[Avenger_123]

Just completed test drive of both SX petrol and SX+ diesel, at Trident Bangalore. There was a lot of rush for test drive. I drove it on the hosur road and through some big pot holes on the service road.

Observations:

- Both engines have sufficient power. My favourite is the diesel - super smooth and peppy. Mild turbo lag is there till around 1500 rpm, though not as pronounced as on the DDIS on my Ertiga. Gear shift is super smooth, awesome interiors and the navigation also worked like a charm - not sure which maps they are using though. Liked the overall switch gear quality used, and the car does feel premium.

- SX+ definitely feels better with the chrome covered gear box and leather wrapped steering wheel - I feel they should have retained these on the SX too. Also, the 17" wheels looks dashing in person.

- Visibility is great, am 5'9" and could see the bonnet line pretty good, driver seat had good support overall.

- Ride quality is better that older generation Hyundai's, but large potholes did make the car unsettled. GC is fine, as I drove over some really large craters and speed breakers with no issues at all.

- Rear seat is best for 2 folks, and as already mentioned felt bit catastrophic with the high raise windows

- Boot space looked good too, but not very large.

The sales man told me will be price increase in 6 months over the introductory prices. Which looks bound to happen, as today only Hyundai announced 30000 price increase across all it's models. He told there are 300 bookings with him already - with average wait period of 1 to 2 months.

I think overall the car looks and feels premium, but definitely 1-1.5 L cheaper price would have made it better for me. I am looking to get our 5 year old I20 replaced - and they are offering a 30000 loyalty bonus - only if I get a Verna. So I guess will wait some more time for it to come on Creta and the hype dies a bit.

[jaibir]

I had booked the CRDI SX+ a few weeks back. Was considering between the Creta, S Cross and the Duster. Have driven the Duster extensively and it was top of my list. Decided to wait for the S Cross and Creta before finalising. The S Cross got knocked off the list earlier due to the too-small boot. Went to check out the Creta today. Given much has been written about the looks etc already, will restrict to salient points that affected my decision:
- Interior quality: definitely a step up from the Duster but didn't have the wow factor that the Elite i20 does. Overall point in Creta's favour
- Space: Boot space is less than the duster. With the front seat adjusted to my driving comfort, rear space is marginally less in legroom. The rear seat in the Creta cant comfortably seat three while the Duster can. Overall good enough space but not as good as the Duster. Not a dealbreaker for me either way
- Driving comfort - ergonomics are clearly better than the Duster. Also, the clutch and gearshift are both easier. The steering is a real killjoy though. For city use, the Creta is the easier car to drive but doesn't inspire confidence for highway runs. For me personally its largely a tie
- Ride quality - no contest here. The Duster is much better over bad roads. Back seat comfort in particular is much better with the Duster. This was the big dealbreaker for me
- Price - the Creta SX sits somewhere between the Duster 110 RXL and RXZ Plus in pricing and feature count. Overall seemed a good compromise. The price gap between the SX and SX+ is hard to justify. The only useful features were navigation and rear camera - not worth the Rs1.4l OTR price gap in Bangalore. If I had stuck with the Creta, would have changed the booking to the SX instead of SX+

Overall, the Creta doesn't work for me due to the ride quality. If this were closer to the Duster, would have gone for it. Cancelled the Creta booking today. As things stand, the Duster is back to the top of the short list. Before finalising, I plan to take a TD of the XUV500 as well to make sure that it is indeed too big for me.

[nkghai]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi;37607
If all goes well, I should have my Creta delivered by [B

tomorrow evening, or Saturday at the most[/b].

Hey Creta Man. Whats the latest on your beauty.
Update from you is awaited. There are many eager people sitting on the fence waiting for your initial comments and drive review to make their decisions.
I know a detailed review will take time but some tit bits here and there will keep up the enthu

[NPV]

Finally saw the Creta in flesh , but could not Test drive due to long queue.
The dealership was milling with folks showing a lot of interest in the Creta and many checking them out with their families in tow!

