Humans are sensory beings, consuming information about the world through sight, hearing and other senses. Catering purely to the feels of enthusiasts without breaking the bank, Hyundai has introduced the Venue N-Line to one of their most successful products, the Venue. Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is a time for the SUVs, and when hatchbacks were in demand, they got their performance upgrades. We are going to tell you everything new about the Hyundai Venue N-Line. Hyundai has appealed to performance lovers’ auditory and optical senses with minor tweaks on the Venue N-Line to make it sound, appeal and feel like a performance update.
Verdict
Starting at Rs. 12.16L ex-showroom, the Venue N-Line is a competitive vibe enjoyed by enthusiasts and adored by everyone else. The relatively low body-to-weight ratio paired with N-Line light steering feedback, stiffer suspensions, N-Line design elements, and a beastly exhaust note make the Venue N-Line feel sportier and sounds more invigorating than most cars on Indian roads. Missing pops and crackles, but that’s pure nitpicking for an amazing-sounding practical vehicle.
Drives sharp and sounds enthusiastic
The Venue N-Line stance is shared with the regular Venue 2022, making it a practical car as a daily driver. The aural experience of the dual-pipe exhaust stuns and sounds way sportier than the actual drive experience. Despite the city’s legal speed limits, each rev built-up sounds fun and exhilarating. It induces an audio sense of pure enthusiasm from the driver, the passenger seat, and the audience on the road anticipating a sports car to pass by. The exhaust note alone feels like they’ve added a sportier engine beneath the hood, although that’s not the case.
Adding to the auditory sense of enthusiast feels is a lightweight steering wheel paired with stiffer suspensions and four disc brakes on all four tyres. The Venue N-Line has the exact power figures as the standard Venue with 7-Speed DCT, but the weight reduction in the form of regular seats compared to the ventilated seats on the Venue 2022 make the N-Line feel a tad bit snappier in the real world. The stiffer suspension setup keeps the car planted on high-speed cornering while still being able to soak road undulations like any other mid-size SUV. This duality makes the drive more confident than its formal-suited sibling, Venue 2022.
The improved power-to-weight ratio is eminent while driving the Venue N-Line. The N-Line steering makes it a joyful experience to manoeuvre this car in the city and on highways. Despite the drive mode selected, this car sounds maddening fun when revved. The DCT performs excellent with the Turbo GDi configuration and is smooth in transitions. In Sport mode, the 7-Speed DCT keeps the gears engaged right up to an invisible redline, but the most fun is squeezed through those large paddle shifters driving this car in manual. Thanks to the entire N-Line driving dynamics, it feels relatively light on its wheel yet surefooted. We dearly missed the rev counter on this car, and being digital; we hope Hyundai updates the MID in the future.
All black and red N-Line interiors
Enter the Venue N-Line, and you are greeted with an all-black interior scheme with red N-Line highlights all around the car’s interiors. The red and black theme suits the performance appeal of the vehicle and adds a visual sense of serious casualness associated with racing-themed interiors. There are red highlights on the AC vents, knobs, switches, etc., and the seats with N-Line imprints. The Venue N-Line looks similar yet different from the standard Venue line-up with a black and red theme. Every feature is identical to the Venue 2022, from the 8-inch touch infotainment system with BlueLink, Voice Assistant support, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, 4-way adjustable electric adjustments for the driver’s seat, coloured driver’s MID, wireless charger, USB A and C ports, electric sunroof and all the goodies of the Venue line-up.
Adding flair to the overall interior design and sportiness is a new N-Line gear selector with matching black leatherette and red elements and nicely designed metal pedals. A significant change is perceived with an N-Line three-spoke steering wheel which feels comparatively sleek, mean, lightweight, functional and finished in gloss black with sizeable black paddle shifters. Hyundai adds red ambient lighting acting as a cherry on a well-baked cake. What is surprising is the absence of ventilated seats, but as performance demands weight reduction, maybe it was a calculated move. Compared to a regular Venue with ventilated seats, the power-to-weight ratio must be impressive. Another standard feature for the N-Line is the inclusion of a 1080p 30fps dash camera with front and rear cameras mounted beside the auto-dimming IRVM.
A truly perceptible and thrilling aural experience
Powered by the same engine as the regular 2022 Venue, the N-line produces 172 Nm torque and 120 bhp power from its 1.0L 3-cylinder turbo petrol engine mated to a 7-speed DCT with similar drive modes – Normal, Eco and Sport. There are subtle yet noticeable updates to the Venue N-Line on the exterior. N-Line badges on all four sides of the car, along with red highlights in the form of stickers, add a visual flair to the overall N-line appearance. While the straight lines on the Venue 2022 make it look sophisticated, the redesigned bumpers on the Venue N-Line bring curves on the edges complimented with new skid plates both front and rear.
The Venue N-Line also gets N-badged redesigned 16-inch diamond cut alloys. Four disc brakes on all four tyres are the most significant performance update. Visual updates include a tailgate spoiler, red highlight strips across the car’s length and breadth, and a new front grille with X-shaped elements. A relatively unique and stiffer suspension setup is hidden under the car silhouette. The Venue N-Line retains the best aspects of the Venue 2022 with projector headlights and cornering lamps, the exact ground clearance and the same tyre sizes. The new dual-pipe exhaust mufflers offer a grunty note; this is the audio sensory that will tickle most enthusiasts.
Engine – Kappa 1.0L Turbo GDi Petrol
Power -120 BHP @ 6K RPM
Torque- 172 NM @ 1.5-4K RPM
Price-Starting at Rs. 12.16L ex-showroom
