Hyundai Veloster N Adds Automatic Transmission: Blasphemy or ‘That’s for Me’?

The Hyundai Veloster N, which we at Cars.com named our 2020 Most Fun-to-Drive Car of the Year, is getting more accessible — and that’s a good thing. Previously only available with a six-speed manual transmission, the 250-horsepower (or 275 with the Performance Package) hot hatch soon will be available with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Related: 2020 Most Fun-to-Drive Car of the Year

The news comes to us via the Hyundai N performance division’s official Instagram account, and a series of teaser videos that culminated in a full reveal of the still-clearly-fun-to-drive, dual-clutch-automatic-equipped Veloster N doing fun driving stuff (on a closed course with a professional driver, of course). The teaser videos showed light-up emblems on the front seats and a feature called “N Grin Shift,” which seems to be some sort of 20-second-long extra-sporty mode.

Adding an automatic transmission to the Veloster N may be upsetting to purists who insist that manual-only performance cars are the Only True Cars and view the inability to operate a manual transmission as some sort of personal shortcoming. But not everyone wants to drive a manual every day and, especially given the current compromised state of consumer buying power amid the COVID-19 pandemic, owning two cars might not be the most feasible option in the foreseeable future. Manual transmissions are great, don’t get us wrong — we created a holiday for them, after all — but not only does this make the Veloster N accessible to more consumers, the dual-clutch automatic gives the car a greater justification for existing at all. Do you want more fun cars … or more SUVs? (Also, shhh, the dual-clutch Veloster N will probably be faster than the manual.)

More From Cars.com:

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• National Stick Shift Day: 6 Cars We Wish Had Manuals (and 3 We’re OK Without)
• 2020 Hyundai Palisade Earns 5-Star Crash-Test Score From Feds
• 2020 Hyundai Venue: 6 Pros and 4 Cons

The full reveal video says the Veloster N with the dual-clutch will be a 2020 model, but news reports suggest that it may end up in the U.S. as a 2021.

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