100 miles in the Venue

"fhrblig" (fhrblig) 11/07/2020 at 23:05 • Filed to: None

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So far I’m really liking this little guy. I’m definitely a bit out of practice driving a manual, but fortunately I’ve only stalled it once.

I love the styling. I’ve said before it reminds me of the S koda Fabia, another design I like. I’m not wild about the gray inset cladding on the doors but since it doesn’t rise to Pontiac levels, I’ll allow it.

This is the first car with the floating touchscreen type of design that I actually like. Close up i t looks like they designed a slot for an iPad, rather than just sticking a touchscreen awkwardly to the dash. The plastics are a bit hard but look and feel like they’re good quality . The interior is significantly better in my opinion than the larger and more expensive Kona. The seats are fantastic. They’re super supportive and bolstered nicely.

Ok, automakers. Please listen closely... DON’T MAKE SPEEDOMETERS LIKE THESE. Seriously, stop. In case you didn’t catch it, the speedo starts with 10 mph increments and then after 40 switches to 20 mph increments. Pick one or the other. That’s a bad design and you should feel bad, Hyundai. Other than that awful design choice, everything else is logically laid out and nice to look at. (I fixed the low tire light after this pic was taken.)

This is the first chance I’ve had to use Android Auto for an extended period. We have it in the Elantra, but that’s my husband’s car and his phone is paired with it when we’re driving it. I really like it. It’s super easy to respond to texts with minimal distraction, navigation is easy, and it works pretty well with the Sirius XM app. My only complaint is that sometimes not all of my saved favorite stations show up, I’m not sure why.

This little storage tray above the glove box is perfect for my phone (a Galaxy Note 8) when it’s plugged in. It has just enough of a lip at the leading edge to keep it from falling out. I don’t know why, but it seems like carmakers are reluctant to design spaces to hold phones well. It’s one of the things that annoys me about our Elantra.

The trunk isn’t very big, but it’s shaped well. It’s almost perfectly square so you can take advantage of every bit of space. And obviously the rear seats fold to expand cargo space.

Rear seat space is pretty good for such a small car. Plus the roof height means there’s a bit more headroom than normal.

How does it drive? It reminds me a bit of my Fiat 500 Sport, but it feels zippier thanks to 20 more horsepower. It handles pretty well, though there is a fair bit of body roll in tight turns. That’s not unexpected. It’s nowhere near as bad as the Cube, which always felt sluggish and top-heavy. This car isn’t going to win many drag races, but you’re not left in the dust, either. Too bad Hyundai hasn’t thought to stick a turbo in here, that’d be a hoot. I’ve had a bit of a hard time g etting used to the Lane Keep Assist. It’s so weird to feel the steering wheel fight you when you get a little too close to the lines for its taste.

I’m looking forward to taking it on a longer drive. Unfortunately I won’t get to until next weekend. I might also buy some seat covers for it. I want to keep it as pristine as possible. This is only my second new car in my 28 years of driving, and I want to treat it right. It’ll already be doing well less than 10k per year.

smobgirl > fhrblig 11/07/2020 at 23:09

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Haaaaaaahahahahahaha that speedometer is the WORST. I cannot. Handle. That.

fhrblig > smobgirl 11/07/2020 at 23:12

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It’s beyond dumb. It makes no sense.  Why on earth would I need a 140 mph speedometer in this? There’s zero chance it could hit that speed. 90 mph would have been perfectly adequate.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > fhrblig 11/07/2020 at 23:29

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It’s almost definitely electronically limited to 105, IF it will go that fast... 110 is a nice sweep and puts the major highway speeds right in the easy to see zone. My Mazda Protege was like that, it made perfect sense.

It does look like the Venue is a pretty nice package over all. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fhrblig 11/07/2020 at 23:38

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I really like this car but the all black interior just doesn’t do it for me. I want a bit of contrast inside. I like the exterior color minus the gray plastic insert that inexplicably isn’t the same shade as the dark gray plastic. That is dumb and looks like you just ran out of Armorall.

Seems like a great little utility vehicle though. 

fhrblig > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 11/07/2020 at 23:48

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I think it’d be neat and interesting  if instead of gray cladding they went with a darker red. It’d be different from all of the other cute-utes then.

fhrblig > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 11/07/2020 at 23:50

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Oh, it’s got enough power  that I think it could smoothly get to 105-110. I’ll never know, because I doubt it will ever see more than 80-85.  If that.

