At 159.1 inches long—just 13¹/₄ feet—this subcompact Hyundai crossover is nearly a foot shorter than a Mini Countryman.

The Venue is the smallest ute I’ve ever driven; its turning radius is so tight I nearly clipped the boulder at the end of my driveway when I was backing out into the street.

Three Venues could fit into my two-car garage with room left over for the motorcycle and snowblower. 

Hyundai calls it the “ultimate urban partner.” The Venue is more than four feet longer than a Smart city car, but since that vehicle has scant room for two people and a couple of grocery bags, the four-seats-plus-a-cargo-bay Venue might be the better, or more useful, urban runabout.

This is a real car, with surprising room even in the back seats. 

It’s a real Hyundai, too, which means value, value, value.

Just like the big kids, our Venue has heated front seats and wing mirrors, LED lights, auto-on headlamps, a keyfob with remote ignition and locking, blind-spot and rear-crossing traffic warning, pedestrian detection and emergency braking, lane-keeping, a backup camera, audio and cruise controls on the steering wheel, a power sunroof and a color touchscreen with satnav, traffic updates, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Plus all the normal things, like six stereo speakers and some leather trim. Even a spare tire, albeit a donut type. 

Sure, our Venue is the well-equipped SEL model—but its MSRP is only $23,425. Subtract the two option packages and the sticker price plummets to $19,250, which still includes many of the features listed above. Mind you, this is a 2020 model and the Venue’s starting price has gone up . . . all the way to $19,870, including freight. The only other change for ’21 is free scheduled maintenance for three years or 36,000 miles. Plus, as always, Hyundai’s 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.

What the Venue does not have is all-wheel drive; it’s front-wheel-drive only. This is part of what keeps the price down. It also keeps the overall weight down to less than 3,000 pounds (an Audi Q3, which the Venue somewhat resembles, is 10 inches longer and weighs 1,000 pounds more), which contributes to MPG in the low 30s. 

The Venue’s powerplant is a 1.6-litre inline 4-cylinder engine, set sideways, that is rated for 121 horsepower and 113 torques. It feeds a continuously variable automatic transmission; a manual gearbox is no longer available. If the Venue has a flaw, it’s that it is no nicely settled highway cruiser. Better to take Hyundai at its word when it dubs the Venue the “ultimate urban partner.” This might be the king of grocery-getters.