We test the new Hyundai Venue, a small SUV that has always lived in the Creta’s shadows. But this time, can it shine bright or will it fade away?
There is no better time than the present to buy a car - in any segment. Rising prices aside, there are rarely any bad cars around. In fact, I can probably count on maybe two fingers of a singular hand the number of truly bad cars sold in India today. Almost every car sold today is well equipped, drives well, is safe and has some sort of cool enough differentiating factor to make people want to buy them, especially in mega mass market segments like the sub 4-metre, sub-compact SUV. So what does one have to do to stand apart in such a hot segment? Hyundai, with the new Venue, seems to have cracked the code.
Creta The Second a.k.a Creta Junior a.k.a. Baby Creta a.k.a Creta on a budget, etc. are some of the ways we could address the new Hyundai Venue. It’s like someone took a Creta, put it into a Xerox machine, and printed it at 80 per cent. None of these are a negative by the way, especially considering how many Cretas Hyundai has just sold in the month of November.
Right, so, let’s dissect the way it looks. Squared off design accentuated by squared off fenders, which come body coloured on the N-Line we have here. In fact, let’s talk only about the N-Line because frankly, that is the one you need to buy if you are in the market for a Venue. Why? BECAUSE IT LOOKS COOL! You get bumpers that accentuate themselves like they have just come back from a nip/tuck session, a set of 17-inch wheels that I actually (for a change) like and even the side skirts have a little kink in them. Then we come to the two best bits - the dual exhaust and the dual spoiler. My fascination for a dual exhaust was cemented the first time I saw a Honda City VTEC and in my opinion, any car with a dual exhaust gets a ‘hell yeah brother’ from me. But is it just for looks or does it actually do anything? Read on and you will know.
The spoiler on the other hand is straight out of a boy racer’s wet dream. It is the kind of spoiler that will spawn a bunch of aftermarket shops to offer ’N Line Spoiler bhaiii’ on Instagram via their cringe videos. But it is actually inspired by the Ioniq 5 N, a car I have driven extensively and absolutely adore to bits! And it looks good on this car. It does not look garish, or an afterthought and its complexity actually does tie in with the rest of the car really well. Then there are some other honourable design mentions too. Like for example the logo on the rear is embedded inside the tail lamp glass and the C-pillar has some rather interesting design cues with the name patched in. Overall, a solid 10 on 10 for effort.
It’s not just the exterior that looks like a Creta, the insides look like one too. The centre of attraction is the dual screen setup that is encased in a large curved pane that runs all the way from the driver to the centre console. Top spec cars get a digital screen but this time around so do the mid variants. You get two interior options on higher spec cars, a full black with red accents on the N-Line, like the one you see here and an ivory and deep blue version on the standard car. Frankly, the all black version looks better to my eyes, but I get why a lot of people would prefer the brighter looking version instead, especially since it comes with a really nicely designed dashboard palette with what looks like recycled materials. Maybe we will have a gallery up on our Instagram and you can check it out.
Materials have also taken a huge step up - especially when it comes to leatherette touch and feel - like on the seats or the steering wheel. Sadly, the typical hard plastics continue to be as they are and are found all over the dashboard and the door cards. But all is forgiven when you come to the real cherry on the cake on the Venue N-Line, that steering wheel. If that spoiler we just spoke about was inspired by the Ioniq 5N, this is a straight lift from there. There is no Hyundai badge, not even in code, but an N badge instead with AMG styled separate buttons on the wheel itself for the drive and traction modes. If that ain’t cool, we don’t know what is. There are also the usual creature comforts one expects - cooled seats, electronically adjustable seats (sort of) and a sunroof. The lack of a panoramic one on the N-Line or the top spec version is a little surprising though.
