The 2020 Hyundai Veloster is an affordable fun car with unique style, performance and, relative to its size, a large and efficient interior. Fully redesigned last year and now in its second generation of production, the Veloster captures the spirit of fun, small and sporty compact cars and stands out with its signature three-door hatchback style. That extra passenger-side door is no gimmick either. It spares rear passengers the contortions often necessary to get in and out of a regular two-door sport coupe.
Neither of the Veloster’s engines will win any horsepower awards, but the turbocharged four-cylinder engine in the Turbo series of models is plenty sporty for this lightweight car, and its available manual transmission and tight but compliant suspension make it a driver’s delight. Those seeking a higher tier of performance can opt for the Veloster N, which offers racetrack durability in a car you drive every day.
The Veloster gets only a handful of changes for 2020, including wider availability of standard driver safety aids and wireless device charging. Notably, the manual transmission is dropped from the Turbo Ultimate trim level, but you can still get it with three other trims, including the base car. Hyundai has also said that there’s a new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission for the Veloster N for buyers who don’t want to row their own gears, but we don’t expect it to be available until the 2021 model year.
Overall, the Veloster fills a unique niche as a sporty hatchback with good technology and utility. (For the car’s size, the trunk is huge, for example.) Other compact hatchbacks such as the Honda Civic and the Mazda 3 provide more interior space and similarly lively performance, but nothing else on the road offers the Veloster’s unique three-door style.
