Is the 2026 Hyundai Venue Actually Good? Testing America’s Cheapest New “SUV”

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:02]The Hyundai Venue is the cheapest SUV [music] you can buy in America. Is it any good? But first, here's how much the Venue costs.

[00:00:13]To begin, what has changed for the [music] Hyundai Venue for 2026? They killed the limited trim, but it's not a big loss. The SEL gained a couple [music] things: heated seats, wireless phone charging, heated outside mirrors.

[00:00:24]The only things we don't get on the SEL now that used to be on the limited are cyclist [music] detection for the automatic collision system, and then also integrated navigation. [music] And I'll bet for this customer that doesn't really matter. Most people are probably just using your phones, Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. The other new thing for 2026 is the SEL with two-tone roof trim, which is a really weird name for a trim, but basically it is exactly as described. It's the SEL trim. The only thing it loses is [music] a sunroof, but it gains a two-tone roof. Oh, and it also gets some [music] of this fake leather on the seats, but it's actually $225 cheaper than the SEL. So, if you don't care about a sunroof, this would be the one to get. With those 2026 updates out of the way, [music] sweetie, let's talk about this interior. There is a lot of scratchy black plastic in here, but other than that, I really like this interior. It's super stylish. These contrasting bits of white really pop.

[00:01:22]>> Even in this price category, if you add just a little bit of color and a little bit of playful touches, little circles and squircles, and uh that kind of thing, you can create a pleasing interior that doesn't cost a lot.

[00:01:34]>> Dad, what's a squircle? A squircle is a square that has rounded edges, kind of like a circle. It's a real term, everybody. Also note, too, that the places you touch, they don't feel super cheap. Obviously, it's plastic, but it's not like offensively inexpensive. The interior is a pleasant place to be. It's also a practical place to be. Maybe because it's a small vehicle, I wasn't expecting this much storage. Starting with this big bin, we also have double layers of storage in the door, although that bottle holder is at an extreme angle.

[00:02:05]>> And it's pretty tiny. It's not going to hold my uh my drinky cup is the word I couldn't remember.

[00:02:12]Going to be a tough review, everybody.

[00:02:14]>> You can remember squircle, but you can't remember cup?

[00:02:16]>> That's a funny observation, kiddo.

[00:02:19]Another small area storage is the center console space. Not big, not especially deep, but it doesn't hurt to have a little extra storage somewhere. We do have some usable cup holders in the middle here, and then on the other side of the shifter zone, we've got a wireless phone charger in our SEL two-tone with adjacent charge ports.

[00:02:35]Regarding seating, this is working for me. Again, inexpensive vehicle, but I'm not feeling any pressure points, and it's surprisingly robust in the lateral support in the shoulder region. Super comfortable, and I love how stylish they are. Now, seated behind my ideal front seat position, amazingly, even though again, this is a very inexpensive vehicle and comparatively small vehicle, I've got plenty of space. My knees more than clear in the second row. By the way, I'm 5'10, long torso, poofy hair.

[00:03:01]And speaking of that poofy hair, it is not touching the headliner, even in that middle position. Oh, and going back to those outboards, the seats in front sit up high enough that I can slide my feet under them, so I don't feel cramped, I don't feel confined. Kiddo, what about you? How do you find sitting in the back of the Venue? I actually really like it.

[00:03:20]Like, the seats look kind of small, but they're actually comfortable and like wide. Oh, yeah, and you had an opportunity to sit in the middle the other day, didn't you? I had a couple friends with me, and I sat in the middle, and it was actually not that bad. One complaint, I wish there were rear vents. And then, how was it climbing aboard the Venue? Like, it's a low, easy-to-climb in vehicle.

