Hyundai Going After Cheap Hot Hatch Segment

Car & Driver have spotted a new hatchback from Hyundai that is supposed to take aim at cheap pocket rockets such as the Volkwagen GTI, Mazdaspeed3, and Mini Cooper S.

It is going to be called the Veloster, and considering how much we liked the Genesis Coupe, we’re going to bet that the Veloster will have a lot of good things going for it (except its name).

The new hatch will be front-wheel drive and is expected to feature the same 2.0T engine found in the Genesis coupe, making 210 horsepower.

Expect the Veloster to show its face for 2012.

Welcome Back! Alfa Romeo Returning to Canada

Alfa Romeo left our market back in 1995 and mostly every car obsessed Canadian has felt something lacking in their lives ever since.

Alfa’s are traditionally quirky cars that never start, always break down and make you want to bludgeon it with a bat by the end of the day. BUT, they are such amazing high spirited cars, that most are willing to put up with all the problems. Afterall, a true petrol head doesn’t let something silly like reliability affect their car buying decisions, that would be way too sensible.

On top of that, they are achingly pretty, with the prettiest being the 8C you see pictured above.

So, when will we be able to find ourselves at a local Alfa dealer? Find out after the jump.

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Oh Hi: 2011 Lotus Elise, Lowest CO2 Emitter For a High Performance Car

Congrats to the 2011 Lotus Elise where the big news is that it is the the best performance car for CO2 emissions.

It’s able to achieve this mostly by its light weight (just under 2,000 ounds) and it’s new small 1.6 litre efficient engine borrowed from Toyota. 134 horsepower is generated from this 4 cylinder and it cuts its emissions by 13% over the 1.8 litre engine, producing only 155 g ofC02 per kilometre.

The new Elise will now sport a toned down front end with design cues borrowed from the awesome Evora.

Now for the bad news. We won’t be getting this new environmentally friendly Elise in Canada due to it being an extremely low volume selling vehicle.

But the 1.8 litre version will still stick around and it can hold its own for efficiency with a 9L/100 kms rating.