2023 Toyota Sequoia vs 2024 Hyundai Venue

The 2023 Toyota Sequoia presented a bold and commanding presence, drawing inspiration from the Toyota Tundra pickup truck. Its redesigned exterior featured a traditional grille and front bumper, distinguishing it from the Tundra's more unconventional look. Inside, the Sequoia shared an industrial theme with the Tundra, highlighted by leather, wood, and metallic finishes in the upscale Capstone trim. The 14-inch Toyota Audio Multimedia infotainment system dominated the dashboard, while the cream white-over-black two-tone color scheme added a touch of luxury. However, some interior materials reminded occupants of its pickup truck origins. The Sequoia lineup included various trims, with prices starting at $59,895 for the base SR5 and reaching $79,895 for the Capstone with 4WD.

In contrast, the 2024 Hyundai Venue offered a more compact and stylish design. Available in SE, SEL, and Limited trims, the Venue's prices ranged from $21,275 to $24,525. The Venue SEL trim was recommended for its improved exterior appearance and added convenience and safety features. The Limited trim, with Ecotronic Gray paint and carpeted floor mats, brought the MSRP to $24,735. Despite its affordability, the Venue's design exuded genuine style, with unexpected touches like seat stripes and white trim on the dashboard. The interior featured hard plastics but maintained a sense of quality. The Venue's digital instrumentation and 8-inch touchscreen infotainment display added to its appeal, making it a thoughtfully designed and stylish small SUV.

The 2023 Toyota Sequoia was equipped with a powerful hybrid powertrain, featuring a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine, a 10-speed automatic transmission, a 36-kilowatt electric motor/generator, and a 1.87 kilowatt-hour nickel-metal hydride battery pack. This setup delivered an impressive 437 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 583 pound-feet of torque at 2,400 rpm. While it lacked the rumble of the previous V8, the new V6 offered increased towing capacity, with a maximum tow rating of 9,520 pounds and a payload capacity of 1,730 pounds. The Sequoia's fuel efficiency improved significantly, with EPA ratings of 20 mpg with 4WD and 22 mpg with RWD. The Capstone 4WD test vehicle averaged 17.8 mpg on a mountainous evaluation loop. The Sequoia offered various driving modes, including Eco, Comfort, Normal, Sport, and Sport+, allowing drivers to tailor the driving experience. However, the steering was slow, and the regenerative braking system felt unresponsive at times.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue, on the other hand, featured a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine producing 121 horsepower and 113 pound-feet of torque. Weighing in at 2,612 pounds in base SE trim, the Venue's continuously variable transmission (CVT) maximized available power for city and suburban driving. While the Venue excelled in urban environments with its nimble handling and excellent visibility, it struggled on rough pavement due to its MacPherson strut front and torsion-beam rear axle suspension. On the highway, the Venue maintained pace with traffic but emitted a buzzy engine sound when pushed. The Venue lacked all-wheel drive, 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, averaging 30.3 mpg on a mountainous test loop.

The 2023 Toyota Sequoia excelled on open roads, offering a comfortable cabin with soft leather upholstery, a JBL premium sound system, and a triple-zone automatic climate control system. The wide, flat, padded upper door panel shelf provided a convenient resting place for long trips. Power-deploying running boards aided entry and exit, while the panoramic glass sunroof reduced second-row headroom. The second-row captain's chairs lacked sliding functionality, limiting third-row space. The third-row seat, mounted above the battery pack, offered limited comfort and legroom. Cargo space was compromised, with only 11.5 cubic feet behind the third row, expandable to 22.3 cubic feet. Folding the third-row seats increased capacity to 49 cubic feet, while folding the second-row seats provided 86.9 cubic feet. The Sequoia's hybrid powertrain improved towing and hauling capacity but reduced overall utility.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue offered decent comfort despite its small size. The driver's seat featured a manual height adjuster, and the steering wheel offered tilt-and-telescopic adjustment. Front seats had fabric inserts, artificial leather bolsters, and heated cushions. The back seat accommodated three passengers, but two were more comfortable. Taller passengers found the hard plastic front seatbacks uncomfortable. The Venue lacked rear air conditioning vents and privacy glass, requiring window shades for infants. Front storage space was decent, with a useful dashboard shelf. Cargo capacity was on par with a compact car, offering 18.7 cubic feet with the back seat up and 31.9 cubic feet with the seat folded down.

The 2023 Toyota Sequoia featured a new Toyota Audio Multimedia infotainment system, with an 8-inch touchscreen on the base SR5 trim and a 14-inch touchscreen on higher trims. The system was intuitive, offering wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Connected services allowed user accounts and a guest account for privacy. The Drive Connect plan included an Intelligent Assistant for directions, though it occasionally provided inaccurate results. The system allowed simultaneous Bluetooth pairing for two devices, but a bug prevented phone calls through Apple CarPlay. The Capstone trim included a 10-inch head-up display, though it was difficult to see with polarized sunglasses. The Sequoia also featured a surround-view camera system and a digital rearview mirror, enhancing safety and convenience.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue's 8-inch touchscreen infotainment display offered modern graphics and logical menu structures. Standard features included Bluetooth connectivity, wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto, Bluelink connected services, and a six-speaker sound system. The Limited trim added a navigation system, SiriusXM satellite radio, a wireless smartphone charger, and Bluelink+. However, the upgraded system required wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, reducing the wireless charger's usefulness. Despite this quirk, the Venue's infotainment system was sophisticated, with an impressive native voice recognition system. The Venue's youthful appeal was complemented by its ability to stream music effortlessly.

The 2023 Toyota Sequoia came equipped with Toyota Safety Sense 2.5 (TSS 2.5), a comprehensive suite of driver-assistance features. This package included forward-collision warning, pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, lane-centering assist, adaptive cruise control, automatic high-beam headlights, and a road sign recognition system. Additionally, the Sequoia featured blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and Safety Connect services. Front and rear parking sensors with automatic braking were standard. While the Sequoia had not been crash-tested by NHTSA or IIHS, the Tundra, on which it was based, received high ratings from IIHS.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue included Hyundai SmartSense, a collection of driver assistance systems. Standard features 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, while the Limited trim included cyclist detection. However, adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assist were not available. The Venue received Good ratings in three IIHS crash tests and an Acceptable rating for its LED headlights. NHTSA awarded the Venue an overall rating of four stars.