[00:03:42]Though it is a small car, cargo space is actually really a strength for the Venue. If you open it up here, 18.7 cubic feet of space. We like got Got cargo cover here. I'm going to get this out of the way so we have a better view, but uh a couple things that I really like here. Well, one, that's cool, that the uh cargo cover can slide down into that position if you want a little bit of extra height, but you want to keep this with you. Uh let's slide it out of the way though uh so we can uh take a better peek. We've got standard 60/40 split rear seats, easy to fold down from the cargo area. And then, this area is really cool, too. A couple of tie-down points on the uh load floor here, but also, you can flip this forward and there's some underfloor and we have a spare tire, which is really cool. You can also drop this down to create a lower load floor. So, uh anything you pack in here is not going to come rolling out the back.

[00:04:31]Though small, the Venue is an extremely practical little vehicle. Also practical in an interesting way is Flying Eyes Eyewear. They're uh very resilient, made out of a stuff called Resilamide, so they're bendable and flexible. So, uh they really last for a long, long time.

[00:04:45]If you're a pilot or a motorcyclist, you want the most comfortable eyewear that you can imagine underneath the headset or a helmet, consider Flying Eyes Eyewear. There's a link in the description below where you can learn more. Now, look at that sweet cargo area again.

[00:04:58]Sweetie, what is the car seat situation?

[00:05:00]>> We have three top tethers, as well as lower anchors in the outboard positions.

[00:05:05]I'm 5'2" behind a workable front seat position for myself. There is room for a rear-facing car seat. As for safety, the NHTSA has rated the Hyundai Venue four stars overall. The IIHS has not named it a top safety pick or a pick plus, but generally speaking, the impact scores are are good. But, on the active safety front, we've got a full suite, plus we have six airbags standard. Rear window test.

[00:05:29]All the way down! Boom! You can't believe it.

[00:05:34]Armrest test. Driving in a comfortable 8 and 4, I have pretty easy access to both the inboard and outboard armrest. The outboard is not particularly well padded. That's hard [music] plastic.

[00:05:42]Inboard though, there's a reasonable squish factor there. like >> it's adjustable in its position. That's true. When I got in here I'm like, "That's a little far back. Oh, wait, it slides forward." For the Mike and Dave's Fuzzy Bunny Armrest Test, I rate the Hyundai Venue a three. Moving onward to in motion.

[00:05:59]Everything I say is predicated on the fact that this is the cheapest SUV you can buy in the United States. Here it goes. Ride quality, as you're driving around here, we got a torsion beam rear suspension, not the most sophisticated type of suspension, but and you're feeling like the impacts and everything like that. So, this is not the smoothest riding vehicle we've ever driven. But, it's also the cheapest SUV you can buy in the United States. Meanwhile, as you steer, there's like a little bit of looseness on center. You know, you can feel that. So, it means you're a little bit more active when you're driving on the freeway. And then as you go around this corner here, it's not especially exciting, but it's going around the corner ably. It's just, you know, like generally competent enough. But, also this is the cheapest SUV you can buy in America. By the way, I should be doing the little quotes like we did in the video description. Because when you say SUV, it's like, "Well, it's not really a rugged vehicle. It doesn't have all-wheel drive traction, but it does sit up. It's kind of got the view of a little SUV." You're kind of not aware of how small the vehicle is because of dash height and hood. Now, here's where we can start to complain a little bit.

[00:07:02]Power. We've got a challenge here. We're going up a hill and I'm flooring it now.

[00:07:07]Wee!

[00:07:10]Can't you hear it? It's trying so hard.

[00:07:13]>> It is really doing everything it can to get us up. So, we've got a fairly low power engine coupled with a continuously variable transmission. In the CVT's favor, it's pretty reactive. Floor it.

[00:07:26]It's doing what it can as quickly as it can and it can. It just doesn't have that much power to work with. So, in normal driving, just kind of commuting around, the Venue is fine. Where it becomes a challenge is a situation I had the other day where I was getting on the freeway and there was a car here and they were kind of in a weird position. I was trying to accelerate, and I kind of couldn't. So, what you have to be comfortable with is the idea that the Venue, you're going to need to use full throttle. This is a thing that will come in into play quite a bit. But again, this is the cheapest SUV you can buy in the the US. We do actually have a couple of different drive modes to work with here, at least on the SEL trims, normal, sport, and snow. Let's try sport and see if I feel something approaching an emotion.

