Endangered Species: Hyundai Veloster Survives Strictly in N Form for 2022

It's a good thing  the Hyundai Veloster N is so great, because if the sole survivor from the great Veloster extinction event of mid-2021 wasn't, well, it'd be a real bummer. Twin asteroids— the Kona and Venue—impacted sales of the evolutionary odd-ball three-door hatch, and when the dust settled out of the atmosphere only the fittest Veloster survived: the excellent N.

This means the Veloster 2.0, 2.0 Premium, R-Spec, Turbo, and Ultimate models are kaput. Those models will soon be of interest to used car listing archaeologists of the not-so-distant future. While all modern Velosters are fun, a few of the now-extinct ones are ferociously so. The Turbo R-Spec provided sticky tires and excellent handling , as well as a lot of the subtle refinements (brake pedal modulation, pedal box layout) that showed how mature the Veloster had become as a driver's machine—and at $24,455, it was a relative bargain, too. And, we should mention, the Veloster is one of few vehicles remaining that offers a manual transmission at an affordable price.

The fact the Veloster N carries on to 2022 unchanged is, fundamentally, still a good thing. It's a superlative enthusiast vehicle, offering track-ready performance and a lot of subjective enjoyment. A slick eight-speed dual-clutch automatic joined the fun last year, and the items in the previously optional Performance package were made standard. The automatic is also a little quicker than its manual counterpart, per our testing, though both transmissions are fun. That said, if you're going to track the car, we recommend upgrading the brakes and tires.

See All 36 Photos36

We're sad the fun and less expensive Veloster trims are no more, but it could be worse. With the newer and less-unusual Kona N on the way, there's no guarantee that the Veloster N will survive indefinitely. If you want a new one, you might not want to sit on the fence.