Some pictures here and few random observations:
1. Boot
- sides are not symmetric - notice the bulge on the left side (the fuel tank ?) whereas the right side is flatter and lower (the area above wheel well).
- has a luggage net,
- the luggage board above the spare tyre is sturdy with ribbed portions underneath it and folds in the middle
- small cubby holes in the left and right side corners

2. Rear Bench
- seats quite comfortable, can seat 2 adults and a child
- arm rest with cup holder is good and rests tall when opened out
- Rear AC vents are a good feature, the additional 12 v socket is below the vents (I remember the S Cross as calling out both 12V sockets together providing 120 Watts but both the sockets in the Creta say "12V, 180W", not sure if that's 180W together or individually though).
- with front seats pushed back fully, average height person at the back has just enough leg room

3. Front seats
- seats quite comfortable, driver seat gets good view of the road
- the cup holders next to parking brake are good, layout of cup holders and parking brake is just opposite that on the S-Cross! On the Creta, to the left of the driver is first the parking brake, then the cup holders and the other way on the S-Cross.
- Front 12v power socket, USB and Aux are in the cubby hole in front of the gear lever
- Infotainment console looks well integrated into the dashboard panel
- Glove box not very large, does not have a lock
- Controls on the driver door trim look good, the ORVM controls are located in a separate 3 switch cluster - one to fold/unfold, one to select left to right and the third is the 4 way jog to move up/down/left/right
- I felt that the gap between the door and driver seat is more so you will end up brushing your feet against the body of the vehicle during egress, so you need to keep your feet wide out of the car when getting out

4. The door trims plastic quality felt thicker and better compared to the S-Cross. The map pockets and Bottle holders are nicely integrated into the door trim. Quality of plastics is very good like other Hyundai cars. The tone of beige is medium, not too light nor too dark and I kind of liked this since it goes well with black though the All Black interiors of the old Getz is still my favorite.

5. Pricing - as expected, Bangalore probably has the highest on road pricing:
Petrol 1.6 Base - Rupees 10,57,039/-
Petrol 1.6 S - Rupees 11,75,767/-
Petrol 1.6 SX+ - Rupees 14,11,497/-

Diesel 1.4 Base - Rupees 11,58,146/-
Diesel 1.4 S - Rupees 13,09,223/-
Diesel 1.4 S+ - Rupees 14,37,775/-
Diesel 1.6 SX - Rupees 14,62,112/-
Diesel 1.6 SX+ - Rupees 15,97,095/-
Diesel 1.6 SX+ AT - Rupees 17,09,789/-
Diesel 1.6 SX(O) - Rupees 17,12,777/-

Let the pictures flow...
































Parting shot of the Creta in RED!

[nkghai]

Hyundai is raising prices of all its model except Creta as per this article wef 01 Aug 2105. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/b...w/48213355.cms.
I have that funny feeling that within a couple of months we will see a price rise for Creta too.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by nkghai

Hey Creta Man. Whats the latest on your beauty.
Update from you is awaited. There are many eager people sitting on the fence waiting for your initial comments and drive review to make their decisions.
I know a detailed review will take time but some tit bits here and there will keep up the enthu

Well, I was all set to take delivery yesterday evening itself but my little princess fell badly sick during noontime yesterday. Had to get her admitted in the hospital for the night, but she recovered well and is now back home.

Deferred my delivery for Monday. All formalities and payment processes are complete. I just have to sign on some final stuff, pick up the car and return home.

On a side note, my birdie reports that the first full batches of Creta ATs have been dispatched to all dealers across the country. Those who had booked the ATs and are awaiting delivery can get their cars by 31st July. Please check with your respective dealerships for updates regarding the same.

Birdie also clarified on the pricing fiasco - the ex-factory prices I had seen in the official email communique were correct. State taxes, VAT and other things had not been added to those figures. For example, the SX+ petrol was priced at around 9.45 lakhs ex-factory Kolkata, and if you added the state taxes & VAT, it comes to around 11.54 lakhs ex-showroom Kolkata.

This was a glaring error on my part, as I thought that those were ex-showroom prices (and not ex-factory, as the email had communicated).

For all what it's worth, the guy's "leaked email" was actually spot-on with the prices.

[Brishti]

For all who have seen it live how is the steel quality/thickness is it like elantra or verna? The other bad thing that I have noticed is that if you want airbag's you will have to get either the S+ in diesel or SX+ in petrol both come around 14lac mark onroad. Also compared to the Honda Jazz how is the rear seat space?

Why is there no S+ in petrol ?

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Got the chance to Test Drive the Creta today 1.6 CRDI SX version and here are some pics for comparison sake, with my Yeti parked next to the Creta in red outside.
Behemoth

Thank you Behemoth. Couldn't ask for more here!
A few more small queries.

1. How do you rate the "ride" and "suspension" behaviour over bad roads in the Creta as compared with the Yeti? I do know that the Duster handles bad roads superlatively, compared with any other vehicle out there right now.
2. How did you find the Creta vs the Yeti on Speed Breakers especially the super elephantine ones we have in India? Is the Ground Clearance much different between the two?
3. Which of the two (Creta and Yeti) has lesser front and rear overhangs? Which would you rate better in terms of angle of approach and departure, especially on bad roads or rutted tracks.

