We drove the Hyundai Venue petrol automatic variant at the media drive recently between Assam and Meghalaya. We were behind the wheels of this car for around 3 hours and in this review, we share with you our experience and Hyundai Venue 1.0 Litre Turbo petrol review.
Hyundai Venue is the newest entrant in the popular sub-4-meter compact SUV segment of India where the cars like Ford EcoSport, Maruti Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV300 are already quite popular.
Hyundai did not have any product in this segment to compete with these cars before the Venue was launched. With the Hyundai Venue, the brand targets to get a considerable share of sales of the compact SUV segment in India. But is this SUV up to your expectations? Is it worth your money? Let’s find out in our Hyundai Venue petrol automatic review.
Hyundai Venue Exterior Design & Styling
On the outside, the Hyundai Venue is a quite easily identified to be a Hyundai because of the design language, signature grille and its curves. The front gets a bold and large grille with distinctive looking headlamps and DRLs which are spaces from the headlamps. The sleek projector fog lamps also look quite modern and attractive. The dual tone front bumper gives it a sporty character.
Move to the side profile and you can see the resemblance with its larger sibling, the Hyundai Creta. The profile also looks quite attractive with pronounced wheel arches and black cladding along the wheel arches and near the lower side of the body. The silver-satin finished roof rails also look quite good.
The rear of the car is the least visually attractive view as it is quite contemporary, but still it looks classy and sophisticated. The tail lamp cluster is small and chunky and from the rear, the Venue gives a small car appearance which is a quite contrasting to the front of this car which makes it look quite butch.
Overall, the Hyundai Venue does look fairly attractive and sporty and has the just the right amount of oomph factor to turn heads.
Hyundai Venue Interiors and Features
On the inside, the Hyundai Venue is a pleasant place to be in. Just like other new Hyundai cars, the material choice, the layout, quality and the feel of the car is very upmarket.
The front row of seats offers good comfort and space. The dashboard design, central console with touch screen infotainment and Bluelink support, fully automatic climate control, wireless charging, electric sun-roof, an air-purifier etc. are some things which make this car feel way more advanced than its competition. There is ample space at the front row.
The rear row of seats gets good seating comfort and quality as well with rear-AC vents. The headroom and legroom are sufficient, but the shoulder room may be a problem if you try to seat 3 adults in the rear. It feels more comfortable two occupants in the rear seat.
The car feels very comfortable and quiet on the inside and the NVH levels are very low making the ride very plush.
The 350 Litre boot space of the Hyundai Venue is sufficient for most usual needs and occasional getaways on the weekend. It can easily fit 2 to 3 large bags.
Overall, the Hyundai Venue interiors are fairly comfortable and plush to give you a premium car feel, but it is best enjoyed with up to 4 occupants in the car, 5th one may feel like a squeeze.
Hyundai Venue Engine & Performance
The Hyundai Venue automatic is powered by a 1 litre turbocharged GDI (gasoline direct injection) engine which produces an impressive 120 PS of peak power and around 180 Nm of torque.
We were sceptical whether a 1.0- litre engine will be good enough for a car like Venue before we got behind the wheel, but we were pleasantly surprised that the engine is not only sufficient but also quite eager to rev. The power delivery is fairly fast and with a 7-speed dual clutch transmission mated to this engine, it feels butter smooth to drive. The transmission works effortlessly and shifts up and down quite efficiently based on the throttle input.
We did not struggle to accelerate and overtake on the highways, while during relaxed cruising at speeds above 70 KMPH, the engine felt quite relaxed in 6th or 7th gear (it displays the gear number in MID). The fuel economy of this engine in real world conditions is expected to be in the range of 9 to 12 KMPL depending on how you drive. We got close to 10 KMPL on our test run with a lot of stops for shooting pictures and videos of the car.
Hyundai Venue Steering, Ride and Handling
When it comes to handling, cornering and road grip, the Hyundai Venue felt very planted and it was pretty good around the corners as well. The suspension felt nicely tunes too, neither too soft, nor too hard, but appropriately tough. The steering feel however did not feel as satisfying as we expected from it. Hyundai Elite i20 or Verna offer more steering feedback than the Venue, but having said that, it is not bad if you look at it in isolation, but steering feel could have been better.
Hyundai Venue Petrol Automatic Review- Verdict- Should You Buy It or Not?
Well, to answer whether you should buy it or now, here are the few positive things about the Venue. First, it has great engine performance, very quiet and comfortable ride and cabin quality, upmarket and premium feel and oodles of features. Few downsides include that it is not very spacious to accommodate 3 people in comfort at the rear seat.
The steering feel is something which is not very enthusiastic. But if you look at it objectively, it is a great pick for someone looking for a premium compact car with lots of features and does not need to seat 5 people on a regular basis. The engine and transmission performance is the most appealing trait of the Venue Petrol automatic. So here you have it, our two cents on the Hyundai Venue Petrol automatic review.
We will be having the Venue over with us for a detailed road test review. We will get 1.0 Litre turbopetrol as well as the 1.4 Litre diesel engine for the review. So stay tuned!
