The Veloster has always been an odd bird in Hyundai’s flock. This compact, asymmetrical, 3-door hatchback has some mediocre strength compared to other Hyundai models but sits in an odd semi-power-hungry segment competing with the Scion tC or the Kia Forte. Plus, without the SR Turbo upgrade, it’s pretty underwhelming.
The Veloster still relatively young, having only been around for a couple years, and usually gets overlooked. But it has become a favorite of SEMA participants for one simple reason: it has a wealth of untapped potential.
That’s just what Hyundai Australia engineers wanted to prove when they modified a blue Veloster by pumping it up into a ferocious Hyundai Veloster-Raptor.
Wait a minute–did that just say “Velociraptor”? Oh my god….
The Hyundai Veloster-Raptor Bares Its Claws in Australia
First of all, that name deserves a round of applause. The Hyundai Veloster-Raptor…friggin’ genius.
Secondly, no you can’t buy it. Despite accelerating, handling, and stopping better than any available Veloster, it was only a proof-of-concept attempt by the automaker to see what the model can do.
“The car is an experiment [put together by Hyundai Australia’s engineering team] and it’s an exploration of how far you can take the Veloster platform,” Hyundai Australia’s public relations manager Bill Thomas was nice enough to tell the world.
So how did his team improve the Hyundai Veloster-Raptor? By adding a returned ECU, black Rays wheels, lowered King Springs with revealed dampers, a Quafe limited-slip differential, and cat-back exhaust for a louder roar. That’s still a 1.6-liter engine which now yields 234 lb-ft of torque and 261 horsepower.
There are two good pieces of news from this endeavor: Hyundai Australia says it definitely saw potential in the mod, and the mod could feasibly sell at less than $40,000.
Actually, there’s a third piece: that absolutely killer name.
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