Hyundai today introduced its cutting-edge Veloster three-door coupe in a world debut at the North American International Auto Show. The 2012 Veloster delivers innovation to the compact coupe §egmènt with a unique third door for easy rear-seat access, Hyundai’s Blue Link telematics system, Pandora internet radio with seven-inch touch-screen display, and a new 1.6-liter direct-injected four-cylinder engine mated to Hyundai’s first dual-clutch transmission.

Veloster’s unique design takes inspiration from a high-performance sport bike. Veloster has distinctive black A-pillars that give the glass a motorcycle helmet visor appearance. In the front is an aggressive form of Hyundai’s signature hexagonal front grille, hood scoop detailing, and unique Hyundai-signature LED position lights. Optional packages add a chrome grille surround, piano black highlights, fog lights, and a massive panoramic sunroof.

In profile the Veloster features ‘Fluidic Sculpture’ character lines, muscular wheel arches, bodycolor door handles and mirrors, and wraparound headlights and taillights. Veloster comes standard with 17-inch alloy wheels and offers two types of 18-inch wheels. The top-of-the-line 18-inch wheel comes with painted inserts, a §egmènt first. Veloster’s dynamic rear design has a distinctive glass hatch, dual centered chrome exhaust tips and black lower fascia that complements the assertive front fascia.

Inside, the center stack and controls resemble a sport bike fuel tank and incorporate an available push-button starter. The air vents are inspired by motorcycle tailpipes, while the floor console mirrors the seat of a bike. Metallic accents abound throughout the interior. Alloy pedals and a leather wrapped §teering wheel and shift knob are also available.

ENGINE

The all-new Gamma 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine is the smallest Hyundai engine to use Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI). GDI technology helps deliver estimated highway fuel economy of up to 40 mpg, lower emissions and higher reliability. ‘Gasoline-direct-injection technology allowed Hyundai engineers to create an engine that is powerful, fuel-efficient, and has fewer emissions,’ said Hyundai American Technical Center Inc. (HATCI) powertrain director, John Juriga. ‘Despite its small size, it generates some big numbers, with both impressive horsepower output and up to 40 mpg on the highway.’

Through the use of GDI, the Gamma 1.6-liter engine delivers an estimated peak output of 138 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and maximum torque of 123 lb.-ft. at 4,850 rpm. But GDI is only part of the story as the new Gamma also features Dual Continuously Variable Valve Timing, an electronic throttle control, a roller timing chain, variable induction and innovative anti-friction coatings such as CrN Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) coating and Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) coating.

TRANSMISSION

Hyundai’s commitment to making the Gamma engine extremely fuel efficient continues by pairing it with a standard six-speed manual transmission or an all-new, six-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT) developed by Hyundai. Hyundai’s new DCT takes the benefits of a manual transmission, including low fuel consumption and sporty driving, and blends them with automatic transmission benefits, such as high comfort levels and smooth shift quality.

In addition, the DCT enables direct connection for high efficiency and uninterrupted torque transfer during shifts. Automatic transmissions lose power and fuel economy in the torque converter. Other improvements of a DCT over a traditional automatic include a five to six percent improvement in fuel efficiency as well as a three to seven percent improvement in acceleration performance. Veloster’s DCT can be thought of as two traditional manual transmissions, each with its own clutch operating in parallel and alternating shifts. Veloster is a six-speed with one clutch acting on gears one, three and five and the other used for two, four, six and reverse.

This shifting process results in quick smooth transitions with none of the efficiency loss normally associated with torque convertors. The clutch actuator assembly features electric motors for actuation, and an external damper improves NVH. This powertrain also has an Active Eco mode which modifies engine and transmission control for improved fuel economy that translates into more than a seven percent improvement in real-world fuel economy.

EFFICIENCY

World-class weight efficiency is a program target for all Hyundai models. This strategy delivers outstanding fuel economy and performance simultaneously. At just 2,584 pounds, Veloster is more than 400 pounds lighter than the Scion tC. This priority on weight efficiency allows the Veloster to deliver a great combination of agility, performance, and fuel efficiency.

