By Peter Ciani for RPM News Weekly
When Hyundai describes the 2021 Venue as an urban crossover SUV, consider it a marketing-speak sort of way of saying that it’s a handy, well-sorted runabout that doesn’t cost a bundle to own.
With a base price starting around $18,750 ($19,935 with destination) including plenty of what used to cost extra, the 159-inch, 2612-pound Venue certainly holds its own in the cheap, nimble, and efficient categories.
The Cheap:
Just to clarify, when I say cheap, I don’t mean cheap as in stingy or poorly constructed. I mean cheap as in inexpensive. The Venue is one of the cheapest small SUVs on the market, and, even at the base level, a buyer gets a very decent amount of tech and safety features.
Our test car was an SEL with the optional Premium package that adds LED headlights and LED driving lights, heated mirrors, heated seats and a power sunroof.
Inside, the 5-passenger Venue offers a clean, easy-to-operate layout with buttons and knobs. It may seem odd to be excited about a car with a volume knob, but not everyone is in a rush to the future. If you’re NOT looking for a car with zero buttons and a giant touch-screen that controls everything this might be the car for you. Or, if there’s a new driver in the house, the Venue would certainly make a great starter.
There aren’t many interior color choices for the Venue, but the available two-tone color schemes found in the SEL and (more so) the Denim trims, give the interior a bit more of an upscale appearance. Sure, you won’t find a lot of soft-touch materials in the Venue, but keeping the market-level and low entry-cost in mind, that’s not unexpected.
Some reviewers knock the Venue for this, but I think they lose sight of where an inexpensive car sits in the marketplace. Personally, I’ll take more standard tech and safety features over extra dashboard padding any day.
On the technology front, the base Venue SE includes an 8-inch touchscreen display, Bluetooth hands-free connectivity with voice recognition, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration. The touchscreen is mounted high up on the dash for easier visibility and the menus are about as simple as you can get in a new car. If you want embedded navigation then you’ll have to step up to the SEL or Denim.
Having a built-in navigation system can be handy, but with the standard 8-inch touchscreen paired with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, you probably won’t miss it. In fact, with all the cars I’ve driven, I find myself using the automaker’s embedded navigation systems less and less after giving them the obligatory testing.
Strangely, if you order a Venue with the navigation system you can’t get wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, which seems a bit backward.
Standard safety features on the base Venue include Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist with Pedestrian Detection, Brake Assist, Lane Keep Assist, and Driver Attention Warning.
The SEL trim adds Blind-Spot Collision Warning with Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning, while the Denim adds Cyclist detection to the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist system.
The IIHS named the Venue a Top Safety pick for 2020 and 2021. Outside of the Toyota brand, that’s not something a lot of small vehicles can claim. Another plus for families looking for a safe car for their new driver(s).
Another value advantage that the Venue has over the competitors is the brand’s 10-year / 100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty. For those who hold onto a vehicle for a long while, not having to worry about repair costs years after the car payments end is a big plus.
The Nimble:
Remember, the Venue is Hyundai’s urban crossover SUV and although I’m not entirely sure what they mean by that description, for me it references a small vehicle that can dart between large SUVs and trucks in traffic and park in ridiculously small parking spaces with little effort.
The Venue certainly checks those boxes. Fortunately, I’m not needing to play that urban driving game very much since moving out to the sticks. Even so, here’s a surprise: the Venue also makes a good backroad driver for us country folks (sorry marketing gurus).
The Efficient:
The Venue is powered by a 1.6-liter inline 4-cylinder engine sending 121-horsepower to the front wheels through what Hyundai calls an Intelligent Variable Transmission. That might not sound like much horsepower, but the Venue is a small, very light SUV so it definitely has a fair amount of pep around town.
All-wheel-drive isn’t available, which may be a negative here in New England (a.k.a. Subaru country), but most entry-level compact SUVs don’t offer it either. There is an optional snow mode, but if not having all-wheel-drive is a deal-breaker, you may want to move up to the Hyundai Kona.
Fuel economy ratings for the Venue are 30 mpg city and 33 mpg highway with a combined city/highway of 31 mpg. During my week of mixed highway and backroads, I actually was getting above the combined rating. At last check, I was averaging around 34 mpg – not too thirsty in my book.
The available sport mode adds a bit of a kick on take-off, but eventually, the transmission seems like it really needs to shift once you get up to speed in this mode, especially on the highway. Consequently, I found myself using Sport mode to get up to speed, then switching it to normal. Also, the Venue could use a little more sound deadening to counter the engine noise, but again, we’re talking about a car that needs to fit a certain price point.
Speaking of the transmission, I don’t mind the CVT…urrr, IVT, and it does include a manual shift mode that works pretty well, but I would have loved to test this car with the now discontinued 6-speed manual. Even though the Venue made its debut just a little over a year ago for the 2020 model year, the manual transmission didn’t make it to 2021. It’s a shame really, but if the business case wasn’t there for it , then you can’t blame Hyundai for simplifying.
In fact, a quick search on CarGurus for a manual transmission-equipped Venue only turned up 5 examples nationwide. The closest to me is 669 miles away, so I guess that says a lot about its take rate.
The compact crossover / SUV market is pretty crowded these days, and yes, there may be more exciting cars than the Venue on the market if you’re willing to spend well into the high 20’s. Truth is that not many can touch the value of the 2021 Hyundai Venue.
Back in the day, when you got an entry-level car, you likely got a car with roll-up windows, black bumpers and rubber floor mats. If you haven’t noticed, times have changed. Put the 2021 Hyundai Venue high on your list of vehicles to check out and see for yourself.