[00:08:09]I mean, it's going to be a little bit more prompt, but it's not actually going to make more power. Uh, turning through the corner here, slightly heavier steering efforts. But again, this isn't really like a sporting premise kind of vehicle, so I think maybe if you just need absolute speediest reaction from the powertrain, and driving the Venue based on low power, you might the sport mode might come in handy. Floor it.

[00:08:31]Oh, god, we got to move.

[00:08:32]>> [laughter] >> Oh, and then going the other direction, let's do the Mike and Kimuzio limo test and see if I can bring this thing to a nice buttery smooth stop.

[00:08:42]Steady, steady.

[00:08:45]Pretty smooth. Yeah.

[00:08:46]>> Yeah, yeah. Oh, one more brake note, what's really interesting is that the base version of the Venue has drum rear brakes. And it's always like finding a unicorn when you see old technology.

[00:08:56]Your old Beetle, the one we had when we first got married, you're from like 1972, that had drum brakes. But if you go up to the SEL, it's got rear discs.

[00:09:05]I'm just saying, I think your stop was like buttery like melted butter with a slight bubble in it. A bubble in it?

[00:09:13][laughter] I don't even know what that means, but I'm going to accept your praise. That's what I think about driving the Hyundai Venue. What do you sweetie think?

[00:09:19]If you're sat at the wheel, take us that way, and let's us demonstrate some of the maneuverability. Tell me, what is it like steering the Venue at slow speeds?

[00:09:27]It is really easy to get around. It really does help that it's small and fits in tight spaces. Like this I find intimidating. Or at least you would if you were in driving a Hyundai VENUE RIGHT NOW.

[00:09:39]LOOK AT YOU. YOU'RE I VENUE, DEAR.

[00:09:42]>> [laughter] >> I WAS LIKE, YES. Since he doesn't even know what to DO WITH THAT.

[00:09:48]>> [laughter] >> OKAY, LET'S DO A LITTLE U-turn here and see how tight it is. Ooh, I didn't even go to the wide part. That's why how confident I was. On screen text will tell you how tight that turning circle is, but yeah, the Venue very, very maneuverable. Do you have any issues with visibility out the vehicle? Over my right shoulder, the windows are a bit small, and that pillar is a bit thick.

[00:10:10]But, I can't imagine I'll be taller than anything on the road. So, I think I would still be able to see. And now, let's head to the real test. Do you have enough power to get out ahead of traffic? This is honestly my least favorite part of driving the Venue.

[00:10:30]There wasn't anyone behind me, so that was fine. But, in occasions where I've had cars come around blind corners, I have not liked that. Other than that though, I really enjoyed driving this. I even like steering it. I think it's because it's easy to predict what's going to happen, and it's a small load of the ground SUV, which is always my favorite. On a scale of 1 to 5, [music] how happy will you be when I'm driving the Venue again? Right now, it's a one.

[00:10:58][music] But, if I remember how low power it is, and the fact that there is not available all-wheel drive, I'm going to go a two. All right, that's generally pretty positive. I'm getting back in the driver's seat.

[00:11:12]Infotainment. We have a standard 8-in screen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto wireless smartphone connectivity. Wow, I got real off the rails there.

[00:11:20]Were you speaking another language?

[00:11:22]Yeah, I'm speaking in tongues or in some sort of alien language. Wireless smartphone connectivity, that comes standard. This is a small screen, especially in the modern era. But again, this is the cheapest SUV uh you can buy in America. I did not find this screen off-putingly small to use. The text is large enough for me to read it. I was able to find everything I needed. What it is is a very simple menu. So, there's not a lot to be done with it.

