A Fountain of Youth
Picked up car on Oct 22 and was surprised that the odometer said 320 miles. A little frustrating because that's above the limit for a new car. As I started my trip home I noticed that the odometer was going up. As I got used to the Venue I finally discovered the true odometer at the bottom of the speedometer, which was approaching 75. I had been reading the miles to refuel. So, much happier, I wondered why the miles to refuel kept going up. Venue owners probably have guessed, the computer calculates it on the basis of previous mpg. Eventually that dial stabilized or sometimes went up after a highway trip. When I paid attention to the message on the info screen, I learned the answer: I was never getting less than 35mpg. On longer highway journeys I was regularly getting 45 per trip. Hybrid fuel economy with a straight ICE engine. Now I do believe I am something of a balloonfoot, and I still believe in breaking in a new car. But I was generally driving 55-60 mph, on a brand new unbroken in engine.
This alone was worth the price of the car: when gas returns to $3.00, I'll be paying 6-7 cents per mile. Accounting for inflation that's less than I was spending in 1967!
So, what else aside from the incredible economy. It's SMALL. VERY SMALL. Bigger than a Suzuki swift, about the same size as a Honda Fit, but looks wider and more stable. The first couple of days I tried to shift manually, but discovered that the I CVT was better than I could do. My wife and I have plenty of space up front; nobody has sat in the rear yet, but I think a 2 male 2 female of normal size would be OK. Its not rock steady when I'm crossing a 2 mile bridge in the wind, but still easy enough to keep in lane.
Did I mention how nimbly it goes around corners? Again, I don't push things in the first few hundred miles, but the steering feel matches only my 1978 VW Rabbit. Visibility is excellent, I can see the edge of the hood, very rare these days, and quite a help.
So how could this car be improved. A bit smoother over bumps, more power; you might get the engine snarling as you accelerate uphill but you are not getting more vroom. Perhaps with four beefy guys and their hunting gear you might have to stay in the right lane on the Wurtsboro hill, but you're an idiot for doing this. I suppose it won't tow a Winnebago either.
I've been Hyundai-ista for 15 years now. I love my '18 Tucson dual clutch, probably because starting it from rest reminds me of my standard transmission days. More zip than the Venue but lower though excellent mileage. My 2013 Elantra never had a mechanical issue of any sort. I had some stuff with my '07 Santa Fe, but I could drive it with 7 adults and still park it on NY streets.
One of my sons has two Hondas, a CRV and an Accord sport. The younger one leases a Tesla 3 and owns an Audi Q7. All four are more polished than my little blue number, but none of them can match its spunkiness and value.
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