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Hyundai Venue - A Space of Your Own

Over 1,00,000 people have discovered the joy of owning a Hyundai Venue. Time for you to discover it too.

Published On Aug 11, 2020 05:05:00 PM

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One can’t do much about time, but space – one’s own – is a different matter. One of the first spaces that we make our own is home, an area that we grow intimate with as we journey through life. We become so familiar with its aromas and nooks, the way sunlight enters it, and its general layout so well, we wouldn’t have a problem living at home even if we were blindfolded. And when we leave it, we often long for it even as we build another home, and get familiar with another space that will mould our life – the workspace. The area we chose to excel in might make us successful, but in the end, it, too, feels like home. The search for one’s own space, of course, doesn’t begin or end with one’s home and the workspace. It is a work in progress, a journey in search of a place in which we are comfortable in our own skin. And some of us, who also love the open road, choose to undertake that search in a car that puts us at ease, a kind of third space that embraces us and makes us instantly comfortable. If we are speaking your language, allow us to point you towards the Hyundai Venue, an SUV that is different and yet familiar, powerful yet sophisticated, packed with technology and yet as easy to get used to as home.

First among equals

Since its launch in May last year, the story of the Venue has followed the same arc as each and every one of Hyundai Motor India’s cars. Surely, the sheer brand equity of one of India’s largest carmakers had a lot to do with the response it fetched on its launch. The most recent in a long line of awards that celebrate the manufacturer’s commitment to quality came from JD Power in January this year. Hyundai Motor India received five model-level awards in the JD Power 2019 Indian Initial Quality StudySM (IQS). And one of these models was the Hyundai Venue, which was ranked No 1 in its class.

In the short span of five months, between May and September 2019, the Venue received over 72,000 bookings and sold over 42,000 units; and a lot of these were first-time car buyers just entering the workforce or young established professionals. In short, the Venue got people talking. There were, of course, many reasons for the tremendous response the Venue got – it had sold over 1,00,000 units as on June this year – but once you drive it, either towards the outskirts of town or around your city, you’ll realise that it is a car built on strong fundamentals.

The bold, cascading grille helps the Venue stand out in the crowd.

Look beneath its skin – and that bold front grille, the cube-shaped projector headlamps, the LED DRLs, its almost perfect proportions – and you’ll find a car that has been built with a combination of advanced high-strength steel and high-strength steel that delivers static and dynamic stiffness with improved structural rigidity. That solidity, when alloyed with a balanced suspension and responsive steering, is what makes the Venue so reassuring to drive – irrespective of whether you are navigating Monday morning traffic, or heading out on rough roads to a place outside town. It's a no-pressure zone that you often frequent.

The Venue’s distinctive tail-lamps feature LED inserts or lenticular lenses.

Options unlimited

As is the case with every Hyundai, the Venue comes with superbly matched powertrain options that cater to drivers with different attitudes to life: the go-getting executive, the serial entrepreneur, the explorer. While Hyundai’s proven 83hp, 1.2-litre Kappa petrol, and 90hp, 1.4-litre diesel engines deliver solid, smooth performance combined with some serious fuel efficiency, the 1.0 Kappa Turbo GDI is for those who want to get to places real quick and have fun while doing it. The 120hp turbocharged engine under the hood of the Venue is so refined that you barely hear it, but it puts you in the mood the moment you put pedal to metal, with its 172Nm of torque coming in nice and thick across the rev range. The engines that power the Venue have equally able companions in the four gearbox options, which include a 6-speed manual (mated to the diesel), a 5-speed manual (mated to the 1.2-litre petrol), and a 6-speed manual or 7-speed dual-clutch auto (an India-first) that works in tandem with the turbocharged unit. Plus, Hyundai recently launched the new Intelligent Manual Transmission (iMT) – a clutchless, manual transmission that delivers the benefits of both, manual and automatic, gearboxes. More on that in a bit.

16-inch diamond-cut alloys look smashing.

Make your own Venue

The engines and the transmission it offers, along with the impeccable ride and a bunch of the most advanced safety features, makes the Venue a complete SUV, but what elevates the entire experience a couple of notches is the thought and the technology that has gone into the cabin.
It is this that makes the Venue a space you’ll rarely feel like leaving.

