2024 Hyundai Venue

You have probably read that the average price paid for a new vehicle approaches $50,000. How about one that costs less than half as much as that?

The Hyundai Venue stickers for under $20k to start and even if you buy a loaded, top-of-the-line example, the MSRP is still less than half what the average new vehicle sold for last year.

So – what’s the catch?

What It Is

The Venue is Hyundai’s smallest crossover and one of the least expensive new vehicles on the market.

It’s kind of like what small crossovers such as the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CRV used to be about 20 years ago.

Just nicer.

Base price is $19,900 for the SE trim, which comes with all the essentials – including AC, cruise control and a six speaker stereo system. This trim comes standard with 15 inch wheels – which means you’ll pay less for tires. And rear drum brakes, which means you’ll never pay for warped rear brake rotors or calipers.

The SE also still comes with an ignition key you insert and turn to start the engine. One that can be run through the wash without hurting it, if you forgot to take it out of your pants pocket.

One that can be replaced at any hardware store for less than $15, too.

A mid-trim SEL adds a sunroof, leather trim, automatic climate control and rear disc brakes – plus two-sizes-larger 17 inch wheels and pushbutton, keyless ignition. This one stickers for $21,900.

The top-of-the-line Limited (MSRP $23,150) comes with heated seats, LED headlights, a wireless phone charger and GPS navigation, digital main gauge cluster and all of the features that are included with the SEL.

A 1.6 liter four cylinder engine without a turbocharger is standard in all Venues, along with what Hyundai calls an Intelligent Variable Transmission, which is a type of continuously variable (CVT) automatic transmission that mimics the operating characteristics of a six-speed automatic.

So, what’s the catch?

The Venue does not offer AWD – which is unusual among crossovers. But that may not be a problem if you’re looking to not pay for it.

What’s New For 2024

The Venue carries over unchanged from last year.

What’s Good

Hard to argue with the price.

Hard to argue with the space – for the size.

No turbo to cost you money down the road, after the warranty expires.

What’s Not So Good

Not so great gas mileage for such a small – and small engined – crossover.

CVT automatic-only.

A bit less cargo space than other – slightly larger – small crossovers such as the Chevy Trax and Nissan Kicks (both of which cost more).

Under The Hood

All Venue trims come standard with the same drivetrain: A 1.6 liter four paired with a continuously variable (CVT) automatic driving the front wheels only.

This latter may be why the Venue’s four isn’t turbocharged.

AWD adds weight – and while the Venue is relatively light for a modern vehicle, 2,612 lbs. for a subcompact-sized crossover is pretty heavy relative to what small cars weighed in the past. As a point of comparison, back in 1980, a VW Rabbit weighed just under 2,000 lbs.

But the good news is the Venue would be even heavier if it were AWD – and then it would need a turbo to haul itself around.

The fact that this Hyundai’s little four isn’t turbocharged or direct-injected is also a big part of the reason why it’s one of the few new vehicles available for less than $20k to start.

Turbos do add power – but it doesn’t come for free. They also add potential expense – when the turbo or its peripheral parts need to be replaced.

And because turbos pressurize the engine – which increases stress on the engine’s internal parts. If they’re not built to handle it, they are apt to wear (and break) sooner rather than later; it’s just in the nature of things – the same way that a helium party balloon is vulnerable to popping.

The Venue’s engine – which makes 121 horsepower – is paired up with a CVT automatic transmission. The good news is it doesn’t feel or sound like one. Hyundai has programmed it to “shift” as if it had gears – which it doesn’t, being a CVT. So it’s hard to tell – by sound or feel – that it isn’t.

The bad news is it’s still a CVT – and while the long-haul reliability of these types of transmissions has improved, they don’t have the long-term track record for being as reliable as conventional automatics (with gears, that do shift).

CVTs also usually make an engine that doesn’t make much power feel even less powerful, because they lack the torque multiplication of a conventional automatic transmission (via the torque converter).

And, of course, there’s not much torque to multiply here, regardless.

Just 113 ft.-lbs. – and it’s not fully available until 4,500 RPM.

If this little Hyundai were available with a manual transmission, the driver would be better able to make use of what power is available. But manual-equipped vehicles tend to not perform as well on government fuel economy certification tests – because they can’t be programmed to do well on the test. As by shifting up into higher (and overdrive) gear as soon as possible.

The problem is that in the real-world, the driver will often need more acceleration and push down more on the accelerator to get it. This typically forces the automatic to downshift – thus negating the programming and the putative mileage advantage.

Which brings us to that.

This small crossover – with a very small engine – still only manages 29 city, 33 highway, even with the CVT. It’s not terrible mileage. It’s just that it’s remarkable that’s all you get out of such a small crossover with such a small engine, which is paired with a CVT.

But then again, it’s heavy.

As a point of reference, a similarly small older crossover – something like a Toyota RAV4 from the early 2000s with AWD weighed a couple hundred pounds less.

