Hello Fellow BHPians,
I took the TD for the Creta 1.4L Turbo couple of weeks back and here are my observations -
Exteriors -
I, like many, didnt like the New Creta's design.
1. The DRLs and the Rear Lights made the car look fat.
2. the front grill is just there. Looks too bland and out of place.
3. Rear design looked too confusing
However, when I looked at the car myself, first reaction was "
Its not all that bad"
1. I have started to like the Headlight and backlight assembly.
2. I am sold on the rear design as well. It looks really good, specially in White and Lava Orange colour.
3. Front DRLs make it look rich and unique. I would have liked them to be more thin, like in Palisade, but this one has its own character.
4. Front grill is livable, I still dont like it. Certainly not when a 15 lac Verna can look like that and the more premium Creta has to live with this. Headlight assembly and the grill are just not in sync with each other.
Interiors -
I really liked the interiors when I saw it in multiple reviews. It looked premium and well put together. I wasnt as impressed with the Steering design, I would have expected a more sporty looking steering, not the deal breaker though.
After looking at it in person -
1. The steering looked much better and good to hold.
2. The infotainment system is cleanly integrated in center console.
3. the height and hold of the gear lever is just perfect.
4. Instrument Cluster (of SX(O)) is crisp and informative. It puts on quite a show when you start the car or change the driving modes.
5. I am 6 feet tall and after adjusting the driver's seat based on my driving position, i had ample space at the rear.
6. I think there is too much plastic near the gear shaft, and the panel where AC knobs are present. The plastic quality is great, but its just flat space of plastic.
7. I didnt like the quality of plastic used on windows switch panel.
Drive - 1. I have to start with the Engine,
The powertrain used by the Hyundai group is fantastic. Engine is silent, energetic and packs lot of punch. First time I drove this powertrain was in Kia Seltos and it felt as if it snorted something illegal
Eco mode provide you decent power for you to drive sedately.
Comfort mode is good enough for you drive within the city and still have plenty of oomph to overtake vehicles with slight push on throttle
Sport mode makes all of the horses come alive and you can feel the car grunting. The engine sound starts coming into the cabin, just in the right amount to add to the sporty feel of the engine and to the drive.
2. Suspension -
I didnt check the tyre pressure, but the suspension felt hard. Hard enough for you to slow down on patchy surfaces. Bigger potholes punished the car and the suspension was audible inside the cabin.
3. Handling -
I didnt get a chance to push the car around corners, but I did test it for Highspeed stability and quick lane maneuvering to get fair idea.
The car didnt feel nervous on high speeds, I did 125kmph and it felt planted and confident.
Quick Lane changes were also impressive, the car feels agile and body role is apparent, however well contained. If I have to compare it with Seltos, Seltos felt more confident and the body roll in it was also less.
But if you havent driven Seltos
4. NVH -
This is the second best insulated cabin I have driven, I think Seltos is slightly better here (by a 5% margin maybe).
5. Steering -
Steering is much better in terms of weight and precision compared to what Hyundai has offered us so far. Feel and Feedback is definitely missing (I liked Seltos in this area, it weighs up nicely and offers more feedback than Creta's steering, specially in Sport mode).
6. DCT -
DCT was quite fast, more importantly, it was smooth.
If you push the paddle, there is maybe less than 1 sec lag before it shift down 3 gears to offer you the torque. If you are not planning to participate in a race with this car, the lag will go unnoticed in regular driving conditions.
Special mention of
Paddle Shifter here, they are super quick as well. You can use the paddles in any mode and gearbox will give you the manual control of the car. The instrument cluster will change the gear indicator reading from D1/D2/D3 etc to simple digits.
In manual control though, the engine will wait for you long enough, it will roar and call for an upshift, eventually it will do the job for you. This comes really high on the rev range, so its acceptable for me.
7. Seat Comfort -
Seats are extremely comfortable and hugs you well. Ventilated seats add to the comfort quotient.
I dont know weather it was the strong AC of creta, or AC and the Ventilated seat combination, but the car cooled down pretty quickly, inspite of it being parked in open at 42 deg.
Rear seat comfort is worth mentioning too.
8. Music System -
Creta's Bose audio system is mind blowing. I am not a fan of loud music, still I enjoyed the HIP HOP and Bollywood songs playing through my playlist. The bass, clarity and even high volume performance (had to test it) of the music system was remarkable.
Infact, I had heard good things about Seltos's audio system too, but it felt very flat to me. The bass in Seltos is compromised to focus on clarity. I have tested the Harrier's JBL system too and it has loud volume clarity like no other. Creta's audio system is meant to serve a much wider audience. If I have to rate the 3, it will be like
Creta>Harrier> Seltos