Hyundai Gives Veloster The N Treatment.
With a 1.6L turbo four and seven speed dual clutch transmission, (DCT), the Hyundai Veloster Turbo & Turbo Premium are a pair of performance oriented hatches that hover between warm and hot. Hyundai’s “N” Division has now waved their wand over the quirky four door, and added an eight speed wet clutch, the N DCT, with some interior and exterior enhancements to the pert Veloster. Although Hyundai don’t specify which engine is fitted, it does say that the zero to one time is down to 5.6 seconds.
N DCT has electronic actuators, which improves the change speed, plus, says Hyundai, focuses more on the driver engagement. The N DCT has a NGS, a Grin Shift mode, which allows a small but noticeable increase in torque thanks to the turbo running overboost and shaking hands with the N DCT to increase response for up to twenty seconds. The wet part of the N DCT comes from the use of a specific oil inside the clutch mechanisms. This increases lubrication, adds more cooling, and increases the DCT’s lifespan.
Additionally, N Power Shift (NPS) engages when the car accelerates with more than 90 percent of throttle, thereby mitigating any reduction in torque by using upshifts to deliver maximum power to the wheels. This gives the driver a responsive feeling of dynamic acceleration when shifting. The N-gineers also understand that a driver will want to exploit road conditions, and the N TSS, or Track Sense Shift, partners the computers with sensors to “read” the road, and adjusts for the road conditions, selecting and shifting the gear that the system determines is just the right one.
Another mode, N PS, Power Shift, engages when the car is launched hard and 90% and above of the torque, also working the gears to ensure proper usage of power and torque.
The Veloster N is a customer focused, nay, a driver focused car. There is the addition of Rev Matching, Launch Control, and the aforementioned Overboost. Downhill runs? rev matching brings the engine into line with the velocity and the gears, reducing wear and tear on the brakes. Racetrack work has the engine exploring the full range of revs and talks to the eight speed N DCT to maximise performance.
Head inside and there’s some cool options. Veloster N can be specced with N Light Sports Bucket Seats. The seats are wrapped in soft, suede-like Alcantara, a cool to the touch and grippy material, to firmly hold the driver in position when the car is taking corners at high speeds. There’s been some weight reduction; by utilising a thinner design around two kilos have been removed. There is an internally lit N logo in the seat, located up in the backrest section.
At the time of writing, Hyundai Australia isn’t planning to bring the Veloster N to Australia, however the N DCT will be available from 2021 inside the i30 N and i30 Fastback N models.
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