HYUNDAI VENUE EXTERIORS
The
Hyundai Venue compact SUV has a dark chrome front grille which includes the new
Hyundai signature face. The projector headlamps are cube shaped with LED DRLs
surrounding it. It also has projector fog lamps. Silver skid plates add to the
style quotient.
The
side profile of this SUV clearly indicates a sloping roof with several sporty
elements to enhance its appeal. The bold wheel arches, the 16 inches diamond
cut alloy wheels, the roof rails, shark fin antenna, chrome finish outside door
handles and the sun roof enhance the vehicles appeal.
As
you move to the back, you get to see LED tail lamps with a crystal effect and
an overall well designed rear. The vehicle has a length of 3995mm, width of
1770mm and a height of 1605mm with roof rack. It has a wheel base of 2500mm.
HYUNDAI VENUE INTERIORS
Three
interior colour themes are being offered for customers. The Venue I drove had a
black single tone interior though there are a khaki dual tone and denim dual
tone on offer. Everything is very sporty and top notch in the cabin. The seats
both in front and rear are very comfortable and score big on under thigh
support, apart from ample headroom and knee room. The boot area too is quite
voluminous.
An
8 inches touch screen, a sporty front design, a supervision cluster for
multiple information, Fully Automatic Temperature Control with digital display,
AC vents with silver surround, high gloss finish on centre fascia, gear knob,
AC and audio knobs, leatherette wrapped steering and metal finish inside door
handles are some of the plush interior features. The steering wheel can be
adjusted for tilt but it is not telescopic.
Apart
from its several luxury and comfort features, the Venue comes with Blue Link
Technology that is being offered in the top variants. There are around 33 new
connected features of which 10 are India specific features. But it is only the DCT variant that gets one
additional feature of the Bluelink which in essence means you can remote start
and stop your car and also switch on and set your air-conditioner even before you step inside. Overall, it is
the Bluelink technology which is one of the high points of this vehicle.
Since
the Venue comes with an embedded SIM, one can use the Hyundai BlueLink app
to lock and unlock your car, control the horn and lights, get real time traffic
information, set your destination through the app which gets synchronised with
the navigation offered by the company, track your car, geo fence it, immobilise
the car in case of a theft, track the idle start position of the car (this is
useful when your driver switches on the aircon and takes a nap in your car
while waiting for your), etc. You must
be wondering how this technology will come to your aid when you are driving
your vehicle.
Well,
it’s simple, you will notice that there are three buttons on the bottom of your
inside rear view mirror. Well one is for an SOS, i.e. when you need an
emergency medical help, you can call for an ambulance immediately.
The
second button is for road side assistance and the third is for the BlueLink
call centre. The moment you press the button, you can speak to an operator who
in turn can help you with any of your queries related to navigation or you need
to reach to a particular spot. The information will immediately be relayed to
your navigation map so as to guide you. There is also a button on the steering
wheel which can be used for voice navigation. The system is both Apple Car
play & Android Auto compatible.
As
far as the mobile network is strong for both your mobile phone and the one
embedded in your vehicle, the going is great. But since we were driving in some
hilly areas beyond Shillong in Meghalaya, we missed out on the connectivity and
hence this affected the performance of the BlueLink. In short, the technology
has its limitations.
PERFORMANCE AND SAFETY OF HYUNDAI VENUE
The
new Hyundai Venue comes with three engine options, a 1.2 litre kappa petrol, a
one litre turbo petrol and a 1.4 litre diesel. We got to drive the 1 litre 3
cylinder GDI turo engine model mated to a manual six speed transmission. There
is also an option of a 7 speed Dual Clutch
Transmission which is an automatic with this 1 litre engine.
There
is no denying the fact that the 1 litre GDI turo engine is a peppy machine.
Since it’s a small fellow churning out around 118hp @ 6000rpm and a peak torque
of 171.6Nm between 1500 to 4000 rpm, you can actually hear it scream its heart
out. Yes, there is a bit of turbo lag, but that can be ignored. This is quite
noticeable when you are on an uphill drive. You are bound to downshift several
times to get the punch from the machine.
But
ride and handling comes easy and good with the Hyundai Venue. The ride quality
is brilliant and on highways and straight roads it is quick on its feet. While Standard Safety Features in the vehicle
include Dual Front Airbags, ABS with
EBD, ISOFIX, seatbelt reminder, rear parking sensors and speed sensing auto
door lock & crash sensing auto door unlock, the top end variant gets a lot
more safer. Here the features include six airbags, hill assist control,
electronic stability control, vehicle stability management, auto headlamps with escort function,
cornering lamps, rear camera with rear parking sensors and power window with
auto Up/Down.
VERDICT
For
a sub compact SUV, the Venue has just set a new benchmark in its segment in the
country with a whole host of connected features. But will an Indian consumer
opt for such connected features in a car, especially when they would always
have to be at the mercy of a strong mobile network? For an answer, I guess we
have to wait for some time.