One of the biggest complaints about the first generation Venue was the lack of rear seat space in general. This was made worse by the likes of the Kia Seltos that still have the best rear seat experience in this segment, period! Although the length on the new Venue stays the same as before, it now has 20mm more wheelbase, it is now 30mm wider and 48mm taller. Now for most, these numbers won’t mean jack, but our keen eyes could manage to see the slight improvement in cabin space at the rear. This was accentuated even further by the fact that the front seats now have been scooped out a lot more, the door panels too have a scooped space saving vibe and the lack of a pano roof means more headroom and thus more space at the rear.
Win-win for all but there are a few key bits that need to be addressed. We know the rear seat isn’t wide enough for three adults but this is a 5 seater car and by removing the headrest on the central rear passenger, Hyundai would have done better by just saying ‘it is a 4 seater, it is what it is.’ But this is India, and we will always adjust when it means going in the car for a great big family drive!
Talking about that great big family drive, there is something in the lineup for every type of family you can imagine. On a budget? Get the 1.2-litre petrol manual. Have a little more money and want an automatic? Get the 1-litre turbo! Lots of kilometres covered everyday? Get a diesel, or even better, get the diesel automatic. Cyrus Dhabhar? Has to be a turbo + DCT + N-Line option. I have always liked this engine and gearbox combination. Sure, it takes a little time to get going but once it does, it loves staying at its peak! Power delivery is smooth, it revs out well and to be honest, despite Hyundai telling us they haven’t done much to the exhaust, it actually sounds kinda nice too. Sadly, the camera just doesn’t pick up the sound well so even in our YouTube video, it sounds kinda normal.
The DCT on the 1-litre turbo has always been a mixed bag. While it usually shifts smoothly and with no real drama, strangely, our particular car had a bit of a fault where it would jerk from 3rd gear to 4th gear at full throttle and while in sport mode. In fact, the jerk was so noticeable, for a moment we wondered if it was programmed on purpose to give it a more meaningful shift simulation. But get off the pedal just a little and let it shift more normally and the jerk would be a lot less noticeable. One for the engineers to find out more about I guess.
Now personally, I prefer a stiff suspension setup and frankly, personally, I would have loved if Hyundai did a lot more to differentiate the N-Line with the standard car. Make it lower, stiffer, more focused on the enthusiast instead of just being a visual treat. But the 17-inch wheel + tyre combination does make a difference over the standard one. A small one, but noticeable enough to me. Ride quality isn’t bad by any means though and even though the Skoda Kushaq has a slight edge in the overall chassis balance, I genuinely think this is as good a tradeoff as it gets. Remember, people who buy a small SUV seldom really care about how their car drives as they aren’t really enthusiasts. So while the Venue N-Line does drive well, not many will realistically have driving ability as a top priority.
Everything today gets all the Level 2 ADAS suite options that one can fit into a package the size of the Venue. So your usual lane keep assist (that works well on all Hyundai group cars), forward collision warning and braking, rear assist, etc. are all a part of the package. Six airbags are mandated, so they come as standard. But all these are pointless en masse if Hyundai does not send one of these to Global or Bharat NCAP and talk about safety ratings the way they did with the Verna. The fact that Hyundai hasn’t made such a big deal about safety tells me that the possibility of this small SUV not being a 5-star car could exist. But I wish I am proven wrong, because frankly, if nothing, it will at least shut those pesky trolls up!
There are some negatives about the Venue that people will point out. This ambiguity about safety, the lack of a pano roof, the fact that the rear seats do not recline as much as the Seltos and maybe the fact that the N-Line isn’t as sporty as the last one seemed to be. But all of this fades away when you zoom out and see the Venue as a package, a phenomenal one as it stands. If you want a small SUV, this is the one to buy. It just does more things better than any other SUV out there and is a genuine rival to larger, more expensive vehicles too. Hyundai knew exactly what was at stake here and boy have they delivered. This is a new benchmark. Get ready to see them in every lane, society and traffic jam across the country because if this doesn’t sell as I expect it to, I shall shave my beard off.
