[Raid]

Here are some pictures of my new 2015 Venga. 

Remember - I didn't buy the car for its looks - but for its practicality and value for money. It has more cabin and usable luggage space than the i30 or Ceed hatch - is cheaper with as many bells and whistles - all in a shorter/taller body.  It is the ideal car for our lifestyle and the 7 year warranty is rather comforting. This is a car we are planning to keep. The warranty runs out when I am 85 - so I  hope my warranty doesn't run out before then.

Front View
Shows LED DRL’s and new nose profile



Side View
No obvious difference from previous model



Rear View
No obvious difference from previous model



New Alloy Wheel Design
Perhaps better looking than the previous model – but they will not be antwhere near as easy to clean



Reversing Camera
The screen is much brighter than the previous model



Satnav
The new satnav is a definite improvement on the previous model. The screen is much clearer and brighter, the satnav volume control is now independent of the radio volume control, the voice is clearer with improved turn-by-turn descriptions and it is now possible to input coordinates in degrees, minutes and seconds or in decimal degrees.  The map is now stored on a 16Gb SD card which hides behind a cover on the front of the satnav – this should make updating maps much easier in future. With the previous system you had to upload maps from a USB memory stick which took about an hour during which you had to leave the engine running.

That's a nice car you got yourself there Alan.

[The Gonz]

I'm quite impressed, Alan. Nice going.

I am, however, less impressed that you live a mere 40 ml from where we were living while I was undertaking my Masters. We could have met halfway in Stratford-Upon-Avon for a bread-and-butter pudding!

The mere fact I wasn't a member of this forum back then is no excuse on your part.

[AlanHo]

I've solved my front parking sensor dilemma - I have located an auto electrician who has a good reputation. He will do the job for £130 less than the dealer would have charged. Only downside is his workshop is 14 miles away and the work will take about 3 hours. I will take my camera and a good book with me.

I noticed today that the satnav in the new Venga does not have voice control. It doesn't bother me because I never have my mobile switched on when I am in the car - but some owners are going to miss it.

I'm still worried about the accuracy of the trip economy recorder - it is reading 47.6 mpg (5.9 l/100k) today after 249 miles of mixed motoring since last Thursday. As you would expect - I brimmed the tank as soon as I picked up the car so I will soon be able to check its accuracy. I was expecting no more than 38 mpg (7.4 l/100k).  The best my manual Venga did on a tank of mixed motoring was 45.2 mpg (6.2 l/100k).

[eye30]

I know you would have done it ....... but......did you zero the trip counter when you filled up?

[asathorny]

Oh come on Lester, this is Alan your speaking to <sigh> 

[AlanHo]

I know you would have done it ....... but......did you zero the trip counter when you filled up?

ARE YOU SERIOUS....!!!!!!! You obviously like hospital food.

The A trip economy recorder automatically resets to zero when you put more than 6 litres of fuel in the tank. The B trip recorder is manual reset at any time.

[eye30]

So that's a yes and i was correct. Hehehe

[asathorny]

So that's a yes and i was correct. Hehehe

 

[Raid]

I know you would have done it ....... but......did you zero the trip counter when you filled up?

ARE YOU SERIOUS....!!!!!!! You obviously like hospital food.

The A trip economy recorder automatically resets to zero when you put more than 6 litres of fuel in the tank. The B trip recorder is manual reset at any time.

Seriously your A trip reset automatically if you put more than 6 litres. Why can't my i30 does that or there is an option I have to change somewhere plz?

[AlanHo]

It tells you in your manual how to set the fuel trip recorder to manual or auto.

Mine was on page 4-55 for my 2013 car.

[AlanHo]

I am taking my car to have the front sensors fitted on 14th Oct - which they reckon takes 3 hours. I will take my camera and a book.

A minor problem is that they need the paint code. My car is Silver Frost which seems to be a recently introduced colour for the Venga. It is lighter and brighter than the previous silver storm - or whatever it was called. The colour code on the car info plate states KC but it seems that KIA colour codes are usually one number and one letter. The body shop who paint the sensors to match are having problems recognising the precise colour.

I'm sure they will get the paint sorted in time.

[Raid]

It tells you in your manual how to set the fuel trip recorder to manual or auto.

Mine was on page 4-55 for my 2013 car.

Thanks Alan I set mine to auto aswell

[AlanHo]

When I took delivery of the car last week I immediately brimmed the tank which took 49.24 litres to the point of over-flowing from the filler neck. I made a note of the odometer which read 13 miles and reset the economy trip recorders.

Whilst driving today the fuel warning light appeared - the DTE trip was showing 65 miles (104km)  and the odo 508 miles (817 km).

I refuelled the car with the odo showing 516 miles (830 km), the DTE 49 miles (79 km) and the trip economy reading 45.7 mpg (6.2 l/100). It took 54.31 litres which suggests it was very close to empty.

I have checked the accuracy of the odometer against the motorway distance boards, and my My Garmin Nuvi satnav over a trip of 57 miles (91 km). The car odometer is reading 1.98% slow - that is - if the car odometer shows a travel distance of 100 miles (160 km) - the car has actually done 102 miles (164 km).

Using this information I calculate that the car has averaged 42.96 mpg (6.6 I/100) since the previous refill and that for this tank the car's economy trip is reading 6% optimistic.

Although about 60% of the miles covered have been on motorways, I am surprised at this result.