P5guy now GTIguy > fhrblig 11/07/2020 at 23:58

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Stange on the speedo. I spent all day driving the Kona and I had to double check mine wasn't like that. It's 20 mph increments until 160.

Jb boin > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 00:03

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At least yours goes from 40 to 60 with 4 smaller markers, on my A3 it goes from 80 to 100 (KPH) with 2 markers in between... like this :

Knowing that up until 2 years ago, most of the B roads were limited at 90KPH here (and it’s still t he limit  in many other European countries).

Jb boin > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 00:04

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What happened to that poor steering wheel?

fhrblig > Jb boin 11/08/2020 at 00:09

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I put a cheap-ass cover on it. The cover looks like crap, but it’ll help keep the steering wheel from getting nasty over time. Hyundai plastics used to be pretty suspect. My old ‘ 01 Accent’s wheel started to break down from the oils o n my hands and it got a little crumbly. I think this wheel is probably made better than that one was, but I might as well not give it the chance.

For what it’s wor th, it feels better than it looks.

fhrblig > Jb boin 11/08/2020 at 00:16

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That is maddening.

Jb boin > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 00:21

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It definitely doesn’t look so, seems like there are some decent looking models in real leather (there are also cheaper PU ones) that might fit your steering wheel.

boredalways > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 00:49

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Since you have a digital info display in the middle of the cluster, does it display current speed when cycling through the options?  Nice CUV!

Longtime Lurker > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 00:54

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Can you get a digital speedometer to come up on the screen?

fhrblig > boredalways 11/08/2020 at 01:04

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There’s a setting where you can have it display mph, yes.  I like to leave it on the mpg screen out of habit though.

fhrblig > Longtime Lurker 11/08/2020 at 01:05

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Yeah, it’s one of the pages you can scroll through for that little screen between the dials. It’s identical to the one in our Elantra. I’ve always preferred the mpg screen though.

gmctavish needs more space > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 05:08

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I like these. I’m trying to get my coworker into one. She wants a Nissan Micra, which I’m trying to steer her away from and into a Honda Fit, or a Venue

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 06:59

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Can you permanently turn lane keeping assist off, so that it stays off when you shut off the car, say?

I HATE so many of the stupid new features like that on modern cars....let me drive the damn car myself! If you can’t keep your car between two lines on the road without technology helping, you shouldn’t b e driving...

Sorry, lol....I just find some new ‘safety’ features r eally annoying...

Glad you like it so far! It’s the only little Crossover that I would actually consider buying new at this point... :)

fhrblig > gmctavish needs more space 11/08/2020 at 08:54

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The Venue can be had cheaper, probably has more equipment in the top line versions, and comes in better colors (IMHO). Oh, and a way better warranty. Plus, the Fit is going away soon. Really, both are a good choice, but I think the Venue is better value. I don’t know if it’s the same in Canada, but I also got 3 years of scheduled maintenance for free.

fhrblig > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 11/08/2020 at 09:01

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Normally I would agree with you, but there’s one feature that comes with it that I really like. When you are stopped and the car in front of you starts driving away but YOU don’t, it beeps a little warning and the screen between the dials reads ‘The lead car is moving away.’ So I’ve been leaving it on.

Fortunately, you can turn it off. There’s a small button in the bank of switches to the left of the steering wheel. Our Elantra has the blind spot monitor and that can also be turned off.

I’m still not calling it a crossover. To me, a crossover has to be AWD. Otherwise  there’s nothing really crossing over,  you just made a car taller.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jb boin 11/08/2020 at 10:35

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I really couldn’t tell you which mark is supposed to be 90 kph. Does it go 80, 90, 95, 100? Or does it go 80, 86.7 , 93.4 , 100?

Jb boin > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 11/08/2020 at 10:47

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The last marker before 100 seems a little bolder than the previous so it’s probably 85 and 90.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jb boin 11/08/2020 at 10:55

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I sure hope so.

Tohru > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 11:13

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17 years ago at the most recent Chicago Auto Show, they had the top-trim Venue there, the Denim. I really liked the interior on it.

Though I’m embarrassed to admit that even though I sat in the damn thing I didn’t notice the weirdly-incremented speedometer. It’s also a shame you can’t get the stick in anything but the base model.

Tohru > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 11/08/2020 at 11:15

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check out the interior on the Denim trim.

no manual trans on this trim though.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 11:21

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But if you turn it off, does it stay off the next time you start the car, or do you have to turn it off every time? Because if the latter, that would drive me crazy...