[00:11:48]>> Someone like yourself who doesn't really crave complexity in their infotainment screens, that like that's not a bad thing. And I appreciate that there are physical controls for the volume and two knobs. The HVAC controls, similarly simple, easy to use. And now, let's take a look under the hood in a test inspired by my buddy Brian. Here's how you open the hood on a Hyundai Venue. Here's where you can check the engine oil.

[00:12:11]Here's where you can add engine oil. And over on the left side, that's where you can add the washer fluid. And if you're wondering what the Venue's horn sounds like, that is more kind of robust than I would have expected. All right, let's talk engine choices. The only engine offered is a 1.6 L four-cylinder engine with a continuously variable transmission.

[00:12:28]Don't be confused, Hyundai calls it an IVT, but it is a CVT. Regular unleaded fuel is fine, and front-wheel drive is the only option. No all-wheel drive available. Kind of said that like Paul Harvey. It's true. Looking at our trim recommendation, that's the trim that'll give you the essential features you'd regret not getting, but at the lowest possible price. In this case, the base SE trim lacks smart key access, which we definitely want. So, we'd recommend going up one trim to the SEL with two-tone roof. That's the one we've been driving. That adds 17-in alloy wheels versus the base car's 15-in wheels. Rear disc brakes, rear USB ports, single-zone automatic climate control, blind-spot warning, and smart key access.

[00:13:07]>> [music] >> It costs $2,000 more than the base SE, but it's a much better car. Taking a look at the competitors, the Chevy Trax and the Nissan Kicks are potentially more desirable, especially that Kicks with its optional all-wheel drive.

[00:13:18]Although, the real competition for the Venue might be used cars. But, with the Venue, you do get a value-priced new vehicle that nobody else has made their smells in that also comes with Hyundai's 10-year 100,000-mile powertrain warranty, which makes it uniquely compelling. Returning to this video's original premise, uh this thing's the cheapest SUV you can buy in America. Is it any good? Yes, it is really good.

[00:13:40]It's way better than it needs to be. I remember when the cheapest cars were absolute piles of depressing crap, like you're being punished for not having enough money to buy something fancier.

[00:13:49]Whereas this, I don't know, am I crazy for thinking this thing's great?

[00:13:52]>> I agree. It's great. When I got in, I was surprised to see the wireless phone charger, the seat heaters, the little things that make it feel like you're being well taken care of in your vehicle. And even if you don't go with the uh fancier SEL trim, we have some really great fundamentals. It looks more charming than it needs to be. Uh it also has plenty of room. Cargo space is great. Occupant space is great. Again, for a vehicle that's this accessibly priced, it's easy to drive and park because of its dimensions. And if you go with the SEL trim, it really does have all the things you'd want in a vehicle.

[00:14:25]It doesn't have like luxuries, but it really covers the essentials. Yes, the Hyundai Venue is awesome. Did we miss any remarks? If so, tell us in the comment section. And now it was our daughter's time to shine. Child, can you tell us, what is your favorite feature in the Hyundai Venue? Like I stated earlier, I really like the fact that I can fit a third-grader and two teenagers in just the backseat. It is such a smartly arranged vehicle, plenty of room, and nobody feels like they're suffering. All those kids had crap with them, and I was able to fit it all in the back. Everyone was comfortable. It was great.

[00:14:58]>> Family, I think we've done a good job reviewing the Hyundai Venue. Uh may I have a five?

[00:15:02]And a five.

[00:15:03]And you, come get your high five. Boop.

[00:15:05]By the way, I am a human being, and uh I write all the music that's in our videos, with the lone exception of our AI-generated synopsis song, which you're going to hear now, all about the Hyundai Venue. Hyundai Venue.

[00:15:19]Your life like glue. Hyundai Venue.

[00:15:22]Cute and true, Hyundai [music] Venue. Money stays with you.

[00:15:29]That's the move.

[00:15:31]That's the move.