Hyundai Venue Elite 2024 Review

The five-door five-seat 2024 Hyundai Venue compact SUV comprises three models topped off by the $29,250 (plus on-roads) Elite.

Below it on the totem pole are the $26,750 Active and the $22,500 Venue, the Venue is the only model available as a six-speed manual as well as a six-speed auto (add $2000).

Logical rivals for the Venue include the Kia Stonic, the Mazda CX-3, Nissan Juke and the Toyota Yaris Cross.

As all 2024 Hyundai Venues power their front wheels via an identical 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, it’s really the equipment levels that differentiate them.

Exterior features exclusive to the Elite include a panoramic sunroof, painted front and rear bumper inserts and a crosshatch grille with chrome inserts.

A no-cost two-tone exterior colour scheme is only available with the Venue.

The Elite’s 17-inch alloy wheels are shared with the Active, while all three Venues come with roof rails and can be optioned in a variety of bright metallic colours worth $595 each. Only Atlas White is standard.

Inside, the Elite offers a smart key with push button start, single-zone climate control, a cloth seat trim with vinyl-ish bolsters and a one-touch up/down driver’s power window.

Equipment shared with other Venues includes cruise control and leather trim for the steering wheel and gear knob. All Venues get a space saver spare tyre.

The Venue comes protected by a five-year/unlimited km warranty and is serviced every 12 months/15,000km. A capped priced servicing program costs $1067 for three services, $1566 for four services and $1865 for five services.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue range carries a four-star ANCAP rating based on 2019 protocols.

It missed out on the maximum five-star rating because it didn’t score well in vulnerable road user protection and safety assistants testing. It did much better in adult occupant protection and child occupant protection, which is the crash testing part.

The Elite is the most comprehensively equipped of the three Venues in terms of safety gear - alone the Elite gets blind spot warning, rear cross traffic warning, an electro chromatic rear-view mirror and Bluelink connected services.

Bluelink brings with it automatic collision notification and SOS emergency call as well as some convenience features, we’ll deal with below.

Safety equipment shared more widely in the Venue range includes camera-only (no radar) autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane keeping, a rear occupant alert, a reversing camera, and reverse parking sensors. No Venue gets front sensors, and the base model doesn’t get the rears.

Six airbags, high beam assist for the projector beam headlights, traffic sign recognition, three child seat top tethers and two ISOFIX mounts are also standard equipment.

A few gripes: The lane keeping was a bit obvious in its intrusions and bleeped every time the car went over a line. It was also a convoluted process to switch off each time the car was started (unless I missed a shortcut). Also, we found the Elite’s headlights a bit ordinary and the traffic sign recognition a bit hit and miss.

Bluelink is a big deal for a small and inexpensive car like this. The system not only has safety features but also includes voice control, a valet mode, a calendar, and live weather forecasting.

Remote services operated by a smartphone app include door lock/unlock, engine start, climate control operation, navigation routes sent to car and vehicle status (open doors and windows, fuel levels etc).

The Venue also has an 8.0-inch infotainment screen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connection that’s wired in the Elite and wireless in the rest of the range. It also includes Bluetooth, a wireless charging pad, embedded satellite-navigation (Elite only), AM/FM and digital radio (Elite only gets digital) and a six-speaker audio system (Active and Elite).

The 2024 Hyundai Venue Elite and its siblings power the front wheels via an identical 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with 16 valves, double overhead camshafts, continuously variable valve timing and variable induction.

What’s missing is a turbocharger, because all that tech only makes 90kW at 6300rpm and 151Nm at 4850rpm - so, you have to rev pretty hard to tap into its best performance zone.

The Elite’s six-speed has a short 3.957 final drive, which we’ll go refer to again when we get to the driving impressions. It can be operated manually via the gear lever, but there are no shift paddles on the steering wheel.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue Elite officially claims 7.2L/100km, which is thirsty for a 4040mm long car that weighs in at 1225kg.

However, on test the Elite easily undercut that claim averaging around 6.5L/100km over more than 600km of varied test driving.