Th at lead car feature would also drive me crazy because if I’m watching the road, I know that lead car has already left anyway.

fhrblig > Tohru 11/08/2020 at 11:21

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And now you can’t get the stick at all. They discontinued it for 2021.

I haven’t seen a Denim at any of the local dealers, but the only other Venue I’ve seen out on the roads was a Denim. My husband still wants a Venue , but he wants an SEL with that wet-looking gray paint that’s become so popular. I really thought he’d prefer the green, actually.

I can’t figure out why the Kona’s interior seems so much below the Venue’s.

fhrblig > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 11/08/2020 at 11:23

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I’m pretty sure it stayed off. I’ll check again the next time I drive it.

It doesn’t do it that immediately. If you are paying attention and go, it doesn’t chime in.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 11:27

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Could work. Or even if the just made it the same color as the rest of the plastic.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Tohru 11/08/2020 at 11:28

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That is a nice looking interior! I like the distribution of the tan accents. I’d prefer some tan inserts in the seats instead of gray but I’ll still take it.

fhrblig > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 11/08/2020 at 11:31

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Yeah, but gray plastic on faux-wheel-drive crossovers is played out.  I want to see someone try something different.  I liked when the Honda Element dropped the gray plastic and went more monochrome, but I don’t know why someone doesn’t try other colors for that.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 11:38

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I agree that rugged plastic cladding is played out. It doesn’t always look bad but it’s cliche and exposed plastic is high maintenance. 

Tohru > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 11/08/2020 at 11:47

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the seats are actually denim, hence the trim name

Tohru > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 11:51

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bleh. I don’t like CVTs cause the belt inside is a wear item. it’s not a question of if you’ll have transmission failure, it’s when.

The Venue is nicer both inside and outside. I hate the styling of the Kona so much I had to fix it in photoshop.

even then it’s not great, but you have to work within the limitations of your canvas.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Tohru 11/08/2020 at 11:54

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It doesn’t look like it in these photos. Would probably be more obvious in person. I like that they took the risk though.

fhrblig > Tohru 11/08/2020 at 11:56

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That’s a vast improvement.

In my limited experience with them, CVTs do seem to follow the rule where if you follow the maintenance schedule they’ll keep on going. At my last job we had a couple of the Nissan NV200 cargo vans with them, and I kept the fluid changed per the schedule. They made it to over 200k with no transmission problems at all. Not even slight hiccups.

Tohru > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 11/08/2020 at 12:00

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having groped one in person, I can confirm it’s denim. Also all the dash switches are blue instead of reusing the black ones from the normal trim. A nice touch.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Tohru 11/08/2020 at 12:02

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Just what color are they? Looks like a medium gray with a hint of blue in photos. Are they nice to sit in? I definitely like the interior a lot.

Tohru > fhrblig 11/08/2020 at 12:03

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huh. in my experience it’s been more like 100-140k before the metal belt inside snaps and fills the ‘box with metal shards. so back to the Ford AXOD and 4-EAT days really.

Tohru > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 11/08/2020 at 12:07

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it was definitely blue. i liked it, but i was only in it for a few minutes

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Tohru 11/08/2020 at 12:24

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Very subtle on the coloring there. 

fhrblig > Tohru 11/08/2020 at 12:33

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We were not gentle on those Nissans, either. They were always rode hard and put away wet. The other surprise is that compared to every other van we had, we probably spent the least on maintaining them. The main complaint I had was the weird tire size they chose as standard only had like 2-3 options and they were all bad. You could get maybe 30k out of them if you were very lucky.

Tohru > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 11/08/2020 at 12:56

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We’re not in the era of 80's whorehouse red interiors anymore, sadly.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Tohru 11/08/2020 at 17:17

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I like some variety in interior color options. My Cruze has a very nice tan and black two tone on the dash and cloth seats but you could also get two tone black and red on the dash only on the Eco trim. Then you also had a saddle colored two tone and a few other roptions including brown, tan and black tri tone. They don't do it like that anymore. 

Tohru > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 11/08/2020 at 20:12

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I’d kind of odd in that I’m fine with red and brown and burgundy and blue interiors, but I could never do a tan or cream interior.
At the dealership we got in a 2015 Sonata from the auction with a light gray interior, and the back seat looked like someone carried dirty oil pans and differentials back there.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Tohru 11/08/2020 at 20:38

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I don’t all gray interiors especially. All black is boring and all brown is fine. Though lighter interior colors are definitely higher maintenance.