Hyundai’s new Venue

HYUNDAI’S latest addition to its sports utility range is set to arrive in Zimbabwe soon, offering the perfect fit for those seeking a seamless combination of style and versatility. The Venue, first introduced at the New York Motor Show last year, joins its larger siblings with its practical and convenient features in a compact package.

The vehicle embodies the characteristics of “the place to be”, while reaching the final desired destination, wherever that may be.

With the all-new Venue, Hyundai makes its SUV debut in the A-segment. It conveys a fun, yet functional design in a versatile and modern compact vehicle.

The Venue with its bold and unique character might be small in size, but it is big on practicality and personality. It offers a unique, entry-level vehicle for consumers seeking savvy design with an abundance of safety, convenience and connectivity features.

As Hyundai’s most affordable SUV to date, Venue is aimed at urban adventurers with a taste for savvy, trendy design that stands apart, as well as offering a remarkable driving experience.

Hyundai’s naming theme for SUVs has typically been a city or place. “Venue” refers to a “place” people want to be seen in. The vehicle embodies the characteristics of “the place to be”, while reaching the final desired destination, wherever that may be. It exhibits compact but confident body forms, delivering a new interpretation of Hyundai’s signature design language. The side profile exhibits full-volume wheel arches and strong character lines, while the bold and beautiful cascading grille incorporates Hyundai’s signature forward-looking visage found on both the Kona and Santa Fe SUVs.

The Venue is available with striking 16-inch alloy wheels as standard equipment on the Fluid and Glide versions, and 15-inch steel wheels for the Motion. Its impressive aerodynamics visualized by the rear shark-fin spoiler and rear fascia asymmetric block help improve efficiency while maintaining its unique sense of style.

The Venue’s inviting interior offers intuitive controls and forward-thinking design, excellent use of dimensions to create ample space for driver and both front and rear passengers, and decent sized luggage area that adds to the practical nature of the car. The leather-wrapped steering wheel has audio controls and – in the Fluid and Glide derivatives – cruise control buttons to make a long road trip much easier for the driver.

The Venue includes an abundant list of standard safety features including six airbags – front (2), side-impact (2) and side air curtain (2) – for the Fluid and Glide options, seatbelt pre-tensioners with force limiters, Isofix child seat attachments, and an Advanced Braking System (ABS) to deliver safe car control in difficult road conditions. The Motion derivative comes with two airbags – one each for the driver and front passenger.

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is a standard feature in all derivatives, as well as Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) which balances braking forces at each wheel when the car is dynamically loaded, and Brake Assist which provides maximum ABS-level braking force to the driver when an emergency stop is necessary. All Venues also come with Hill Start Assist Control.

Fuel economy is an important consideration for customers who purchase an entry-level vehicle. The Venue won’t disappoint thanks to Hyundai’s three-cylinder turbocharged Kappa 1.0 T-GDI engine.  It delivers 88 kW at its peak performance around 6 000 r/min., and maximum torque of 172 Nm in a range from 1 500 to 4 000 r/min.

The engine can be paired with either a six-speed manual transmission, or seven-speed automatic dual clutch transmission (DCT) in the Motion and Fluid versions. The top-of-range Glide derivative only uses the DCT transmission.

Fuel consumption was measured at a frugal and realistic 6,5 litres per 100 km for the manual transmission versions, and 6,9 litres per 100 km for the DCT. These figures were bettered handsomely in the recent WesBank Fuel Economy Tour where the Venue was a class winner with a fuel consumption figure of 5,80 litres per 100 km.

 If you are thinking of a compact yet practical SUV, contact the Hyundai office in Graniteside, Harare or Clover Leaf Hyundai  in Bulawayo for a quote and also additional information on what the brand has to offer.