SAFETY

Veloster has an exceptional level of standard safety features for the sporty car §egmènt. Veloster has a Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) system which optimally manages ESC (Electronic Stability Control) and the Motor-Driven electric Power Steering (MDPS). VSM works to control two effects. The first is when a driver accelerates or brakes on a split-mu surface (slippery on one side, dry pavement on the other) and the vehicle wants to pull in one direction. VSM detects this condition and sends a signal to the MDPS to apply §teering assist. VSM counters the pull and automatically provides eight Newton meters of counter §teering. VSM reacts the same way during sudden lane changes or fast cornering.

Veloster features six airbags—including dual front, front seat-mounted side-impact, and front and rear side curtain airbags. The Veloster also features a state-of-the-art braking package. The package includes four-wheel disc brakes and an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) including Brake Assist, which provides maximum braking force when a panic stop is detected, and Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), to automatically adjust the braking force to front and rear axles based on vehicle loading conditions.

CONNECTIVITY/TECHNOLOGY

In the digital age everyone wants to be connected to their electronics at all times, so Veloster comes standard with a multifunction seven-inch touch-screen display. At engine start-up, the screen comes to life with a Veloster image and a unique sound. There are three interface layouts the user can choose from. Pandora internet radio is integrated into Veloster. The display screen has a Pandora icon to stream internet radio from an iPhone, Android or Blackberry. Pandora can also be viewed on the display screen and songs can be given the familiar Pandora thumbs up or thumbs down by pressing an icon. (By selecting the thumbs down icon that particular song will never be played again.)

Pandora, the leading internet radio service, gives people music they love anytime, anywhere, through personalized radio stations available on a wide variety of connected devices. According to Nielsen, today Pandora is one of the top five most popular apps across all smartphone platforms. Pandora gives people music they love through personalized radio stations, created instantly from a single song, artist or composer ‘seed.’ Simple thumbs-up and thumbs-down quickly refine stations to each listener’s taste. Today, tens of millions of people have a deeply personal connection with Pandora based on the delight of personalized radio listening and discovery. Pandora currently has more than 65 million listeners throughout the Únited States.

Gracenote improves how Veloster drivers access and manage their music through licensed cover art, enhanced voice recognition capabilities and ‘More Like This’ automatic playlisting. Gracenote helps organize song metadata from a driver’s music collection, and associates specific genre classifications (e.g. Indie Rock, R&B, Classical) with the identified tracks. This lets Veloster drivers create targeted similar music playlists with a single button or voice command using Gracenote’s Playlist Plus™ technology. Gracenote MediaVOCS® technology improves the accuracy of the system’s voice recognition capabilities for music search and navigation, letting drivers pinpoint bands, artists and albums with hard-to-pronounce names, irregular spellings and nicknames. For instance, Gracenote MediaVOCS helps the system understand artist names like Beyoncé and AC/DC. And drivers can use ‘The Boss’ as a voice command to access tracks from Bruce Springsteen.

Gracenote also powers the Veloster’s 3D carousel of album cover art, producing a driver-friendly interface that makes it easy to search for music, select albums and display cover art during playback. The combination of these Gracenote technology features provides Veloster drivers a safe and easy way to manage and enjoy their music on the open road. The head unit features virtual CD downloading* which is like having a 10-disc CD changer on board. This feature allows for up to 10 CDs to be stored on the systems memory. The systems memory also allows for viewing and storing of jpeg images, AVI videos and Mpeg videos from a ÚSB stick.

Veloster is available with two audio systems. Standard is a 196-watt AM/FM/Satellite Radio/CD/MP3 audio system with six-speakers and iPod®/ÚSB/auxiliary input jacks. A 450-watt Dimension Premium Audio system with eight speakers including an eight-inch subwoofer and external amplifier is available. An XM Satellite Radio interface is also integrated into the head unit and features channel logos and XM Data services, such as XM NavWeather®, XM Stock Ticker and XM Sports Ticker. A Bluetooth hands-free phone system with voice recognition, address book download and audio streaming is standard. Touch-screen navigation is optional. The system also integrates a rear-view camera, which cannot be found on the CR-Z or tC.