Because it wasn’t weighed down by all the federal regulations and mandates that have been imposed on vehicles during the past 25-30 years.

On The Road

The Venue is peppier-feeling than you might expect given how heavy it is relative to how powerful it isn’t.

Zero to 60 in about 9 seconds is pretty peppy. Relate to to 11 seconds-plus it took for the last-generation Prius to get to 60 (the new Prius is now as quick as some V8 muscle cars were back in the ’70s).

It is peppy enough, at any rate, for what it is. That being an inexpensive way to get around in your own vehicle – as opposed to waiting for a ride in someone else’s, because you can’t afford your own vehicle.

It has no trouble getting to get-in-trouble speeds, either. Plenty of speed for more than just poking along in stop-and-go-traffic. Try it. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. Especially by the way the CVT automatic doesn’t feel or sound like one. Floor the accelerator and the engine revs and the CVT appears to shift; the revs drop and then they rise again – until the next upshift. The weird-feeling (and unpleasant sounding) no-shifting action of the typical CVT are absent here.

A manual would be more fun – but this isn’t bad.

The weight is also an asset in that this little crossover doesn’t feel flimsy. It feels solid and weighted – because it is. Small it may be. But it has the heft of a large sedan from the ’70s.

And it’s not even that small. Just relatively – compared with everything else out there now. But if you have a look at the specifications, in terms of length and width, this “small” crossover has about the same overall footprint as a RAV4 from the early 2000s and while those are fine vehicles, they feel light, especially at 75 MPH.

The older small crossover are more agile-feeling.

But you’ll be surprised (again) by how stable-feeling this small crossover is, especially in the curves. Hyundai doesn’t market the Venue as a performance crossover but – try it and see – it performs at a much higher level than the specs suggest.

And while there’s no manual transmission, there is a manual emergency brake lever. This is almost as startling (in a good way) to find as a third pedal in that almost all new vehicles have an electrically actuated automatic parking brake. What’s the difference? It’s similar to the difference between a manual and an automatic transmission in that you have more control over the vehicle. An electric parking brake is Off or On. You can’t modulate the braking force applied, by hand.

By feel.

With a pull-up emergency brake lever, you can.

And that’s not just fun. It’s safer. In the actually safer sense. You can use the emergency brake to control the vehicle if the hydraulic brakes fail. You can prevent the rear wheels (which are the ones controlled by the emergency brake lever) from locking up, by easing up on the lever. And – of course- you can use the lever to lock the brakes up, in order to execute a 90 degree turn.

Or a 180 degree turn.

And that’s very fun!

At The Curb

The Venue is small – by current standards. But not by recent-historical standards.

It is 159.1 inches long overall, which places it squarely in the subcompact crossover class, of which there aren’t many anymore. Even the Chevy Trax is a significantly larger/longer rig, at 178.6 inches – and it has an even smaller (1.2 liter, three cylinder) engine.

But it’s about the same as a 2005 RAV4, which was 166.6 inches long and that’s probably the right comparison, as the Venue is today’s version of what the RAV4 was, back then. It isn’t that anymore. The current RAV4 is a relatively huge vehicle – it’s more than 180 inches long, or almost two feet longer than the Venue. It’s also just shy of $30k to start – or almost $10k more expensive than the Venue and nearly as expensive as some entry-luxury vehicles.

The Venue offers luxury features – at an entry level cost.

A top-of-the-line Venue Limited has climate control AC, heated seats and wireless phone charger. It also has things you used to have to spend luxury car money to get, such as powerful LED headlights that turn night into day (try them and see) and a digital instrument cluster, along with the now-commonplace secondary LCD display/interface for the stereo. Both of these latter used to be exclusive to high-end luxury cars such as the Mercedes S-Class as recently as about ten years ago.

The main negative here – if it is one – is that the Venue has less cargo space than compact-sized models such as the Chevy Trax and Nissan Kicks. But it still has a lot of space for the size: 18.7 cubic feet behind its second row and a total of 31.9 cubic feet with the second row folded forward. It’s enough space to make this small crossover a practical crossover that’s big enough – on the inside – to serve as a small family’s primary vehicle.

It also costs less than either the Trax or the Kicks – and has noticeably more generous rearseat legroom, too.

The Rest

As mentioned earlier, the base trim Venue SE comes with rear drum brakes – and 15 inch wheels. These are also becoming as hard to find in anything new as a manual transmission- and that’s too bad.

Drum rear brakes are much sturdier than disc brakes.

It is easy to warp a rear brake rotor (and thereby, ruin it) by over-tightening lug nuts, which tire shops do routinely when reinstalling the wheels after mounting new tires. And – speaking of tires – 15 inch tires cost less because they’re smaller. They also impart less rolling resistance, which reduces fuel consumption.

But the real benefit is the taller sidewall, which absorbs more road shock and gives you a softer, smoother ride.

The Bottom Line

If you’re wanting a small crossover like they used to make ’em, Hyundai still does.

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