intuitively and it does not feel like a compromise,
like a hatchback on raised suspension which is
what many compact SUVs do feel like. The seats
are also quite comfortable, the steering wheel
feels meaty, this does not feel like a cheap car!
To go with the good ride the Venue showcases
enthusiastic road manners, going round corners
at a fair clip with the body control well in check.
There is a bit of body roll to go with the comfort
tuned into the suspension but for a compact
SUV the body control is surprisingly tight and
controlled. The best set of corners on the NH6 are
actually just outside Guwahati, climbing out of
the city, and while usually very crowded at six in
the morning, the Venue finds no traffic and flies
round them, gripping with tenacity and resisting
understeer quite well. It runs on MRF Wanderer
Street tyres, 215/60 R16 on the top-end variant,
and even though these tyres say ‘ecotred’ on the
sidewall they do deliver very good grip and very
little tyre squeal. The Hyundai Venue handles
very well, and I really like its road manners.
Stability on the highway is another strong suit
of the Venue and it does not jiggle or jump around
on undulations. It rides like a much bigger SUV,
planted and stable, and you realise this is no cut-
paste job; the engineers have built it on a clean
sheet of paper and it shows. The only sign of
costs being cut on the dynamic side are the drum
brakes on the rear wheels, and on top of that
Hyundai brakes have always had a soft pedal feel
which continues on the Venue.Democratising the turbo-petrol-twin-
clutch combo
No longer is the Polo GT TSI the only sub four-
metre car with a turbo-petrol engine mated to a
twin-clutch automatic gearbox. Hyundai’s DCT
twin-clutch automatic has been developed in-
house with a strong focus on refinement. That is
immediately evident with this DCT shifting with
the smoothness of a regular automatic and no
jerks or judders at low speeds, something you do
get in the DSG. That said, the DCT is not as quick
as the Volkswagen DSG in terms of its shift times
and reactions and there are times when you
stomp the accelerator and are surprised by how
long you have to wait for a downshift.
The gearbox also does not have a Sport mode
that quickens the shift times and reactions. Move
the gear lever to the left and you get manual
control on the gearbox, good when you’re going
round a set of twisties and don’t want the ’box to
shift to a higher gear. However I really do wish
Hyundai had given it paddleshifters. That would
have made it nice and sporty.
The direct-injection GDI motor makes
118.4bhp of power which peaks at 6000rpm, onNO
LONGER
IS THE GT
TSI THE
O N LY SU B
FOUR-
METRE
CAR WITH
A TURBO-
PETROL
MATED TO
A DCT