This is right in the ballpark against the 2.0-litre CX-3 but significantly more than the Yaris Cross Hybrid averages.

The Venue Elite runs on 91 RON fuel and has a 45 litres fuel tank, so you’ve comfortably got a 550-600km range between refills if you want to stretch it.

Okay, so this where we get back to that final drive and why it is potentially significant for the 2024 Hyundai Venue Elite.

This is a small, slow, naturally aspirated engine that has to be revved hard to access its best performance. The short final drive ratio is clearly intended to aid that process by spinning the engine up quicker.

However, the unintended side effect is an excessive amount of gear hunting by the auto every time the Elite encounters even the slightest incline. It then compounds the error by trying to get back to top gear as soon as possible in search of fuel savings.

Changing between eco, normal and sport drivetrain modes did nothing fix the issue. Mind you, why does this car even have a sport mode? And for that matter, why does it have off-road snow, mud, and sand modes? This is a car for the suburbs not bush tracks.

Anyway, back on topic. The only way to quell this gear hunting was to control the transmission manually.

Putting to that to one side, the powertrain is pedestrian in its performance, quite vocal in obtaining it and a bit vibey as well. There’s also plentiful road noise to throw into the mix.

It’s all a bit of a shock if you’ve just jumped out of even Yaris Cross with its electrified assistance, let alone a smooth, silent, and fast-ish small EV like an MG4.

Given all its characteristics it’s no surprise the Venue actually feels happier rolling along at 80-90km/h than 100km/h. Up there is starts to sound and feel a bit stressed.

The locally tuned chassis is more supportive of the driver. Look, this is a small car with a short gap between the front and rear wheels and a simple suspension including MacPherson struts up-front and a torsion beam at the rear. So, it’s not going to provide a magic carpet ride. It bangs a bit over the holes and bumps and provides a bit of shock into the cabin, but it is acceptable.

The best bit is the electric-assist steering. Not too heavy, nice, and direct, it exploits the nimble size and handling of the Venue Elite to make this a terrific urban runabout.

The steering also has no obvious front-wheel drive kickback or torque steer. It’s well resolved.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue Elite’s adds a superficial layer of funkiness over the top of what is a pretty basic interior.

The test car’s white garnishes for the transmission surround and air-con controls and vents are the funky bit, along with some white stripes in the seats. Beyond that is pretty much all black plastics, hard surfaces, and elbow bruises.

But at least the front seats are large, comfortable, and adjustable, while the steering wheel is reach and rake adjustable. It’s all done manually, but that’s fine at this money.

There’s also an adequate amount of storage upfront including that wireless charging pad, a ledge over the glovebox, cupholders and small door pockets. There’s even a centre lidded bin.

It’s in the back seat where the budgetary savings have been more obviously made. There’s no air-con vents, no fold down armrest, one map pocket and two dinky cupholders in the doors. At least there are two USB-C ports (joining the one up-front).

But more importantly, if a person 160cm or more is sitting behind a 180cm driver then they are going to be splaying their legs either side of the seat. Kids only need apply.

The boot doesn’t read anything particularly impressive at 355 litres, but it’s much bigger than a CX-3 and there is a lot of room under the floor where the spare tyre resides. It also folds down to expand the space, albeit leaving a small lip behind to catch bicycle pedals.

There’s something very 1990s about the 2024 Hyundai Venue Elite and it’s not only its affordable pricing.

Back then, many small cars had a pretty wheezy old engine like this that hunted gears like a politician sniffing out a freeby. Low blow turbos and electrification have since largely eviscerated hollow torqueless bottom- and mid-ranges.

But not when you drive the Venue! It’s a pity because its gear hunting is the issue that truly diminishes its status as a bonafide bargain.

There is a new Hyundai Venue on the way in 2025, so it will be interesting to see what changes are made. The current car is worth considering as basic transport role, but no doubt, there’s scope for improvement.

2024 Hyundai Venue Elite at a glance:
Price: $29,250 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 90kW/151Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 165g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Four-star (ANCAP 2019)

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