Hyundai a Venue to visit

Hyundai joined the party late in 2019 with the oddly named Venue, which shares a platform with and slots in below the similarly-sized Kona, which itself slots in below the soon-to-be-replaced Creta. I received the Venue, in 1.0T Fluid manual guise, for a week recently.

The Venue

With Hyundai’s rather confusing small SUV line-up clarified we can get onto the business of the Venue itself, which is aimed squarely at the likes of the Volkswagen T-Cross, Mazda’s CX-3, Ford’s EcoSport, Haval’s H2, the Suzuki Vitara and the upcoming new generation Renault Captur.

With a length of 3.99-metres, a width of 1.77-metres and a height of 1.61-metres, the Venue fits in perfectly within the small crossover market, sporting enough space for four adults and offering a 350-litre boot. This makes the Venue slightly smaller than a Volkswagen Golf while offering improved ground clearance of 195mm and the much-desired raised driving position offered by SUVs in this segment. In terms of its design, the Venue sports the latest generation of the Hyundai design language and is certainly related to the more angular Kona, however, the Venue’s proportions create a more boxy aesthetic which buyers in this segment may find endearing. The 16-inch alloy wheels, silver roof racks which match the silver lower rear and front bumper give the car the desired faux off-roader look, while the base model Motion models do without the bundu bashing aesthetics.

Inside the Venue

The interior of the Venue, in many ways, is superior to that of the T-Cross, with better quality plastics in certain areas and a lovely facia design. There is the odd plastic, such as that on the electric window switches that look of a poor quality though. Other areas where cost-cutting is evident is in paint finish inside the boot lining and the lack of a split-folding second-row seat. The Venue makes up for these relatively minor issues with a decent array of interior features, which in my test car included an 8.0-inch infotainment system which sports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality, cruise control, six airbags, a 3.5-inch TFT screen in the instrument cluster and combination cloth/leather seats to name a few.

Driving Venue

The Venue range is only available with one engine option, a familiar 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine mated to a six-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. My press car was the manual, allowing me to make use of the 88 kW and 172 N.m as I saw fit. Me weeklong stint with the car resulted in a combined fuel consumption figure of 6.3 L/100km, some 0.2 L/100km better than the manufacturer’s claim. As a car that will be used for the urban commute with a smattering of open-road driving the Venue offers exactly the sort of package that buyers in this segment are looking for. I would assume that many a buyer would opt for the automatic variant for its ease of operation, however, the manual provides a light clutch action and the small engine does the job of providing sufficient forward propulsion rather well, just expect some lag in the lower end of the rev range as its tiny turbo spools.

Verdict

The Venue is the right type of vehicle for this point in our automotive journey in South Africa, offering enough space, creature comforts and kerb appeal at the right price point. If you find yourself shopping within this compact crossover segment, this product should most certainly be on your shopping list.

Pricing

Hyundai Venue 1.0T Fluid R 309 900