More than just a badge: Hyundai’s Veloster Rally Edition even has lightweight wheels

By Alexander Kalogianni February 13, 2015

We reported back in January that the Veloster in the Korean market got a few tweaks, expecting some of those updates to make it over to our side of the world shortly after. We didn’t have to wait long as Hyundai revealed not just a few upgrades, but a new addition to its lineup, the Veloster Rally Edition.

The Rally Edition builds on the performance advantages that the R-Spec brought to the stylish hatchback, featuring springs, dampers and a front stabilizer bar that’s more sport tuned than other editions. It also now rides on lightweight RAYS alloy wheels that trim about five pounds per wheel off the curb weight.

2016 Hyundai Veloster Rally Edition — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Along with the wheels, the exterior gets a carbon-fiber-looking aero kit and only comes in an exclusive matte blue exterior color, complementing the contrasting black-with-blue-accent interior sport seats. The exclusivity continues with the B&M racing sport shifter mounted to the Hyundai’s six-speed manual gearbox.

This edition isn’t sticking around long, however. Hyundai is only making 1,200 units of the Veloster Rally Edition, so we’d get on the phone with any local dealerships ASAP, if this package is a must-have.

For the rest of the lineup, all Velosters get an upgrade to the hood that deletes the vent accents, 10mm-wider wheels fitted to a new set of 18-inch alloys, and a dark gray bezel that surrounds the front grille.

2016 Hyundai Veloster Turbo — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Veloster Turbo gets additional upgrades, like an exclusive machine-finished wheel design, sportier seats, some electroluminescence added to the gauges and a black headliner.

Most significant of all, however is the available addition of a new seven-speed dual clutch transmission that will be married to the Veloster Turbo’s 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. retains the same 201 horsepower and 195 foot-pounds of torque, but the seven-speed DCT has been tuned for more performance whereas the six-speed DCT on the non-turbo Veloster is optimized for fuel efficiency.

The Veloster Turbo also nets some improved handling in the form of Torque Vectoring Control, worked into the Electronic Stability Control system. Sensors and new algorithms will apply brake force to the inside front wheel, giving the Veloster an increase in cornering precision.

The new Veloster, with its exclusive Rally Edition and upgraded Turbo trim, hits dealer lots this May.

Topics

Alexander Kalogianni

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Alex K is an automotive writer based in New York. When not at his keyboard or behind the wheel of a car, Alex spends a lot of…

Cars

Range Rover’s first electric SUV has 48,000 pre-orders

Land Rover Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition

Range Rover, the brand made famous for its British-styled, luxury, all-terrain SUVs, is keen to show it means business about going electric.

And, according to the most recent investor presentation by parent company JLR, that’s all because Range Rover fans are showing the way. Not only was demand for Range Rover’s hybrid vehicles up 29% in the last six months, but customers are buying hybrids “as a stepping stone towards battery electric vehicles,” the company says.

Cars

BYD’s cheap EVs might remain out of Canada too

BYD Han

With Chinese-made electric vehicles facing stiff tariffs in both Europe and America, a stirring question for EV drivers has started to arise: Can the race to make EVs more affordable continue if the world leader is kept out of the race?

China’s BYD, recognized as a global leader in terms of affordability, had to backtrack on plans to reach the U.S. market after the Biden administration in May imposed 100% tariffs on EVs made in China.

Cars

Tesla posts exaggerate self-driving capacity, safety regulators say

Beta of Tesla's FSD in a car.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is concerned that Tesla’s use of social media and its website makes false promises about the automaker’s full-self driving (FSD) software.
The warning dates back from May, but was made public in an email to Tesla released on November 8.
The NHTSA opened an investigation in October into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with the FSD software, following three reported collisions and a fatal crash. The investigation centers on FSD’s ability to perform in “relatively common” reduced visibility conditions, such as sun glare, fog, and airborne dust.
In these instances, it appears that “the driver may not be aware that he or she is responsible” to make appropriate operational selections, or “fully understand” the nuances of the system, NHTSA said.
Meanwhile, “Tesla’s X (Twitter) account has reposted or endorsed postings that exhibit disengaged driver behavior,” Gregory Magno, the NHTSA’s vehicle defects chief investigator, wrote to Tesla in an email.
The postings, which included reposted YouTube videos, may encourage viewers to see FSD-supervised as a “Robotaxi” instead of a partially automated, driver-assist system that requires “persistent attention and intermittent intervention by the driver,” Magno said.
In one of a number of Tesla posts on X, the social media platform owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a driver was seen using FSD to reach a hospital while undergoing a heart attack. In another post, a driver said he had used FSD for a 50-minute ride home. Meanwhile, third-party comments on the posts promoted the advantages of using FSD while under the influence of alcohol or when tired, NHTSA said.
Tesla’s official website also promotes conflicting messaging on the capabilities of the FSD software, the regulator said.
NHTSA has requested that Tesla revisit its communications to ensure its messaging remains consistent with FSD’s approved instructions, namely that the software provides only a driver assist/support system requiring drivers to remain vigilant and maintain constant readiness to intervene in driving.
Tesla last month unveiled the Cybercab, an autonomous-driving EV with no steering wheel or pedals. The vehicle has been promoted as a robotaxi, a self-driving vehicle operated as part of a ride-paying service, such as the one already offered by Alphabet-owned Waymo.
But Tesla’s self-driving technology has remained under the scrutiny of regulators. FSD relies on multiple onboard cameras to feed machine-learning models that, in turn, help the car make decisions based on what it sees.
Meanwhile, Waymo’s technology relies on premapped roads, sensors, cameras, radar, and lidar (a laser-light radar), which might be very costly, but has met the approval of safety regulators.