2024 Hyundai Venue vs 2023 Subaru Outback

The 2023 Subaru Outback underwent a notable facelift, featuring a redesigned front end with new LED headlights, a restyled grille, and a revised bumper with dark gray vertical cladding. This gave the Outback a more aggressive appearance, especially with the addition of a simulated skid plate, oversized fog light housings, and asymmetrical wheel arch trim reminiscent of the Wilderness model. The Onyx Edition, with its black wheels and trim, complemented the bold cladding, making it a more appealing choice for those who preferred a darker paint color to tone down the design's excesses. The Outback offered six trim levels, with the Onyx Edition becoming more accessible due to its availability with the base powertrain, starting at $33,495. The Touring trim, with its Cosmic Blue paint and Java Brown premium Nappa leather upholstery, provided a luxurious interior that contrasted beautifully with the otherwise black interior, offering an upscale and cohesive look.

In contrast, the 2024 Hyundai Venue presented a more compact and stylish design, with prices ranging from $21,275 to $24,525. The Venue SEL, priced at $23,275, offered a more appealing exterior and added convenience and safety features. The Limited trim, with Ecotronic Gray paint, gave the Venue a mature and subdued appearance. Despite its affordability, the Venue's design exuded genuine style, with unexpected touches like stripes and piping on the seats and white trim around the dashboard air vents. The interior, though featuring hard plastic, did not appear cheap, and the digital instrumentation and 8-inch touchscreen infotainment display were well-suited for the Venue's size. Overall, the Venue was a thoughtfully designed, stylishly detailed, and high-quality small SUV.

The 2023 Subaru Outback featured horizontally opposed engines, known for their flat design, which helped reduce the vehicle's center of gravity and provided a characteristic grumble and vibration. The standard engine produced 182 horsepower and 176 lb-ft of torque, but the 3,781-pound test vehicle felt underpowered, especially during passing and climbing. The EPA estimated 28 mpg in combined driving, but real-world testing returned 25.6 mpg. For those seeking more power, the Outback XT offered a turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four engine with 260 hp and 277 lb-ft of torque, though it came at a higher cost and reduced fuel efficiency. All Outback models featured a CVT that mimicked an eight-speed automatic transmission and included an Active Torque Split AWD system. The Outback excelled off-road, handling challenging terrain with ease, and offered excellent visibility and maneuverability in urban settings. However, the standard engine's lack of power and fuel economy were notable drawbacks.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue, equipped with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine producing 121 horsepower and 113 lb-ft of torque, was lightweight at 2,612 pounds in base SE trim. The CVT maximized available power, making the Venue well-suited for city and suburban driving. However, the Venue's suspension struggled on rough pavement, resulting in a busy ride quality. On the highway, the Venue could maintain freeway speeds, but the engine and CVT produced unpleasant noise under heavy acceleration. The Venue lacked AWD, but its 6.7 inches of ground clearance allowed it to handle accumulated snow with winter tires. The Venue achieved an EPA rating of 31 mpg in combined driving, though real-world testing returned 30.3 mpg, slightly below expectations.

The 2023 Subaru Outback prioritized utility with features like a robust roof rack, flat door sill trim, and a dashboard storage shelf. The Touring trim offered a comfortable interior with a 12-way power-adjustable driver's seat, heated and ventilated front seats, and premium Nappa leather upholstery. The rear seats were also heated, providing warmth and comfort in cold weather. The Outback's spacious interior accommodated four passengers comfortably, with ample legroom and storage options. The cargo area offered 32.6 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats, expanding to 75.6 cubic feet with the seats folded down. The Outback's high ground clearance made entry and exit easy, and the roof rack was ready for various accessories.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue, with its increased ground clearance, offered easy entry and exit. Despite its small dimensions, the Venue provided decent comfort, with a manual height-adjustable driver's seat and tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel. The front seats featured appealing fabric inserts and heated cushions. The rear seat technically accommodated three passengers, but two would be more comfortable. Taller passengers might find the hard plastic front seatbacks uncomfortable. The Venue offered limited storage space and lacked rear air conditioning vents. Cargo space was comparable to a compact car, with 18.7 cubic feet behind the rear seats and 31.9 cubic feet with the seats folded down.

The 2023 Subaru Outback, except for the Base trim, featured a Starlink 11.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system with physical controls for volume, tuning, and climate control. The system included Bluetooth connectivity, wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and SiriusXM satellite radio. Higher trims offered a navigation system and a Harman Kardon premium audio system. The Starlink system's usability improved for 2023, but the voice recognition system was lacking. Additional technologies included a camera-based digital rearview mirror and a 180-degree front-view camera.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue featured an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment display with modern graphics and logical menu structures. Standard features included Bluetooth connectivity, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a six-speaker sound system. The Limited trim added a navigation system, SiriusXM satellite radio, and a wireless smartphone charger. However, the Limited trim required wired connections for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which was a drawback. Despite this, the Venue's infotainment system was sophisticated, with an impressive native voice recognition system.

The 2023 Subaru Outback featured Subaru's EyeSight system, which included adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and lane-centering assist. The Outback earned top safety ratings from the IIHS, including in the new side-impact crash test. Additional safety features included a blind-spot monitoring system, rear cross-traffic alert, and a new Automatic Emergency Steering system. The Outback's adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assist systems were less impressive, with artificial steering feel. The rear automatic braking system was incompatible with some driveways.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue came with Hyundai SmartSense, which included forward-collision warning with pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, a driver monitoring system, and a rear-seat reminder system. The Venue SEL added blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, and the Limited trim included cyclist detection. The Venue lacked adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assist. The IIHS rated the Venue with Good ratings in three crash tests, while the NHTSA gave it an overall rating of four stars.