2020 Hyundai Venue vs 2020 Land Rover Range Rover Velar

The 2020 Hyundai Venue filled a gap in Hyundai's lineup by offering a more affordable subcompact SUV option. While the Kona, introduced in 2018, was a bit more premium and powerful with AWD capabilities, the Venue focused on being an economical people-mover with a distinctive upright design. It featured unique touches like a contrasting white roof on the Denim trim and a large chrome grille reminiscent of the larger Hyundai Palisade. Inside, the Venue boasted a modern and clean cabin with ample space for both front and rear passengers, providing excellent visibility due to its upright layout and large windows. The Venue was available in SE, SEL, and Denim trims, with the SEL being the recommended choice when paired with the Premium package for added features.

The 2020 Land Rover Range Rover Velar offered a middle-ground option in the Range Rover family, balancing size and price without going to extremes in styling. Its low roof and steeply-raked windshield gave it a unique profile, while still maintaining the intimidating presence of a Land Rover. The Velar's interior was luxurious, with high-quality leather and metal trim, creating a cockpit-like feel. Despite its sleek design, the Velar retained off-road capabilities with features like air suspension and short overhangs for better approach and departure angles. The SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition added sportier styling elements and performance enhancements, making it a standout in the lineup.

The 2020 Hyundai Venue was powered by a single 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine, producing 121 horsepower and 113 pound-feet of torque. This engine was paired with a manual transmission on the base trim, while most trims featured a continuously variable automatic transmission (IVT). The Venue was front-wheel drive only, lacking the AWD option found in some competitors. Despite its SUV aspirations, the Venue's acceleration was underwhelming, with a noisy engine and slow response. It offered drive modes like Normal, Snow, and Sport, but none significantly improved its performance. The Venue's fuel economy was commendable, with the CVT achieving 30 mpg city, 34 highway, and 32 combined.

In contrast, the 2020 Land Rover Range Rover Velar introduced a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 engine in the SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition, delivering 550 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque. This engine was paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission and standard four-wheel drive. The Velar could accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, with a top speed of 177 mph. Despite its power, the Velar's performance was not as sharp as some competitors, and it felt large on tight roads. The Velar's lineup also included a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four and a 3.0-liter supercharged V6, both paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive. The Velar retained off-road capabilities with features like Terrain Response and All-Terrain Progress Control.

The 2020 Hyundai Venue, while not particularly fast or sporty, offered decent interior space for its size. It had 31.9 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats folded, which was less than the Hyundai Kona. However, it provided ample head- and legroom in the front seats, even for taller drivers, and decent legroom in the rear. The Venue's control layout was user-friendly, with traditional buttons and dials for key functions. The SEL and Denim trims featured automatic climate control with a unique display, adding to the Venue's thoughtful design.

The 2020 Land Rover Range Rover Velar, positioned between small and midsize luxury SUVs, offered competitive cargo space with 15.7 cubic feet with the rear seats in place and 48.9 cubic feet with them folded. However, its avant-garde styling limited headroom and visibility, creating a somewhat claustrophobic interior. The Velar's cockpit-like front seating area was interesting but felt cramped. It had a respectable towing capacity, with the SVAutobiography Dynamic Edition and V6 models capable of towing 5,511 pounds, while the base four-cylinder model could tow 5,291 pounds.

The 2020 Hyundai Venue came equipped with an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system across all trims, featuring Bluetooth, USB ports, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. Hyundai's logical touchscreen layout minimized distracted driving, with large icons and fonts and redundant hard buttons on the dash. The screen placement was well thought out, allowing for easy use while driving.

The 2020 Land Rover Range Rover Velar featured the InControl Touch Pro Duo infotainment system with dual 10.0-inch touchscreens, a built-in WiFi hotspot, Bluetooth, SiriusXM satellite radio, and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto compatibility. The upper screen handled smartphone, navigation, and media functions, while the lower screen managed vehicle settings and climate control. While the system had high-quality graphics, it suffered from slow responses. The Velar also included a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a head-up display, and capacitive steering-wheel controls.

The 2020 Hyundai Venue offered standard safety features like a reversing camera, traction control, a tire-pressure monitoring system, and a full array of front- and side-impact airbags. It also included driver-assistance technology such as forward-collision avoidance with pedestrian detection, lane-keeping assist, and a driver-attention warning. The SEL trim with the Convenience Package added blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, standard on the Denim trim.

The 2020 Land Rover Range Rover Velar lacked safety ratings from the IIHS and NHTSA, as low-volume luxury vehicles were a low priority for crash testing. Standard safety features included automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist, and front and rear parking aids. Adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring were available as part of an option package. Land Rover's offerings were less sophisticated than some competitors, with only lane-keep assist available.