Hyundai Veloster Raptor Review: ‘One-Off’ Hot Box
What’s Hot: Goes, handles, and stops better than the Veloster SR.
What’s Not: You can’t stroll into your local dealer and buy one.
X-FACTOR: Upgraded across the board, its a great way to show the Veloster’s potential.
Vehicle Style: Small performance coupe/hatch
Price: $TBA (not yet confirmed for production)
Engine/trans: 195kW/318Nm (est) 1.6 4cyl turbo petrol | 6spd manual
Fuel Economy claimed: 6.8 l/100km (in standard tune) | tested: 10.3 l/100km
OVERVIEW
Well, well... what do we have here? On the surface it might look like a Hyundai Veloster SR Turbo, but this little blue number is Hyundai Australia’s own pumped-up Veloster Raptor.
You may not be familiar with the Raptor yet, so allow me to introduce you. The Raptor is Hyundai’s way of thinking out loud - a drivable proof-of-concept for the Veloster’s potential.
It isn’t a production model yet, but it could be. It’s the first step in the evolution of a properly hot Veloster, with 195kW and 318Nm to strike fear into the hearts of hot-hatch owners everywhere.
To go with the retuned ECU (that’s where the extra oomph comes from) there’s also a set of black Rays wheels, lowered King Springs with revalved dampers, and a deeper voice courtesy of a cat-back exhaust.
That added oomph gets channeled to the ground via a Quafe limited-slip differential, plus there’s plenty more goodies included to complete the package.
But rather than being relegated to a life of dealership appearances, and optimistic spec-sheet fliers, this one can be driven.
In fact, Hyundai is so confident that instead of handing it out with a minder, the Raptor was ours to use and abuse for a week, to really put it to the test.
THE INTERIOR | RATING: 3/5
- Heated and cooled leather seats.
- Blue interior highlights on the seats and door-pulls.
- Eight-speaker audio with Bluetooth and Aux-inputs.
- Touchscreen display, with navigation and reverse camera.
- Proximity key with push-button start.
2014_hyundai_veloster_raptor_review_17