The Hyundai Venue has always been a significant part of the MotorBeam long term fleet for a long time now. In the pre-facelift guise, we had the Turbo iMT variant with us and it actually served us really well on a lot of outstation shoots as well as daily work commutes. Hyundai gave the Venue a mid-life facelift in 2022 and with that they added some cosmetic tweaks and additional features to the car.
It was time to say goodbye to our pre-facelift Venue but that was not the end of the Venue story for us. This year, on a really rainy day, our new Venue entered the fleet and guess what, it has the same Titan Grey colour save for red accents that our previous Venue had. What’s different? Our current Venue is a DCT and I was more than happy because this was going to be my daily driver during the monsoons on Mumbai’s dreaded roads.
I quickly got accustomed to the car and noticed a few different things like the electrically adjustable driver’s seat, different UI on the touchscreen and the lack of fog lamps! I started driving the car on a daily basis and even did a trip to Lonavala on day 2 itself for a mileage test video (which shall go live in a couple of days). The Venue retains its characteristics of being an easy-to-use compact car and the automatic has just made things better for me.
The 1.0-litre turbo petrol is a peppy engine. The driving modes actually make a difference and for day-to-day usage I keep alternative between Normal and Eco modes. Sport mode is something which I use when I’m driving on empty roads and need quick throttle responses but mostly I prefer just cruising around in the Venue. I’ve been getting 11.7-12.3 km/l with this car and I think that’s quite fair in Mumbai.
One thing that I noticed while driving for long durations is that the under-thigh support for the front seats is a little limited for tall people. That causes minor discomfort and I end up getting out of the car and stretching my legs for a few seconds before resuming again. Another gripe with the car is that the suspension tends to transfer sharper bumps a fair bit inside the cabin. The car tends to move around a little too when driving over uneven patches on the infamous Western Express Highway at 70-80 km/hr.
The tyre size that Hyundai has equipped the Venue with, is perfect and there are no complaints on this front. The vehicle also has a very light steering. It’s actually a very convenient car to use for daily duties. Easy to park, intuitive audio system (sound quality is good), amazing visibility and high ground clearance.
The Venue has now started to become our go-to car for every shoot ever since our Renault Triber has left the fleet. The spacious boot and numerous storage areas are practical while the punchiness of the turbo petrol engine makes it far easier to take fast rolling shots of other vehicles, something which was a little bit of a struggle with the Triber’s underpowered engine.
Further Reading – Hyundai Venue iMT Long Term Review