The new Hyundai Venue is being launched in the midst of a declining car market in India. Can it provide the spark that the industry needs?
First things first. A round of applause to Hyundai Motor India for having organised the first large-scale media driving event in India’s North-east. Great hospitality, delicious food and you realise that folks in Guwahati and Shillong drive just as badly as folks elsewhere in the country. Also, kudos to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for building a lovely four-lane highway between the two state capitals, the old GS road was quite scary. The highway had a beautiful surface, light traffic and was a great combination of twisty sections and straights, which allowed us to really get a good feel of the steering, handling as well as the engine and gearbox performance. A couple of rough patches in Guwahati and the approach road to the stunning Ri Kynjai resort on the shore of the Bada Pani lake outside Shillong also gave us a good impression of the ride quality. I won’t get into the looks debate around this car other than saying that it looks contemporary.
Before I start to list my impressions of the new Hyundai Venue, a quick caveat. I deliberately asked to drive the new one-litre GDI turbocharged petrol engine with the new seven-speed Dual-Clutch gearbox (DCT). This is an all new combination for Hyundai and it is really what I wanted to experience. To note, Hyundai offers the 1.2 petrol with a five-speed gearbox; a six-speed manual with this GDI engine which has 120PS of power as well as a diesel option with the tried-and-tested 1.4 litre unit. Additionally, the cars we tested were the SX+ model which come fully loaded with a touchscreen infotainment system and Hyundai’s ‘Bluelink’ system which makes the Venue India’s first ‘connected’ SUV.
A bit more about this system, which not only pairs with your smartphone but also allows you to use the inbuilt e-SIM in the car from Vodafone-Idea which comes with a three year subscription if you purchase the car. Bluelink is available only on the higher SX specification models and higher. The system provides not just telematics, which allow you to see your driving data, but you can use the system to unlock the car, start and stop the engine as well as start the air-conditioning remotely. In addition, you could geo-fence the vehicle, that is, say, you allow your 18-year-old to borrow the car but don’t want him or her to drive off far, so you could put a radius of 15 kilometres from your house and if the vehicle crosses that lakshman rekha you will get an alert on your phone. Here is the cool part, you can remotely immobilise your vehicle, not allowing it to start. This feature might not make your teenager son as well as potential car thieves happy, but it is indeed an interesting. If you are keen on the Venue, Hyundai has trained executives in every dealership to showcase these features.
But now about the car, how is it to drive? First things first. I personally felt that the Venue was the best-handling Hyundai vehicle that has been built in the country. The steering felt perfectly weighted and body roll, even while taking some of the high-speed corners on this highway was almost non-existent. And this did not come at the cost of the ride. On rougher stretches of road, the Venue didn’t behave badly at all. The ride and handling ought to be common across all variants.
As for the engine and gearbox, small turbocharged petrols, while producing a lot of power for their size, can be thirsty. Worse than that, they could have significant turbo lag, which often means that when such engines are coupled with an automatic, you can get abysmally poor performance. That said, the GDI and the DCT combination do not feel badly mated, sure the kick-down response when you floor the car immediately after a corner can feel sluggish, during regular acceleration and braking the Venue changed gears in good time without needlessly high engine revs. But if there is one thing I missed on this vehicle, it was paddle-shifters. You can use the gear selector to change up and down if you’re in the mood but I guess I have been spoiled. But when you push the car, it can go pretty fast, very comfortably. Those who drove the GDI with the manual transmission had more fun, but if you live in a city, automatics are the only way to go and this DCT is up there with the best of them.
The Venue is fairly good when it comes to space, although I still feel the XUV300 is the best in segment on that front. Issues? A high loading lip at the rear is as standard for vehicles in this segment, which might make tyre changing a bit difficult. But at Rs 11.1 lakh ex-showroom for this variant and prices starting at Rs 6.5 lakh, the Venue is miles ahead on the price battlefront. It is so attractively priced, which when coupled with its good ride, handling and decent performance makes it not just a compelling buy for those looking at compact SUVs but also at premium hatchbacks like the i20. Hyundai should have another winner on their hands.
