A DCT-Equipped Hyundai Veloster N Is On The Way
There’s a lot to like about the Hyundai Veloster N. It has 271bhp, an electronically-controlled differential, and a bargainous sub-$30,000 US price tag. The only thing that might be off-putting - for some buyers at least - is the lack of automatic gearbox option, but Hyundai is already working on that.
The South Korean company released a video teasing a new dual-clutch for the 2020 version of the go-faster Veloster, promising to combine, “The cornering excitement of a Corner Rascal, the shifting ease of an Everyday Sports Car, and N’s fun-to-drive feeling”. Award yourself some Internet points if you read ‘Corner Rascal’ without smirking.
The eight-speed wet clutch ‘box is expected to appear on the Veloster N’s options list imminently. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s available on both the standard and Performance versions of the car.
What also isn’t clear at this stage is whether or not the DCT option will be available for the i30 N. We don’t see why not, particularly when Hyundai N boss and former BMW M man Albert Biermann has previously suggested the car will get an automatic eventually. When asked, a Hyundai UK representative wasn’t yet able to confirm or deny if the option is on the way.
It’d be a nice addition to the range, particularly as us Brits don’t get the Veloster N - the Veloster range as a whole isn’t available for right-hand drive markets. We are in line for other new N models, though, with the incoming Kona N and i20 N both due to land in the UK later this year or early next.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
I hate when people call DCTs autos.
Yes they do the same thing, but that’s like calling a Mac a PC just because it’s a personal computing device. In Croatia, when you buy a car, a dealership has to disclose if it’s an auto or a DCT
If it changes the gears itself (“automatically”), it’s an automatic. It doesn’t matter if the connection between engine and transmission is a torque converter or a pack of clutches.
DCTs are automatics, torque converter automatics are automatics, CVTs are automatics too since the drive ratio is adjusted automatically. Sequential or automated manual transmissions are not automatics; even though they only have two pedals, the driver still has to change gears himself, the computer only operates the clutch.
Edit: to clarify, saying a DCT is also an automatic isn’t like saying a Mac is a PC, it’s more like saying a Mac and a PC are both computers.
Not calling a Mac a PC is like going around and telling people you got an Alienware. What kind? Doesn’t matter.
You either call it a Mac PC/Laptop or an iMac/MacBook.