The 2021 Hyundai Veloster N: Sometimes America does get the good one

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  This is a Hyundai Veloster N, and it’s one of the few hot hatches you can buy in the US right now. It’s also really good. [credit: Hyundai ]

There’s often been a case of “the grass is greener” when it comes to sporty hatchbacks here in the US. For the longest time, Honda wouldn’t bring the Civic Type-R to these shores. And the affordable “it car” du jour is the Toyota GR Yaris, a three-cylinder fun machine that wins over everyone who drives it. Everyone in Europe and Japan that is, because Americans will need to wait a quarter-century to find out how the Yaris handles the Cherahola Skyway, Mount Palomar, or Angeles Crest Highway—assuming you can still buy gasoline to run it.

Well, not this time. Say hello to the $32,250 Hyundai Veloster N, a bonkers little thing with asymmetric doors and handling tuned on the mighty Nürburgring Nordschleife. Shockingly, not only is it on sale here in the US, but it’s not available to our cousins on the other side of the Atlantic.

In 2020, I finally tried out one of Hyundai’s Velosters, in this case, the Turbo model. My conclusion at the time was that the fully loaded Veloster Turbo was let down by its dual clutch transmission and that I suspected the similarly priced Veloster N would be better. As it turns out, I was correct.