Drive Test: All roads lead to the new Hyundai Venue

Determined to disrupt the T-Cross’s success comes the new Hyundai Venue which has already started selling way up the new car charts as the brand’s most affordable crossover. This is because the Hyundai Venue intersects and combines so many must-have market trends all at once while the bling n’ bold face sets it well apart from the menagerie of cute and cuddly crossovers.

When given the choice of derivative to review, we uncharacteristically opted for the lower spec manual rather than the DCT but our twofold reasoning had nothing to do with the R30,000 price difference. Instead we remember this lightweight pairing fondly from its duty in the Hyundai Kona. It’s also a configuration not offered by the auto-only VW T-Cross.

And let’s start with the engine because it’s a real humdinger among the popular crop of 3 cylinders and even when dropped in its biggest body to date, the 88kW, 172Nm output moves the Hyundai Venue along effortlessly. It is also smooth, charming and holds Hyundai’s engineering refinement up to the highest standard. A little more accuracy from the manual gearbox would exploit the engine’s vibrant nature a bit further up the redline but we’re nit-picking a fun-to-drive package that left the entire team convinced. The body soaks up those road imperfections with aplomb, structural strength imbues it with less body wobble than a Renault Duster and meatier dynamics versus a Citroen C3. And from end to end the Hyundai Venue is brilliantly insulated from the harshness of the outside world.

Even in this mid-grade Fluid trim there’s a chunky bit of digi-tech led by the 8-inch touchscreen carved into the middle of the dashboard with Android Auto turning your smartphone into a Google powerhouse. The upmarket ambience is engendered by materials of a high quality, airvents are in sensible places and not down by your knees, layouts are crisp and the fabric seats, while on the narrow side, are very comfortable. The view out the back is squashed but that is why there’s a reverse camera. Rear legroom is about the same as you’d find in a normal hatchback while the 350 litre boot measures up to segment average.

No doubting that the Hyundai Venue is a lot of premium product for the price with form and function well balanced. When VW launched the T-Cross we jumped to the safe conclusion that no other brand would match it for sophistication and style but the Hyundai Venue has proved us wrong, and then some! Andrew Leopold

Specification

Hyundai Venue Fluid

• R309,900
• 1.0 3cyl turbocharged petrol
• 88kW
• 172Nm
• 0-100kph in 11.3 secs, 183kph
• 5l/100km, 146g/km