Hyundai Venue Long Term Reports

In my report of the Venue last month, I’d said that it had been a strange year, and I have to say that the feeling still continues. To add to the feeling of general melancholy and anxiety, the monsoons have now arrived, and with some fury. Now, don’t get me wrong, I truly enjoy the rains, but having been preoccupied with the COVID crisis, and also because they truly couldn’t care less, the municipal authorities have, once again, failed to clear the drains in Delhi NCR. It’s almost as if every year they get surprised that there exists something called a monsoon season. 

As a result, the roads in my daily commute are flooded every now and then. But that actually doesn’t bother me that much, given that with the Venue’s 195mm of ground clearance and large 16-inch wheels, I’m able to cross waterlogged areas without a fuss. 

Other than that though, my commute has been pretty easy, and the Venue continues to be stellar in its performance. I quite enjoy how effective the air-conditioning system’s performance is and how effectively the climate control system controls the temperature inside the cabin.  

With our world stuck between lockdowns after lockdowns, unfortunately for me, that has meant that most of my time is still spent at home. But then again, that’s true for most of us. Why am I mentioning this then? Well, every month when I need to sit down and write about my experience with my long-term car, there’s usually a couple of memories or interesting incidents that provide for a good storyline, but this month, nothing. 

Now, the Venue has not been lying totally idle at home, as was the case in April, and I’ve been able to drive to office a few times over the past month. And something I truly don’t miss is filling up fuel, well mainly because it makes a dent in my bank account. But having filled up the Venue’s tank before the lockdown, there simply has been no need to do so. The Venue’s fuel efficiency is something that has quite impressive and the long range it provides – over 600kms on a single tank in my case – has meant that I’ve not seen a fuel station for over two months! 

However, with relaxations beginning to start now, I think the month of June might see me driving a lot more than usual, and that for one, would be a welcome change.  

I think the COVID-19 crisis is something that has affected all of us directly. Handling the transition of being able to move around and go about your life normally for decades and then suddenly having to drop everything you viewed as normal and stick to a strict social distancing regime is no easy task.  

And I think one of the biggest factors that make you realise about how large the threat is when your liberty to move around is curtailed completely, unless there’s an emergency. Of course, with the administration moving to a home delivery method of ensuring everyone gets supplies, one of the things I miss now is my daily commute. Which, obviously means that the Venue has been safely parked in my underground parking lot, gathering dust. 

Of course, as advised by my colleagues, I go to the parking lot every few days to start the long-term Venue I currently drive, and move it around a few metres – to ensure the battery doesn’t lose all charge, and also the make sure the tyres don’t develop a flat spot due to the lack of driving. Also, I usually give the Venue a quick clean while I’m in the parking lot to make sure it’s paint work retains its shine. 

And here I discover a big advantage of the Venue, given that it’s a compact SUV, cleaning it doesn’t take too much time, and that is a big plus when you have to clean the car yourself regularly!  

If you remember from a couple of months ago, I was trying to see if I can exchange our diesel long-term Venue for the 1.0-litre automatic option. Well, I’m happy to announce that with a little bit of persuasion, the kind folks at Hyundai India managed to exchange the two cars!

Now, I have nothing against diesel cars, in fact, I find their low running costs extremely attractive, but the sheer effort of driving a manual car in today’s traffic was becoming a chore. From that perspective, the DCT gearbox of the Venue is absolutely brilliant. Not only does it shift rather quickly, but the refinement of the engine is also fantastic. And driving it with a light foot, I’m getting fuel efficiency numbers of up to 12km/l, which is pretty good for only in-city driving.

All in all, I have to say, the switch to the 1.0-litre automatic version of the Venue was a very good move. Now with school holidays approaching, it’s time to hit the highways and see how the Venue does on long road trips.

I must confess, I’m quite enjoying my time with the Venue as the brutal cold has already descended on North India. With its effective air conditioning and the quick-warming engine, it feels good to set the climate control system to a cosy 24-degrees Celsius while the temperature is in the single digits outside. I’ve always thought heated seats and steering wheel were something not suited to India, but I would like to take that back now. 

The one thing I think that I might have missed upon is choosing the 1.0-litre turbo petrol with the automatic. You see, while the Venue, with its 1.4-litre diesel engine, is great to drive too, but with traffic being what it is due to major road closures in Delhi, the constant first-second-first gearshift tango does begin to get to you. And with the traffic problems not showing any signs of abating, I might have to figure out what to do. 

The Venue is supposed to go in for a service soon – the Great India Drive livery also has to be removed, it gets too much attention on my daily route – and maybe I’ll nicely ask Hyundai officials if they will be willing to change my car for a petrol auto model. I mean, it is the festival season, so maybe this won’t be too much of an ask!  

With the sub-4m SUV space having exploded, and the success of various products in that segment, I can safely say that I can be a really good critic of the Hyundai Venue. You see, a couple of years ago, I had run its chief rival, the Maruti Suzuki Brezza as a long-term car, and was quite happy with it. However, the minute you look at the Venue and enter the car, you can see why it is selling like hot cakes as it has completely changed the customer expectations in its segment.

Even when you look at its design, the Venue looks cutting edge and I have to say the big front grille has been very well integrated and the three-tier headlight setup looks quite futuristic. Similarly, the interior too is class leading and I’m particularly fond of the intuitive touchscreen multimedia system and the BlueLink technology. 

Our test car is the 1.4-litre diesel and while it is exceedingly efficient – Ishan has recently driven the Venue for thousands of kilometres on the Great India Drive – and even with his deranged driving, the Venue was averaging over 16.5km/l, which I expect to increase further. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to spending some time with the latest smash hit from Hyundai.