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2019 Hyundai Veloster N vs. hot hatch rivals: How they compare on paper

The highly anticipated top-rung of the Veloster line, the 2019 Hyundai Veloster N, is on the verge of hitting dealers. And the company has finally dropped all the specifications, and perhaps most importantly, the car's official pricing that starts at $27,785. So you know what that means: it's time to see how it stacks up to the competition. The Veloster N falls into an interesting niche in the hot hatch world. It's the most potent of its model line, but it's not as powerful as vehicles such as the Civic Type R, Focus RS and Golf R. But it also doesn't have the price of those cars. As such, we decided to compare it with other sub-$30,000 sport compacts. We examined each car's power, fuel economy, size and pricing. You can see all the vital statistics in the chart below, as well as additional photos and analysis after that. As always, specifications only tell so much, so be sure to check out our detailed reviews of these cars. Also be sure to check out our comparison tool if you want to compare these with other models. Engines, transmissions and performance Three of these cars are impressively close in output, and one is, well, not. The Veloster N Performance Pack is the clear horsepower champion with 275 ponies. Second place for power is almost tied, with the Focus ST's 252 horses edging out the standard Veloster N's 250. The Focus ST also boasts the most torque at 270 pound-feet. The GTI nearly matches both Velosters with its 258 pound-feet, but its 228 horsepower is far behind the Korean and American entries. The Civic Si lags far behind with just 205 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque from the only 1.5-liter engine here. The rest use 2.0-liter engines. 2019 Hyundai Veloster N View 47 Photos Every vehicle here sends its power to the front wheels, and three of the four do so exclusively with 6-speed manual transmissions. That means that if you don't want to work a clutch, your only option is the VW GTI. It offers a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, which, like all VW Group dual-clutch units, is really smooth and fast. While the Civic Si is at the back of the pack in terms of power, it does make up for it somewhat with excellent fuel economy. It's capable of hitting 38 mpg on the highway, and city mileage is rated at a solid 28 mpg. The Veloster N is at the back of the pack here, with its highway mileage the same as the Civic's city economy. Its city fuel economy is just 22 mpg.

Would you pay $17 a month to give your older Ford connectivity?

When it was first introduced in 2007, there was nothing like the original Ford Sync system, since it allowed car owners to connect and use a portable device better than anything that came before it. And because it was a brought-in/tethered and software-based system, Sync leveraged a device's connectivity and was easily updated. It took competitors awhile to catch up: Toyota Entune wasn't available until 2011, and Chevy MyLink didn't roll out until 2012. But now Ford is the one playing catchup since it stuck with the brought-in strategy while most other automakers were quicker to add connectivity via an embedded cellular modem. Ford initially installed 2G/3G modems in its small fleet of electric and plug-in electric vehicles starting in 2012 so that owners could keep tabs on charging. Embedded connectivity came to Lincoln in 2014, and Ford began adding onboard 4G LTE via Sync Connect to select cars starting with the Escape in 2015. To get more cars connected more quickly, last week the automaker rolled out its FordPass SmartLink solution that plugs into the OBD port of 2010 to 2017 model year vehicles. This lets owners retroactively get onboard Wi-Fi, set up a "geo-fence" to keep tabs on a car's location, receive vehicle health reports and allows remote engine starting and door locking/unlocking using a smartphone app, among other features. But to connect older Ford vehicles will cost owners $16.99 a month for two years, not including installation. Ford throws in 1 GB of data or a 30-day trial, whichever comes first, after which owners have to add the vehicle to their Verizon shared data plan, which supplies connectivity for SmartLink, or establish a new account. (Disclosure: Autoblog is owned by Verizon.) By comparison, GM's 4G LTE data plans start at $10 a month for 200 MB and goes up to $30 for 3 GB, and owners can also add a car to an AT&T shared-data plan. But OnStar doesn't have a separate monthly subscription for the embedded modem or an installation charge, and standard features via the RemoteLink Mobile App are free for the first five years of ownership. FCA's Uconnect Access service also uses an embedded modem to provide similar telematics features for $20 per month following a free one-year trial, while a la carte in-car Wi-Fi is offered for $10 per day, $20 per week or $35 per month.

Road & Track names its 2013 Performance Car of the Year

Road & Track recently staged its first annual Performance Car of the Year test, pitting 13 new and updated performance cars against each other on track, then graduating the top six to a road test before picking a winner. Additionally, the magazine staff picked the best automobiles of the year in eight categories.
But first, let's cover the PCotY segment. Here's the list of cars brought to the comparison test: Audi R8 V10 Plus; BMW 435i; BMW M6 Competition Package; Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51; Ferrari F12 Berlinetta; Ford Fiesta ST; Jaguar F-Type V8 S; Jaguar XFR-S; Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S-Model Wagon; Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series; Mini John Cooper Works GP; Nissan GT-R Track Edition; and Porsche Cayman S.
To find out the results of the comparison, head over to Road & Track's website or check the press release below, where you'll also find the magazine's top-rated vehicles in eight categories. Want more? Head over to the 2013 PCotY hub. But before you do that, take a stab at guessing the winner of PCotY (we'll give you one hint: it isn't a Porsche).