We got our hands on the Hyundai Creta and as opportunity to drive it around the company’s testing track in Chennai. Read our initial impressions of the Creta.

Hyundai Creta Design:

The design of the Creta is one of its strong USPs. It does look muscular and premium, especially the front with the horizontal chrome slats and projector headlamps (that come with daytime running lamps). The fog lamp design also melds well with the front making it look aggressive. The Creta is about 4.2 metres in length.

Creta price

The side profile of the Creta gets blacked-out B-pillar, roof rails, chrome door handles and blacked-out lower end (known as the rocker) that makes it look rugged. The 17-inch diamond cut alloy wheels do look a lot stylish. The tail lamp styling is good too, however we aren’t a big fan of the additional chrome at the back with the location of the number plate. This could have been a bit lower.

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/uTuojK2EzsE” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hyundai Creta Interior:

The interiors of the Creta is the best-in-class. The top of the line variant has features like keyless entry, push start and stop, leather seats, cornering lamps, steering mounted audio controls, seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system, six airbags, ABS and even reverse parking camera. The quality of the plastics and even the fit and finish is top notch. For safety, there are six airbags, ABS and ESP on the top model.

Hyundai Creta-Interiors

The Creta is a five seater and it can comfortably seat five. The front row seats are comfortable and offer good support too. The space on the inside is good, even in the second row. The rear AC vents means the cabin cools faster. There is sufficient kneeroom and headroom in both the rows. The Creta’s boot space is large enough to gobble luggage for four people for a weekend.

Hyundai Creta Driving Dynamics:

The Creta will be powered by three engines, one is 1.6-litre all-aluminium petrol engine. This comes mated to a six-speed manual or automatic transmission option. The other two are 1.4-litre U2 diesel engine that produces 90bhp of power and comes mated to a six-speed manual transmission. The 1.6-litre diesel comes with six-speed manual and automatic options and churns out 125bhp of power.

Creta 6

We got to drive the 1.6-litre diesel manual and automatic variants. The engine is refined and isn’t noisy. The NVH levels are good and so is the insulation. The drivability of the engine is good and it pulls cleanly without much of a struggle at low rpm as well. The turbo boost comes in about 1800rpm and this is when the turbocharger kicks in. The gear shifts are smooth and are short. The six-speed automatic is also good enough to drive. There is a minor lag, but it is fine as it has been designed for racing. The six-speed manual and automatic both are good enough and the manual has soft clutch too. The Creta has better refinement than the competition.

The Creta’s drivability is good and even it has decent handling. We haven’t driven it on normal roads, so we aren’t aware of how good the ride will be. But in handling it is decent. It has some amount of body roll, but it is just fine for daily use. The Creta’s steering wheel also weighs up well and it doesn’t feel light or slack at any time.

Creta

Hyundai has considered all the aspects that are weak on the competition and worked on it. So, the Creta ticks all the correct boxes except the price, which is yet to be announced. Even if priced at INR 14.5 lakhs (on-road) for the automatic diesel, it is still a better value for money than competition. The Creta is a perfect meld of styling, quality, features and power in this compact SUV segment. The driving dynamics might not be compared to the Duster but it is ideal for city and highway driving.

Comments

Your email address will not be published. All the fields are required.