*    I was not expecting my 6 speed auto to average more than 38 mpg (7.4 l/100) - my previous manual 1.6 Venga averaged 42.17 mpg (6.7 l/100) over 17,000 miles (27000 km) which the auto has bettered (on the first tank).
*    The range on this first tank was 503 miles (809 km) - in my previous manual Venga I only exceeded this twice - and both those tanks included cruising to and from Scotland and to and from Cornwall at 55mph (88 kph) average speeds.
*    The economy trip recorder on this car is about 6% optimistic - my previous manual Venga and the 3 Hyundai i30's I owned before that all had economy trips that were pessimistic in the range 4% to 11%

It is early days to be categorical about the economy of the 6 speed auto - but the signs are looking good.

[eye30]

With the way you do your testing may be the EU emmissions commission have an opening for you.

Keep up the good work Alan

[AlanHo]

With the way you do your testing may be the EU emmissions commission have an opening for you.

Keep up the good work Alan

I hope you are not implying that I am farting around all the time......

[Phil №❶]

Has the wife had a drive yet, Alan. 

Auto's are making headway in the economy dept, when the engine loosens up it may still get better yet. 

[Dazzler]

That's great to hear Alan and  for doing the metric conversions! 

[AlanHo]

Has the wife had a drive yet, Alan. 

Auto's are making headway in the economy dept, when the engine loosens up it may still get better yet. 

Libby approached her first drive with considerable apprehension. However, after about an hour of driving around some quiet roads under supervision and advice - which included a very steep hill start which she dreaded - she reluctantly had to admit it was OK. She has been out in the car on her own and her only complaint is that the brake pedal is too high for her small feet. It actually isn't any higher than the previous manual car but she needed to find something to moan about - otherwise I would have been 100% right about changing to an auto.

Small SUV's like the Hyundai ix20, The KIA Venga, the Ford C Max, The Vauxhall Mokka, the Citroen C4 Picasso, the Audi Q3, the Nissan Qashqai, the VW Golf Plus and the like are rapidly gaining in popularity with small families and those of a certain age who seek a car with plenty of cabin space, good luggage capacity and a high seating position. OK they don't have much street cred with the young ones but at long last we have a car that is perfect for our life style and physical limitations.

You will also note that my changing from diesel to petrol last year was a timely and wise decision - there is no way I will go back to diesel. The Venga is as spirited as I require and the 6 speed auto is as smooth as any auto I have ever owned. You only feel the gear changes during hard acceleration or up a very steep hill.

[AlanHo]

We visited some friends in Worcester this afternoon and following a question in another thread about cabin noise levels I took the opportunity of taking some decibel readings in our new Venga.

Members may recall that way back in 2012, before buying a new GD i30, I did some cabin noise comparisons with my FD i30, a test drive in a GD i30 and a test drive in a VW golf - all diesels and all manual gearboxes. I have a professional decibel meter left over from the days when I was an engineer - it has not been calibrated against a master noise generator for a few years but is accurate enough for comparison purposes

I got Libby to drive today whilst I took noise readings in the new Venga - which is a petrol auto. I have added the results to the table I originally posted on the forum.

These are the results (the M42 no longer has any concrete sections so this cannot be reported)



You will see there is little to choose between the Golf, GD i30 and Venga which are all much quieter than my original FD i30. The Venga is the quietest car when stationary - probably due to it being petrol rather than diesel.

Note the differing wheel sizes and tyres on the various cars - you would expect the cars with 16" wheels would be noisier than those with 15" wheels but the Venga and my 2012 i30 with 16" wheels  hold their own with the 15" wheeled Golf.

Hence I would argue that the current Hyundai and KIA models compare well with offerings from the VW Group. Those who argue differently need to make a scientific comparison and not a subjective one.

[Dazzler]

Very interesting Alan. 

[Surferdude]

Useful. Thanks Alan.
There's no doubt the GD is quieter than the FD, but if I can add something here, my experience has been that there is a much more significant difference in ride quality and road noise between 17" and 16" than between 15" and 16".  Once you get onto 45 series tyres their internal construction is slanted towards performance rather than comfort.
Whilst it wouldn't explain the full difference, I feel it would be a significant factor.

BTW, I don't have a Microsoft phone but I found a similar ap for my Samsung S2. Looking forward to trying it out (different topic thread I know  )

[Doggie 1]

There's no doubt the GD is quieter than the FD, but if I can add something here, my experience has been that there is a much more significant difference in ride quality and road noise between 17" and 16" than between 15" and 16".  Once you get onto 45 series tyres their internal construction is slanted towards performance rather than comfort.
Whilst it wouldn't explain the full difference, I feel it would be a significant factor.

Is that a scientific or subjective comparison? 

[Surferdude]

Over the years I participated in and saw the results of many tests which confirmed that.

[Doggie 1]

Over the years I participated in and saw the results of many tests which confirmed that.

Scientifically?   

[Surferdude]

Define "Scientifically".

Scientifically.   

[Doggie 1]

Ask Alan!   

[Surferdude]

Ask Alan!   

It's not even 5pm over there. Why aren't you stalking someone?

Oh!
Wait!

[Doggie 1]

Ask Alan!   

It's not even 5pm over there. Why aren't you stalking someone?

Oh!
Wait!

Define stalking. 

[Surferdude]

My dictionary says....
Stalking. ...the act of being or desiring to be a Dave.

[Doggie 1]

My dictionary says....
Stalking. ...the act of being or desiring to be a Dave.

 
Or a doggie.