The SUV segment is no walk in the park for the automakers in India, especially with the ever increasing competition. Under such scenario, Hyundai brings along what it calls “the perfect SUV”. And surely, the Hyundai Creta does pose with the perfect ingredients that is important to constitute the perfect SUV. All the elements of an SUV – spacious interiors, bold exteriors and a powerful heart – are put in the right proportion.
So, is the Hyundai Creta the right mix of everything nice? Is it the perfect blend of all the elements that you desire while buying an SUV? The questions are many, but Creta has everything in it to address one and all. Find out how.
Designed to kill
Hyundai appears to have hit the bull’s eye with the styling of the Creta. The features are bold, with the finely sculpted lines to accentuate the muscular, yet relaxed, design. The Creta is neither too high nor too low, thereby, attracting sedan as well as SUV buyers alike.
The newest Hyundai platform on the Creta ensures that the overall rigidity is far higher than the previous Hyundai cars, which in turn takes care of the dynamics and crash safety.
The front profile holds a distinctively appealing design with swept back projector headlamps and horizontally slatted front grille with chrome finish. The front bumpers are big and gets fog lamps on either sides. The side design is highlighted by a boldly carved line running across the body and a butch wheel arches. The rear looks strong and sturdy with a muscular rear bumper.
The interior feel
Unlike what the exteriors suggest, the interiors on the Hyundai Creta renders a feel that is more inclined towards a sedan. The high window line feels a little too sunken suggesting that slightly higher seats would have been more than welcomed. But yet, given the low and sloping roofline, increasing the seat height would have meant an entire rework on the overall car height, thereby, hampering the widely accepted exteriors.
The interiors are quite spacious with minor complaint here and there. The rear seat is spacious enough to accommodate three adult passengers but the way it is contoured makes a slight bulge in the center backrest, pointing out at a slight discomfort for the middle passenger. High end trims come with leather upholstery which feels just perfect even for the longer drives.
As a part of the center console, the Creta has some shiny bits which tend to take away the sheen a little. But a 5-inch touchscreen infotainment system and an audio system with aux, USB and Bluetooth connectivity, more than make up for it.
Performance at par
The Hyundai Creta is always ready to impress with its 1.6-litre VGT engine which makes a highest power 126.2 bhp at 4,000 revs per minute and a maximum torque of 260 Nm at 1,900 to 2,750 revs per minute. This engine can roar up the wheels to run at 100 km per hour mark from zero in about 10 seconds. But this does not, by any means, make the car noisy. Even at high revs, the engine makes negligible sound, let aside while on halt.
The power is enough for you to glide in the highways at a speed of 190 km per hour and overtake a speeding sedan on the city roads. The 6-speed manual transmission is smooth at heart and tall in nature.
The automatic gearshift makes for a real good companion in roads with bumpers or stop start traffic. It can crawl smartly in congestion before zooming at the green light. However, it’s the manual transmission trim that turns out to be more fuel efficient and returns with impressive fuel economy of around 13 km per liter in city and 18 km in the highways. The automatic trim is far underperformed compared to these stats.
Conclusion
With the kind of power and design the Hyundai Creta is made on, it looks invincible. But still there is something about the car that holds it back from getting the ultimate glory. The Creta lacks the duties of an all-terrain AWD (All-wheel drive) even for the top end trim. A close rival, the Renault Duster does offer AWD for top end variant, thus, succeeding in taking away a part of the attraction from the Creta.
But considering that the Hyundai Creta is more city rssssoad biased, it makes for an irresistible combination of power and performance at its best.
