By Kevin Harrison
The worth of Consumer Reports – the popular trustworthy source for reviews of almost any product, has been in question lately. Specifically their reviews and ratings of cars is making people question their whole evaluation process.
When Consumer Reports evaluates a car, they have specific tests that each car needs to go through, not least of which is a test of the car’s handling abilities. No issue there, right? Well testing the handling abilities of a minivan and then not giving it a recommended rating because of a poor showing during that test alone is what people are questioning. Certain types of vehicles are better at things than others. For example a Ferarri 458 Italia’s performance abilities rarely come into question, but no one would suggest stripping it of a recommended rating because it’s useless off-road.
Whenever I evaluate a vehicle I tend take a little of the traditional evaluation tests such as handling and throw in a hell of a lot of common sense. I do see some value in testing the handling abilities of a minivan. I will test the handling abilities of a minivan but will not knock it down in the evaluation process if it performs poorly. And by poorly I mean, if it can’t handle a race track, not if it’s at risk or rolling over. A minivan isn’t meant to be a track star after all. If it performs well or better than anticipated, then it gets bonus points. Besides, having good handling abilities isn’t strictly for performance, it’s for safety too. Having a vehicle that is stable in emergency handling situations is something every family would likely want to know about.
So then there’s the Toyota Venza. On paper this is supposed to be family car central. In fact one of my friend’s asked if I should even bother evaluating its abilities since clearly its meant to be just a “car”. That doesn’t mean that the Venza isn’t able to surprise though.
First things first, when Toyota introduced the Venza a few years ago, they clearly intended doing it to have a wagon in the lineup. However, knowing full well that the North American mentality towards the wagon isn’t exactly welcoming for some ridiculous reason, they decided to go the traditional “crossover” route by giving it a taller ride height and massive optional 20 inch wheels (my tester had the base 19 inch wheels). Speaking of the wheels, I’m all for big ones but having 19 or 20 inch wheels on a family vehicle seems a bit like overkill. When it comes time to put winter tires on it, the cost will be expensive. Since most families try to be frugal in any way they can, it would make sense to offer a more sensible smaller wheel option. While the look certainly isn’t unattractive, I think I prefer the traditional wagon design to bending segments into one. Then again I’m not the target for a vehicle like this, so we won’t spend too much time on its appearance. However I will say that the optional LED/HID upgrade to the headlight design gives the Venza much more aggressive presence on the road.
Inside, the Venza gets a refresh as well. The look is simple and straight forward – something I imagine most families would appreciate. The centre stack is logically laid out and the traditional gauges are actually refreshing from the moving graphics on most higher tech vehicles these days. One thing I didn’t understand was why there were three information screens. You had the one in between the gauge cluster, one in the middle of the centre stack and another quite smaller screen on top of the centre stack which displayed the time and outside temperature. That info could easily be integrated into one of the other screens. Another small gripe is that I was not able to get entirely comfortable in the Venza and I blame that on the seat not being able to go low enough and the telescoping steering wheel not being able to telescope outward enough.
Room is plentiful pretty much everywhere in the Venza, and it should be since it’s based on the chassis of the Camry, which is fairly roomy in of itself. Toddlers and adults will feel quite comfy in the backseat for long road trips and all their stuff should be able to fit with some room to spare. The only complaint I have is that the seats only told 60/40 instead of completely flat. I can let something like that slide on a performance coupe, but in a vehicle whose main duties as a family hauler is to, well haul, some flat rear seats would be nice.
My tester came with the base level engine with is a 2.7 litre 4 cylinder which makes 187 horsepower and 182 pound foot torque. Considering the Venza’s size and the added weight of the optional all-wheel drive, the Venza isn’t exactly something you’d drag race with, but then again, this is one of those things it should not be knocked for. It isn’t meant to be a BMW M3 off the line. So no points docked there, however I will mention that passing on the highway can take a bit of effort since the engine would whine and complain the whole time you had your right foot to the floor. Not to mention the six-speed automatic didn’t quite seem to know what to do with itself when the engine was pushed. In regular highway coasting however, this engine is quiet and efficient – a real pleasure for the more relaxed driver. Around town, the engine is compliant and the six-speed feels a bit more in its element. I do which that this unit was as refiend, peppy and efficient as the 2.5 4 cylinder found in the Camry, which I really enjoyed, however it is mostly compliant and does the job well.
The 4 cylinder Venza is rated at 8.6 L/100 kms in combined city/highway driving. I was able to achieve 10.0 L/100 kms in city/highway driving which isn’t too bad. Like in most other Toyota’s you can switch the centre display screen to show your fuel consumption ratings for each trip. I like the graph used as it’s easy to read and gives a good visual indicating just how efficiently you’re driving.
I could easily knock the Venza for having numb feeling steering, with little to no feedback to the driver and mushy brakes which induce a bit of a noise dive when you hit them hard but that is to be expected for this type of vehicle. I’m fairly certain most moms would prefer light easy-to-turn steering than the weighted steering I’m used to in performance vehicles.
The Venza was loaded with some really nice goodies but they definitely come at a price. The base price of a 4 cylinder Venza with AWD is about $32,000. My tester came with the touring pack which added
Display Audio with Navigation , Driver Seat Memory System , 4way Power Adjustable Passenger Seat with Lumbar Support , Premium Leather Seat Surfaces , Heated Front Seats , Push Button Start , Smart Key System , Power Rear Door with Jam Protection , Backup Camera , Panoramic Glass Roof , Front Door Handle Touch Sensor Lock/Unlock , Chrome-Accented Door Handles , Mirrors Linked to Seat Memory , Reverse Auto Tilt , Leather Wrapped Steering Wheel , Leather Wrapped Shift Knob , Stitched Leather Interior Trim , Theft Deterrent System , Auto-leveling HID Headlamps and LED Daytime Running Lights. All of those are either necessary or nice-to-haves but for a little over $6,000 for the package, this makes the Venza’s price shoot up to the high $30K territory which is an entirely different ball-game.
Still, the Venza has plenty to offer growing families and already-gorwn families. It definitely doesn’t measure up from a performance perspective, but as mentioned at the beginning, performance and Venza aren’t meant to be best friends. The Venza is purpose built for family hauling duties. So long as it can haul lots of people and cargo while doing it safely, comfortably and efficiently then it has achieved its goal. And the Venza has done just that. Consumer Reports may ding it for not being able to take a corner, but to my mind it does everything it’s supposed to and does it well.
As Tested Price: $38,570
Pros:
- Exterior refresh looks good
- Very roomy interior
- Lots of storage/cubby holes
- Decently fuel efficient
Cons:
- Three display screens a bit much
- Difficult to find comfortable seating position
- Could use a bit more power/engine whiney when pushed
- Options causes high price
Competitors:
- Honda Crosstour
- Dodge Journey
- Subaru Outback
Overall: 8/10