The arrival of Kia Sonet has created some huge waves in the sub-compact SUV segment. The latest entrant in this segment has turned out to be a serious contender for the top spot, which is currently occupied by its closely related cousin, the Hyundai Venue. We have already driven the Sonet and to be honest, it does live up to the hype it has built. While the Sonet trumps the Venue in terms of the long list of features it packs but there are some departments where the Venue shows the Sonet that it still a formidable car.
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Both the cars share the same platform, engine and transmission options but slightly differ in their approach. Nevertheless, there’s one thing for sure, the Koreans have the force with them and their rivals will find it considerably hard to topple them.
Here’s a list of all the advantages the Hyundai Venue has over the Kia Sonet:
Styling
Don’t get us wrong, the Kia Sonet looks great from every angle you look at it. It’s brawny, beefed up and muscular. All thanks to its wide wheel arches, pronounced bonnet, the ‘tiger-nose’ grille and other elements. But the overall styling might not appeal to a certain set who want an understated design. The Sonet’s design falls in the line of being a little too ‘masculine’. That’s where the Hyundai Venue takes it home with its neutral styling. We won’t term it as ‘feminine’ because it isn’t. We too are going to play it safe here by tagging its styling as ‘unisexual’.
Cooled glovebox
Kia Sonet’s cabin is loaded with modern-day features and can put even more premium cars to shame but it loses out on something which is considered ‘medieval’ by today’s standards. To give you an idea, even the now discontinued Toyota Etios Liva had a cooled glovebox! This feature proves to be very essential especially in our conditions where it feels like you are getting toasted in an oven. It seems like Hyundai has cracked the concept of developing cars specifically to suit our conditions, the reason why the Venue gets a cooled glovebox.
Better ride quality
We are going to repeat ourselves again, there’s a conspiracy theory which suggests that Hyundai has a bible which guides the carmaker to develop cars to suit our driving conditions perfectly. Our roads aren’t the best of the lot and manufacturers really need to nail the suspension setup in order to provide a plush ride. The Hyundai Venue excels in that department. The suspension setup isn’t very stiff and you would find yourself gliding over potholes. The only department where the Kia Sonet isn’t as impressive as it should be is this. It is not as plush as the Venue and one might think that if it isn’t that comfortable, it would make up for it in terms of handling and driving dynamics, but that isn’t the case either.
It feels a little skittish when you push it around the bends and doesn’t feel connected to the road. Either Kia should have set it up to provide a plush ride or they could have made it a driver-oriented car but the Sonet hangs somewhere in the middle.
Better service network
Kia might have turned out to be a force to reckon with but given the fact that it’s a new contender, it doesn’t have that vast service support. On the other hand, Hyundai is present in our market for a considerable amount of time and over the years, the Korean manufacturer has left no stones unturned in spreading its dealership network. Going by the huge popularity Kia is enjoying, we expect it to catch up with Hyundai in this department, in the years to come but currently, it’s Hyundai which is leading the race.
60:40 split seat
The Kia Sonet has a big boot and can hold 392 litres of luggage. Who doesn’t like big boots? The analogy is strictly meant in the automotive sense of speaking, mind you! While the Sonet trumps the Venue in terms of boot space but the latter offers more practicality in the form of 60:40 split-seat configuration.
Also read: Kia Sonet Vs Hyundai Venue: Specs Comparison
If you want to hold up more luggage in the Sonet, the whole rear bench needs to be folded, on the other hand, the Venue can be had with the split seat configuration in its top-end variant.