Hyundai Veloster N has won the highly selective and prestigious Road & Track Performance Car of the Year honor for 2020. Veloster N, with a base price well under $30,000, emerged the victor in an arena with considerably more expensive world-class challengers, including the Toyota Supra, Lexus RC F Track Edition, Lotus Evora GT, McLaren 600LT Spider, Lamborghini Huracan Evo, BMW M2 Competition, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, Porsche 911 Carrera S, Nissan GT-R Nismo and Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Club.
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“On behalf of our entire N product development team, I couldn’t be more proud of the Veloster N receiving Road & Track’s prestigious Performance Car of the Year award for 2020,” said Albert Biermann, head of Hyundai’s global research and development teams. “We’re even more satisfied to make such a fun-to-drive car affordable to a wide range of buyers and driving skill levels, as these were key development targets for the Veloster N.”
“Never has the disparity been greater between the capabilities of a modern fast car and what is legally possible,” the editors of Road & Track note in the article. “The new definition of performance isn’t what a car can do, but what it will do on a good road. The Veloster N is what a great front-wheel-drive car should feel like, a delight that welds a smile to your face every time you drive it. It cheers you on, treating you like the hero. And it came from a company that had no reason to build it. Chevrolet has to make a Corvette; Porsche, a 911. Short of a giant meteorite or nuclear winter, those names will always exist. Cars like the Veloster N are more special, crafted not of obligation, but for the sheer joy of driving.”
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Road & Track editors were clearly smitten with Veloster N’s fun-per-dollar ratio: “Don’t sleep on the Hyundai Veloster N. Though it may be the only front-wheel drive car in this year’s test, it’s still massively fun to drive. With a starting price under $28,000, it represents one of the best value cases here. Also worth noting: it’s the only car here that can’t be optioned with an automatic transmission. That’s right, manual only, just how we like it.”
To be eligible for the Performance Car of the Year test, vehicles must be series-production, street-legal cars that push the limits of performance and pleasure on both road and track. The winning Performance Car of the Year was determined using the following criteria:
- Outright speed and testing numbers are part of the package but they don’t determine the winner. Beyond sheer pace, a car has to bring emotion to the table.
- The car must embrace track duty while still being enjoyable on the road.
- Technology has to be used in service to the driver, not just added speed. Feedback and sensation via complexity is great but complexity alone doesn’t cut it.
- Lastly, would any other manufacturer build it? Does the car feel uniquely of its story and brand?
The seventh-annual comparison test appears in the December/January issue, on newsstands November 26, and on RoadandTrack.com now.