The Hyundai Venue’s cabin dials-in quality, taste and technology, creating a space that has got people talking.

The Venue might fall in the sub-four-metre category, but Hyundai has created enough roominess to satisfy even the most finicky of passengers. They will also appreciate the interior colour themes, the upholstery that is a tasteful combination of leatherette and fabric, and, among a raft of features, the smart electric sunroof, wireless charging, the music that is piped in by audio experts Arkamys.

Hyundai has created enough roominess in the Venue to satisfy the most finicky of passengers.

Hyundais have always scored high on ergonomics and intuitiveness, but Blue Link is its most recent and much appreciated effort at making seamless connectivity a part of the ownership experience. The Blue Link technology revolves around an in-built and tamper-proof eSIM as well as a cloud-based voice-recognition system. It encompasses several areas and these include safety, security, remote, vehicle relationship management, location-based services, alert services and artificial intelligence.

Hyundai’s Blue Link makes seamless connectivity a part of the ownership experience, both, on the go and at rest.

For starters, you can remotely lock-unlock the doors, start the car’s engine, switch on the air conditioner, and much more. As we near our destination, we decide to grab a bite and a dedicated concierge service – courtesy Blue Link, of course – points to the best restaurant around.

The Blue Link technology encompasses several areas like safety, location-based services, alert services and vehicle relationship management.

The technology also includes SOS/emergency assistance, where the Blue Link call centre will assist occupants with contacting and getting help from emergency services; stolen vehicle immobilisation, geofencing, an auto DTC check (which sends out an alert in case of a malfunction in vital components) and, among others, live traffic information and point of interest search.

A space to grow

Life is all about inhabiting spaces – physically and in the mind. And if you love driving or being on the road, you’d realise that the Hyundai Venue has a lot to offer. Refinement, technology and comfort, plus complete peace of mind via a 3-year/unlimited kilometre warranty and three years road-side assistance. With its range of powerful engines, various first-in-class features and intelligence and interactiveness in the form of the Blue Link technology, the Venue is a space that grows around you and makes you feel instantly comfortable. After home and your chosen area of excellence, it is your third space, a car, that lets you be you.

Revolutionary, Intelligent, Thrilling

Say no to the clutch and yes to an engaging driving experience with Hyundai’s new iMT technology that just debuted in the Venue.

Hyundai Motor India has gained a reputation – and deservedly so – for equipping its cars with the latest, and most convenient technologies that are designed to make driving less cumbersome and more thrilling. And its launch of the Intelligent Manual Transmission (iMT) – an advanced new clutch pedal free technology – in the Venue is another step in that direction. The 6-speed iMT option will be available on Venues with the 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, making the SUV the first car in the country with a two-pedal manual transmission.

The Hyundai Venue Sport is equipped with iMT.

But what exactly is an iMT and how does it affect your life on the road? Well, let’s just say that it absolutely enhances the driving experience. The iMT, in short, offers a clutch-pedal-free drive but with a manual gearshift. Yes, that’s right, it offers the best of both worlds: the tactile, engaging experience of a manual, along with the convenience of not operating a clutch. Hyundai’s iMT technology is based on a Transmission Gear Shift (TGS) lever with an intention sensor, a hydraulic actuator and a Transmission Control Unit (TCU) that work together to ensure a seamless driving experience. On receiving a signal from the TGS lever indicating that the driver is set to change gears, the TCU, in turn, sends out a signal to engage the hydraulic actuator that is responsible for forming hydraulic pressure. The hydraulic pressure is then sent to the Concentric Slave Cylinder (CSC) through clutch tube. The CSC uses this pressure to control the clutch and pressure plate, thus engaging and disengaging the clutch. The end result? The driver is able to shift gears without mechanically operating the clutch pedal. That’s not all: the driver – especially if they are the sort that doesn’t want too much software to dilute the driving experience – also has total control over the gear they want to be in, which is a boon when you are overtaking on a busy highway or negotiating a slope. In short, the iMT delivers the joy of a manual gearbox combined with the benefits of an automatic transmission.