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-   -   Preview: Hyundai Creta (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/165540-preview-hyundai-creta-88.html)

Good to see the Indian SUV scene picking up. Too long it was a couple of players playing around with their dated offerings. Ever since I traded my Scorpio which I had driven 3 lac km from 2005 to 2013 (8 years, top maintenance, ran like a dream even then) I have not had a compelling case for buying another SUV. Maybe a little more wait till we get a few more offerings to make a compelling case? Fortuner is good but a 25+ lac car. 10-15 is the sweet spot. I will go and take a look at the Creta right away, all these posts is making me get up right away to go see the Creta in flesh.

Also the vehicle shows a TN registration and was supposed to have been driven on the Pune-Mumbai express-way. Why would anybody take a TN registered car all the way to Pune for a TD ? Just curious.

Since HMIL is based near Chennai, all cars meant for media drives and stuff will be having TN registrations. Generally the same set of cars are loaned as long term vehicles to auto media houses for reviews and stuffs later on.

On the other hand, if they will use new vehicles for media drives and stuffs, such vehicle will have a couple of thousand km on their odo and would have been subjected to all kinds of abuses. Selling such vehicles becomes a problem then.

@Mustangvins - That is exactly what is bothering me today, I booked a Diesel SX variant but my heart is pulling me towards an SX+ variant in petrol available at a similar price tag.

Have you managed to find any more good reasons to lean on to Petrol SX+variant ?

I drive predominantly within the city and its outskirts and petrol should mostly serve the purpose. Also, i am expecting lesser maintenance with a petrol engine. How did you find the diesel vs petrol experience based on your test drive?

Did a short test drive on the 1.6 SX(O) this afternoon at Advaith Hyundai Bannergatta road.

The white test drive car looked good,much larger in real life than in photos. The diamond cut 17 inch alloys and the slightly broader profile Tyres look good and at least pretend to fill up the huge wheel wells. The SX versions 16 inch alloys will really struggle here.

The chrome grill didn't look great to start of with but will grow on you.

The front doors open wide and provides an easy access to get in.

Once inside and the doors closed it does feel vey nice and sophisticated place to be in,with the 7 inch AVN taking pride of place. If only Hyundai had a little more leather on the door insides. I find their new door designs a little to plasticky.

It's easy to get a comfortable driving position (though steering adjust only for height) ,thanks to a fantastic height adjustment travel on the drivers seat.You can actually feel like an SUV at full height and also adjust it to a more sedan like driving height. Take your pick. Only grouse here is that the armrest does not slide out and getting your arm comfortable takes some getting used to.

The pedals are nicely spaced out and comes with a nice dead pedal.

The internal rear view mirror feels out of place here. Can't believe Hyundai stinged on this. The view out is not great either with a big wiper hindering the view of what is left.Thank our stars for the nice reverse display on the AVN.

The seats are large and nicely contoured and feels very comfortable. Loved the double stitch in white. Adequate legroom both front and rear. Though the rear seats are not the best place to be in,mainly due to the high window line. The SX version(display car) did not have any storage under the rear armrest, not sure on the SX(O).

Under the hood everything looks extremely neat and well layed out. Hyundai should have had insulation under the hood as well, a big omission. Checked the air intake manifold but could figure out where it ended. It almost looked totally sealed and my guess is that it's drawing the air from under the car. Saw a small circular vent right under where you normally have your sump guard. Not sure if that's the right place to have it in an SUV. Experts I could be wrong here.

The car starts with the now familiar Hyundai thrum.Would have preferred to have the engine start/stop button to the right. The engine is barely audible at idle. Though you start to hear the engine once it starts going past the 1500 rpm, it's not very intrusive. This is where Hyundai missed a trick by not having the engine bay insulation. The Verna and Elantra feel a lot more silent. Not sure about cruising speed noise as I did not get to take it on the highway. This is planned for early on Sunday.

The Creta does give you the SUV feel while driving. You sit quite high and the big glass area around the front seats give you a great view of what's happening outside. The suspension felt nice and stiff though not uncomfortable. Dismissed Bangalore's famous potholes without complaints. Honestly at city speeds did not feel a single rough patch filter through into the cabin.

The steering is light and easy for city driving,it will be loved by 90% of the folks. It did feel pretty lifeless on the straight ahead position.I personally felt that the Elantra feel is much better. It felt pretty hatch like while making those tight u turns.

To conclude I would say that Hyundai has a clear winner on their hands not withstanding that it is on the pricier side. Though it doesn't handle like the Duster, as an overall package it does feel more modern and easy to live with. It feels "Just small enough for the city and Large enough for the highways".

Not sure if it's the Perfect SUV until we put it to the highway test.

