It’s no surprise that I’m often asked for my opinion on particular cars… how they perform, whether they’re value for money or, simply, if I liked it.
To those who ask such questions, my standard response may seem somewhat benign. It usually goes something like this:
“There’s not many bad cars being made these days… car companies simply can’t afford to make bad cars.
OR
‘Every car has its place. It may not be in my garage, but it will have its place.’’
Hyundai’s small SUV certainly has its place… and not just by the very nature of its name.
The Venue may not find its place in my own garage…. At least not until the kid progresses from horses to horsepower and gets a licence in, thankfully, still a few year’s time.
The Venue does have a place. It’s a funky small SUV that at an entry price of $20,690 for a six-speed manual-equipped model, (the six-speed automatic model is$2020 more) is well equipped to find a place in the hearts of adventurous young types seeking out fun, style and safety all in one.
The base model Venue sports 15-inch alloy wheels to replace the steel items of the previous model and carries Apple Carplay and Android Auto are standard across all three grades but now feature wireless connection capability.
Even at that base model entry point, it comes with premium cloth seats a sliding centre console box and heated door mirrors….. Yes, you read that correctly.
If the young trend setter seeking out a Venue to call their own can stretch their budget, or dig deeper into the bank of mum and dad, the top-grade Venue Elite at $26,490 also comes with Smart key access and a sunroof.
The Elite offer only an automatic to pair with the 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, producing 90kW of power, for the Venue’s front-wheel-drive small SUV package.
The Hyundai Venue was given four out of a maximum of five stars in its ANCAP safety test in 2019.
Hyundai says the AEB system works at city, urban and interurban speeds and is designed to avoid a collision with vehicles and pedestrians
Lane keeping assistance and high beam assistance is also standard across the range, although safety features such as rear cross traffic alert and blind spot warning are only standard on the Elite grade.
All Venues come with curtain airbags to protect all occupants including the rear passengers, while front airbags and side airbags protect those in the front.
There’s a lot to love about the Hyundai Venue. The price and the value are excellent…. An SUV as the cheapest Hyundai in the range is something unique.
It’s a Venue with a place… just not my place at this point in time.
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