Hyundai Venue Diesel Review – Late To The Party But Top Of The List

Hyundai Venue Diesel Review – Performance / Suspensions / Handling / Brakes / Comfort / Design / Features / Price / Pros / Cons

I know we are late to the party with the Hyundai Venue, but so was Hyundai. With the Venue, Hyundai has successfully eaten up into the share of Maruti Vitara Brezza. The latter has been overtaken by the Venue in monthly sales, a lot of times. Of course, even this particular segment is picking up a storm in the market.

Since most of the buyers are either opting for the top-end diesel variant or the top-end turbo-petrol DCT one, we thought why not go with the review of Hyundai Venue diesel first. Let me tell you, the SUV is already receiving a lot of good comments through its owners, about its mileage and extensive features list. Well, its Hyundai. It has to give features. So, in this review of the Hyundai Venue Diesel Manual, we have talked about the performance, handling, comfort, ride quality and the features.

Styling

So, talking about its design bits first, we have a boxy-shaped SUV with some modern bits. You get freshly designed projector headlamps with a thin LED strip running above. The large cascading grille at the front shows the dominance of the SUV on the roads. The alloy wheels are new and kind of sporty as well. Earlier, I liked the fact that Hyundai had opted to style the Venue completely different from Creta. However, the new generation Creta, set to launch at the 2020 Auto Expo, will use the same design.

Overall, Hyundai has done it again. Venue is probably the best-looking compact SUV, as per my opinion. I especially have a strong liking for boxy-SUVs.

Inside the cabin, you are treated with an equally appealing interior. It gets an all-black interior, to make things look sporty as well as classy. The dashboard is neatly laid out with dials for the AC as well as the volume control. Hyundai has used soft-touch plastic inside the cabin.

At the centre, there is floating touchscreen infotainment that uses the Blue Link technology. Lots of cubby holes spotted inside and one dedicated for your mobile phone. Plus if your phone gets wireless charging, Hyundai has fitted one as well. At the front as well as the back, you get an armrest. For the rear passengers, you have the rear AC vents.

Performance

The Hyundai Venue Diesel uses a 1.4 Litre turbo-diesel engine, which is the same from the i20 Elite. The engine is capable of producing 90 BHP and 220 Nm of peak torque, mated to a light 6-speed manual gearbox.

The acceleration is pretty smooth on the Venue, but I would not call it peppy. The SUV feels like there is a good amount of torque inside. What I don’t like is that the Venue diesel feels pretty dull when running below 1500 RPM. It shows signs of stalling and also for quick overtakes, you have to shift a gear down or two. Once things get moving, you get to know that most of the torque is concentrated above 2000 RPM.

The refinement of the engine is also quite good and inside the cabin, there’s barely any engine noise in the decent RPM range. The SUV can easily cruise at 100-120 km/hr all day. All said the Venue diesel is not sporty in any manner, not made for any speed runs. For the sporty element, Hyundai has the Venue with a 1.0 Litre Turbo-Petrol, mated to a 7-speed DCT.

The gearbox comes with longer gear ratios, which hardly let us reach the 6th gear. That said, the clutch is light which is a boon for the city traffic. Its daily dependability is great and when I subjected it to my daily commute of 80 kms, I was happy with pain-free knees. Otherwise, I’m just grumpy and start cursing the traffic. A daily occurrence in our country.

Handling And Suspension

Here’s where there some problems. The Venue gets a light-weight steering wheel but sometimes it just does not feel connected to the SUV. There is definite understeer and Venue has trouble staying in the lanes. Yes, parking the Venue in tight spots and taking quick turns becomes easier.

Another thing that gave me a big problem was the suspension setup. At high speeds, you can feel the disturbance from potholes or even the slightest of damaged roads. In the city, it will take you over speed breakers easily, but again, will create a slight bit of discomfort on rough patches. In fact, there is absolutely no noise from the suspension heard inside.

Could Have Gone With Chunkier Tyres Like In Nexon

In SUVs, a big factor is body-roll. Let me tell you, the Venue is sorted out in that matter as the rollover is quite in control, compared to others in the segment.

Comfort

Now at the back seat, the cabin feels a bit tight. The knee-space is a bit less and so is the knee support. It can just manage to get three people seated at the back. At the back, the cabin feels to be smaller than many of its competitors.

As told you earlier, the suspension is not up to the mark. Even at the back, the drive gets bouncy and slightly uncomfortable. The insulation of the cabin is pretty good as with music playing in the background, the diesel engine can hardly be heard, even at high revs. Also, the addition of this sunroof makes the complete cabin very roomy. One thing I should tell you is that you would be better at the driver’s seat instead of at the back.

Mileage

Most of the diesel car buyers think about the mileage before buying it. So, we went easy on the pedal for a couple of days as well as hard on the accelerator, to get out the mileage in both the conditions.

In the city, with an easy foot, I managed to get nearly 21.5 kmpl. In the worst conditions, the mileage went down to 17 kmpl. I also made a short trip to Karnal on the Venue, which gave me 24 kmpl on the highway. While coming back, I went with heavy acceleration the whole time. In that, it managed to give me 16 kmpl.

With Light Foot Acceleration And Occasional Speed Bursts For Overtaking, Mileage Will Be Between 18-20 KMPL

Rounding up, the Venue is likely to offer you an average mileage of 18-20 kmpl in the city. That’s good enough for an SUV, be it a small one.

Features

As always, the Hyundai Venue is the most feature-rich SUV in its segment. Some useful highlights include a wireless charger, cruise control, front and rear armrest, the touchscreen infotainment with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and Mirror Link, Auto AC, Height Adjustable Driver Seat, 60:40 Split Rear Seat and Cornering Lamps.

Other features that come along with these include Air Purifier, the Blue Link technology, electric sunroof, Glovebox cooling, Push Button Start Stop and Rear Power Outlet for USB charging. The Blue Link technology in diesel engine enables the owner to unlock the car or switch on the headlamps through the phone. The engine start and AC controls come on the DCT variant.

A Good Feature But Phones Costing Upwards Of Rs 40,000 Only Support Wireless Charging

Verdict

The price range of the diesel variant starts at 7.75 Lakhs up to Rs 10.84 Lakhs (ex-showroom). Drawing the verdict, we get the reasons by it is one of the best selling SUVs in India. Hyundai Venue has ticked mark some boxes like features, mileage, performance and daily dependability. However, it does not stand out when it comes to cabin space and the high pricing for its top-end variants. The ride quality is somewhere it is just about all right, can live with it but if improved, it would be great. Despite being among the costliest ones in the segment, it makes up for a good buy. Only, if you are on the driver’s seat!

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