Hyundai Venue 2020 review: Active

On first glance, it looks like a miniature Range Rover, with a sloping roof line, angled back windows and a similar shape - only a lot smaller and less refined.

On first glance, it looks like a miniature Range Rover.

There's even some black panelling on an otherwise all-blue car, and if you go up a level you'll qualify for the two-tone paint job which makes it feel quite premium. The exterior gets a big tick.

Inside is not so flash, it's more about standard finishes and a fair amount of plastic. Still, it does the job, and for the price it's good.

In this model there are fabric seats which don't look so great but aren't scratchy on bare legs which is the important thing.

The centre console has a simple design and if you don't want to work out where things are on the touchscreen, there's a bunch of buttons underneath which are shortcuts for main functions.

The centre console has a simple design.

It also comes with a leather steering wheel which feels nice and is a step up from the base model.

It's a fairly cruisy ride in the Venue Active, with a 1.6L engine which gets around on the suburban route without any trouble. If you're driving between the school run, work and weekend activities, this car does well.

The Venue Active has a 1.6L engine, and gets around on the suburban route without any trouble.

You won't be the fastest car coasting along highways and I found myself having to stick to the left lane on a long drive this week, but it gets the job done.

Being a small car, there's a very conveniently sized turning circle and the steering wheel turns nice and easily, so fitting into parks is also fine.

Being a small car, there's a very conveniently sized turning circle.

There's a reverse parking camera (not super high res but still works well) with parking indicator lines to guide you into parks.

There's not much in the way of automation but may I direct you to the price point: that's to be expected. The front seats are manually adjustable and it's not an arm workout to do so.

There's a decent amount of storage for a small SUV.

There's a decent amount of storage for a small SUV. Two cupholders in the front, a large-ish space for keys and a phone, a good size centre storage bin and storage in each door.

The back does miss out though - no cupholders, but there are pockets on the back of the front seats.

There are no air vents in the rear either, though this is not not unusual for small SUVs, they rarely come with adjustable air vents in the back. On this particular week where temps reached 36 degrees however, my children did miss them.

The Hyundai Venue Active comes with auto emergency braking, lane departure assist, rear parking sensors and six airbags.

You'll have to go up a model to get blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alerts. There are two ISOFIX points and three top tether points for kids car seats. The Venue hasn't been ANCAP tested yet.

The Hyundai Venue Active costs $23,490, before on-road costs. Fuel consumption is a claimed 7.2L/100km, and for me this week the car did 7.5L/100km.

The Hyundai Venue Active costs $23,490, before on-road costs.

It's covered by Hyundai's five year/unlimited km warranty and servicing is required every 12months or 15,000km.