I like that rubber cladding on the wheel arches in the Creta - very similar to the Audi Q3. This kind of rubber cladding will make a lot of difference in our country's horrid road conditions.
In fact this Creta looks so very Audi-esque it is not funny!

[SLK]

Originally Posted by jaibir

- Space: ...... With the front seat adjusted to my driving comfort, rear space is marginally less in legroom. The rear seat in the Creta cant comfortably seat three while the Duster can. Overall good enough space but not as good as the Duster. ......

When I tried the Duster the rear space was a deal-breaker, it was completely into small hatchback category. If Creta's rear is called out for being less than Duster, it would basically compete with Polo (its own category!). I have my doubts on this! Because it would make the car not salable.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Sad about Yeti pricing though.
I think Yeti would score better at ride quality & engine-wegine side.
.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Thanks JKDas,
With the new Yeti's pricing, it is seriously too expensive (even in Gurgaon it is no Yeti had a unique advantage of starting early, but guess the management never saw the volume opportunity which lay in the 12-16 lac bracket and just
To answer some of Shankar's questions:
Now the questions and points I have are;
Would you replace your Yeti with the Creta? My answer is no as I am looking at upgrading to either a Ford Everest/ New Fortuner when it is launched! But if I were looking to replace our Laura, I would replace it with a Creta!

Will the Creta boot pass the lateral golf bag test? Yes, it may as the Depth of the Boot is bigger and the Golf Kit may fit in Diagonally lying down - but that's my perception and there's no better way to check than to actually try it out!

The rear brakes appear to be Drums - will this impact braking feel compared with the Yeti which has all 4 discs? Yes, this was one of the few things where Creta has done some cost cutting, but I doubt this will have more than 10% impact on brake performance.

The overall power and torque of the Creta may be a bit less than the Yeti - is this a serious difference in performance? I am yet to get a Test Drive (yesterday the vehicle had gone out and wasn't available), but in terms of NVH I checked the showroom vehicle in started condition, it was quieter than Yeti. Also, I am sure that as the aerodynamics of the Creta are Fluidic, there will also be much less wind noise at higher speed (90+) which is quite prominent in the Yeti due to the Boxy design.

Is the ground clearance more than the Yeti's 180mm? Yes, it is 190mm and more than the Yeti.

How do the front and rear overhangs compare with the Yeti's? The front and rear overhangs are short and appear coherent with the overall design. But since this vehicle is not meant to be an offroader (hence no 4x4 option) it cannot do offroading and one should not even try! It is good for City-roading which in itself is like offroading or no-roading these days!

How do the overall dimensions compare with the Yeti's? The outer dimensions - length, height and width match the Yeti visually, but the design looks more shapely. In terms of interior space, the Creta has less Head room than the Yeti, but more Leg Room. The seats are also quite comfortable and well bolstered; Rear seat incline is also just right.

Overall Hyundai has done a great job in the overall package of the Creta and also priced it well. The only funny thing in the variants is the lack of SX (O) variant with AT - they could well have sold that too, but price would have been 16.5 Lacs ex showroom, and I am sure there would have been takers for that too. The SX (O) version is quite well kitted and specced and anybody wanting an AT would want those features too. Maybe Hyundai will wake up later and offer it after some time!

Thanks a lot for all these answers.

Yes I agree totally that the Yeti at 27.5 lacs in Bangalore is crazily expensive. Considering I bought mine in Dec 2011 at Rs 8-8.5 lacs less than this price.

I like the Creta too, very much indeed, but I don't think I would replace my Yeti with the Creta. I would rather use the Yeti for several more years (god willing) and then look at going back to a car - my evil brain is heading towards the Mini Cooper S (Second hand)....ha ha!

[jha.shailesh]

Originally Posted by Contrapunto

Shailesh, may I ask which dealer did you approach (I see from your profile that you are from Hyderabad) for the AT test drive? Also, how heavy was the crowd? Did you need an appointment?

Kun Hyundai in Kondapur. I went in the afternoon, and there wasn't much rush, and unlike earlier, now the showroom guys were committing to 90 days delivery.

[Simhi]

Finally, checked out the Creta today at Kothari Hyundai, Kharadi, Pune. I had gone along with spouse and kids. We own an i10 AT and hence were interested only in automatic.

There was crowd but still were attended promptly by a Sales Advisor and shown a Red one (not an SX(0) model) kept inside the showroom. She walked around explaining all the features. Boot could not be opened as she explained that battery was down.

