Overall rating:

Boasting an asymmetrical door arrangement and a startlingly idiosyncratic personality, the Hyundai Veloster will sell on its looks alone. It's practical too. Sadly, in its current form (pre-production) it's let down by a weak engine, poor ride, questionable ergonomics and sub-par cabin quality. A lot of work to do, then.

Key Facts

Pricing: From £18,000 (to be confirmed)
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol
Transmission: six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Body style: four-door hatchback coupé
Rivals: Volkswagen Scirocco, Volvo C30, MINI Clubman
CO₂ emissions: 132g/km
Combined economy: 55mpg (to be confirmed)
0-62mph: 10 seconds (to be confirmed)
Power: 138bhp maximum

In the Metal:

There's a real exterior-interior dichotomy here. The Hyundai Veloster is a stunning car, marked by quirks and eccentricities. The doors are the most obvious, though there are a good few vents and scoops vying for attention. It's ace.

Inside, however, it falls down. For a start the quality is city car stuff, all hard and scratchy, and, to our eyes, over-styled to compensate. The driving position isn't quite right either, with the seat too high and the wheel too low, forcing the driver too far away from the wheel and pedals. It is quite roomy though, with decent rear legroom and a 320-litre boot - family hatch cargo capacity.

Driving it:

We should stress that the Veloster we're driving here is a pre-production model, and Hyundai says it can, and will, be improved markedly before it hits the shelves this summer.

As much as the interior requires work, so too does the drive. You'll get one engine, a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol unit equipped with stop-start. No diesel. That might not be a problem if said petrol was a free-revving unit with, say, 200bhp, but it actually wheezes out a rather gutless 138bhp. It gets louder when pressed, rather than stronger.

And while the weighty steering gives it brisk turn in, the over-firm ride unsettles the car rather than connecting you into the driving experience. Couple those issues with the awkward driving position and this isn't particularly riveting to drive - yet.

What you get for your Money:

It's early days and the specification is still being set, but it's likely there'll be one specification level with a good level of standard equipment, including alloy wheels (whose inserts we're told will match the body colour), air conditioning, sports seats, and a touch-screen interface. There's talk of that being PlayStation compatible, if you fancy throwing your PS3 into the footwell for the odd service station COD session.

The addition of ISG stop-start in manual versions will make it fairly economical, and it's bound to be priced a good couple of grand less than the VW Scirocco.

Worth Noting

Hyundai doesn't expect to sell the Veloster in big numbers, at all - probably around 5,500 a year in the UK and around 20,000 in Europe. It sees the primary target market as 25-30 year olds, and the secondary market 40-50 year old women, specifically. Specific indeed.

Summary

We looked at the Hyundai Veloster and desperately wanted to love it. That's still true. At the moment it seems the car is stuck in engineering limbo, because Hyundai can't quite decide where to pitch it. There's a lot to do before it becomes a genuine Scirocco rival on more than its looks, but with some basic improvements it won't matter who Hyundai is pitching it at - the Veloster will sell itself.