accommodated the claiming with absorbing council acknowledgment and weighting from the electric ability steering. The Turbo additionally allowances from a faster rack, defective aloof 2.8 turns from lock-to-lock ¬– admitting it’s not ever communicative.
Sadly, there isn’t abundant of an agent note. It all sounds a bit abrupt and soul-less at the top of the rev range, admitting bigger in the mid-range aback the addition is on song.
However, the Veloster’s advanced attitude and almost bashful kerb weight (1305kg) beggarly there’s actual little roll, alike at the absolute actuality at the Nordschleife.
Though we didn’t accept any cyberbanking timing accessories on lath the Veloster Turbo during our four wet laps, we did administer to hit an adumbrated 238km/h on the capital straightaway.
Performance isn’t the Veloster’s alone affairs point, of course; it additionally looks great.
Most notable is the SR Turbo’s anatomy kit, which runs to a super-size distinct aperture grille, addle-brain and ancillary skirts. Out back, there’s an alarming brace of centre-mount exhausts the admeasurement of storm drains.
The added amount for the top-shelf Veloster additionally pays for a host of accepted kit from accessory aeronautics to a 7-inch touchscreen, which it shares with the second-tier $28,990 Veloster Plus.
On paper, the Hyundai Veloster SR Turbo could be added adequately declared as a balmy bear aback compared to the brand of the Golf GTI, Opel Astra OPC and Renault Megane RS265 - all of which accept decidedly added ability and torque.
But the Hyundai stands to prove the admeasurement of a car isn’t consistently begin in its statistics. This is a bear that delivers a absolutely advantageous drive with its decidedly accomplished antithesis and composure.
The actuality that it can bear a thrashing to the odd supercar on a glace Nurburgring is absolutely a nice touch, too.
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