We asked for AT model to be shown and asked for a test drive. There was a white AT which she explained was for delivery and we were allowed to check it out. No test drive AT vehicle was available and she mentioned that it should be available in 1 to 2 weeks. Waiting period for all models was quoted as 5 months.

Anyways, few observations (will try not to cover points mentioned already)
1. First comment on rear from spouse - seems i20 Elite rear (based on lights design) has been raised a bit.
2. For her height (height 5' 3"), finding the right seating position was getting difficult. Seat was raised to full height and pushed forward so that she could reach the pedals and get a good view. But then steering was hitting the thighs. So had to tilt the steering up. But then found that the steering was not comfortable to hold. Not sure if any of you faced this issue.
3. When she sat in the rear seat, she immediately mentioned about not getting proper view of outside. This is already talked about in forum so won't explain further.
4. There is no extended warranty available for automatic. Why is it so?

Overall it did not click immediately to both of us as the vehicle to lust for and own. For now, may have to check out City VX AT (I prefer sedan) and Ford Ecosport (wife prefers SUV).

With the OTR price of 16.60 for SX+ Diesel AT in Pune, I wished Hyundai had also launched AT in petrol.

Originally Posted by mm403

Surprisingly, the only model which they had, its battery was down and they could not open the rear hatch

I am assuming you also visited Kothari at Kharadi.

[carfreak]

Originally Posted by NaveenKD

So after booking Creta 2 days back, I decided to test drive XUV and Duster AWD. XUV is future rich, spacious and big. But for someone who is driving Jazz from past 2 years it was like driving a lorry and nosedive experienced every time I applied the break. To give Mahindra the credit, it is the most VFM vehicle between 10-20Lakhs I have seen. It is big outside, spacious inside and has every zigmo you want. 2nd Row space is humongous in this price segment, not sure why they did not provide sliding rails and more boot space with all 3 rows up.

Renault Silk board sent home a white AWD for a test drive and boy-O-boy what an experience. I don't know if there is any other SUV in this price segment which can handle anything that comes its way like a duster does. While today the duster looks good, I was not sure can I live with this age old interiors for another 5 years till I buy me next car ( even now my Jazz compares well with new cars when it comes to cockpit).
Both quoted exactly 3.25 Lakhs as exchange for my 2010 Jazz select. Renault is saying that they can offer 76k discount on AWD OTR which is currently at 17 lakhs.
XUV W8 FWD is 17.9 and W10 FWD is 18.9 but no discounts. Both are eager to sell vehicle and have promised to rework discount or exchange price.

Hyundai (Advaith) offered 1.9L for my Jazz and the SA himself suggested to sell it outside. I may still buy Creta since I personally don't think it is overpriced. There is more than 10L difference between topend C2 segment and topend D1 segment, this what these compact SUV's are filling. But only reason I was checking XUV/Duster because I am unhappy that there is no AT variant in SX(O). I may have to test drive Creta tomorrow on a long stretch and see how it compares to duster.

I had test driven Yeti a month back and this will always be my dream car. I am not someone to say that it is overpriced, but at 23-24 OTR in Bangalore it was simply out of my budget. But when I start comparing Creta SX(O) with Yeti Elegance (4*2) which are almost same in terms of size, interiors space/Quality and features, It makes me feel Creta is well priced. I was sure it will be priced above 16.5 in BLR.
Don't bash me that I am comparing Duster, XUV and Yeti with Creta, but that's what Hyundai has managed in terms of packaging and pricing.

Naveen, i will have to say you took the words right out of my mouth!! I had the same opinion after driving all the vehicles you have mentioned above. And due to the same reason i am looking forward to the comparo between the Duster awd and the Creta. By now i am sure the Duster is the winner in terms of ride and comfort, but as an overall package i guess the Creta will take the cake!

[mm403]

Originally Posted by Simhi

Finally, checked out the Creta today at Kothari Hyundai, Kharadi, Pune.

Boot could not be opened as she explained that battery was down.


I am assuming you also visited Kothari at Kharadi.

No, I visited Kundan Hyundai at Bavdhan. Different dealers and same issue. Fail to understand the same problem being observed at different dealerships

[jaibir]

Originally Posted by SLK

When I tried the Duster the rear space was a deal-breaker, it was completely into small hatchback category. If Creta's rear is called out for being less than Duster, it would basically compete with Polo (its own category!). I have my doubts on this! Because it would make the car not salable.

I had pushed the front seat all the way back for both the Creta and the Duster to get a comfortable driving position. With that, I felt the Duster gives a bit more legroom at the rear (knees don't scrape the seat in front).

The S-Cross is much more spacious than both the Creta and the Duster when it comes to rear legroom.