The scene heats up. Mahindra has launched the Scorpio Automatic priced lower than Creta
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/48252525.cms

PDI done. Will head home tomorrow. :D

:OT

Amazing Looking 2016 Tucson. Wonder if it will make its way to India

Creta= small sized Santa Fe

Tucson = medium sized Santa Fe

Santa Fe = full sized Santa Fe

Took delivery of my "Lazarus" at 2:30 PM in the afternoon, amidst loud cheering by the showroom personnel and confetti bursts behind us.

Also, almost immediately as a test, I subjected my compact macho Hyundai to a rigorous highway run of ~350 kms to and fro, to test him out in all sorts of varied road conditions. I am happy to report that he passed most of them, with plenty of road undulations, small potholes/craters, small speed-breakers dismissed from his presence without a fuss.

But let's make one thing pretty clear - the Creta is no Safari or Storme, so please don't expect that kind of riding comfort over broken, potholed, speedbreaker-ridden, uneven and bouncy roads. Where there is absolutely no existing patch of road ahead, the Creta needs to be slowed down or the ride becomes a bit bouncy on 70+ speeds, where you can simply Storme through those kind of absolutely pathetic road patches.

Quite a few surprises in store for me - apparently, the Maps/Navigation is SATNAV-based, and pinpoints your location almost exactly where you are. Just feed in the destination, and it charts out the shortest route to your place. Also, while journeying, when a turning or curve is just ahead, a female voice chimes out in the cabin, saying "TURNING AHEAD!"

Very nifty little unit, this 7-inch touchscreen AVN unit. Also, blazingly fast in it's touch response as well. Hyundai needs to be commended for bringing this Head Unit to it's Indian offerings.

Also, real-time gear upshift indicator is also present in the Creta's Supervision Cluster. Cross 50 kmph and it will indicate an upshift to 4th, cross 60 kmph and you get a prompt for a shift to 5th, and cross 70 kmph for a prompt to shift to the 6th. All this happens when the RPM is spooling at around 1,750-1,800.

Slowing down? No problem. The 5th gear picks up cleanly from even 40 kmph, and the 6th comes down from as far as 50 kmph. All gear ratios are fantastic to drive in. Many a time I forgot to upshift to 5th or even 6th - the 4th gear was good enough for 80 kmph and beyond!

Like Viddy pointed out yesterday, the 6th gear of the Creta behaves exactly like the 5th gear of the EcoSport. This is a car which will cruise on 75-90 kmph speeds in the 6th gear all day without breaking a sweat.

And another Hyundai which actually has a well-weighed steering wheel at high speeds too! Quite unlike the Hyundais of the past, these new ones. But this is no Fiesta or Linea - those cars are in a completely different league as far as steering feedback is concerned.

The raised and proper dead pedal is also a real boon, specially for those like me who will use the seat-height adjustment extensively. Unlike the cheap "hawai chappal" ones which Honda India sticks to the floor of their Citys and Jazzes, Hyundai has an actual and very helpful dead pedal in place. No better place to rest your tiring left leg when you are in Cruise mode in the 5th/6th gear on the highways. Thank you for this small but very important thing, Hyundai!

A rough estimate of his highway run today indicates a return of around 15 kmpl for the whole to and fro journey.Full mileage details in my ownership report when the tankful runs out.

On a final note, the Creta is yet to be added to the regional RTO list, due to some formalities still pending by Hyundai. As a result, me (and all others before me who have taken delivery) have been issued TRs. An issue which is likely to be resolved by 31st July, and only then the online permanent registration process will be completed. Hence I couldn't find out the weight either.

Hopefully Naveen (team-BHPian naveen.raju) who picks up his Creta tomorrow, will finally reveal what the weight of the car really is.

Congratulations Raven for the monstrous beauty you got in hands and please keep rolling all your first hand information here after.

If I am not wrong the supervision cluster & 7-inch AVN is only available in SX (O) and I see from your review mentioning about gear shift indicators in your SX+ VTVT petrol. Are they really available in this variant ?:Shockked:

I had to opt for SX+ Petrol over Diesel SX for those notable differences but I am dead scared :deadhorse to hear how this huge car fare with petrol in its mileage.

Very much looking forward to hear more from you.

Fantastic Review @RavenAvi. Loved it. A True perspective.:thumbs up

Congratulations Creta Man!clap:

Really happy that you finally got your Lazarus. And even happier to see the feedback from you. Looking forward to your extensive ownership report as that will help me in cementing my decision.

After the media drive, I had sent a Tweet to Siddharth Vinayak Patankar regarding the SX(O) Petrol. He replied that the company is looking at the demand and dealer feedback for the same. If there are people asking for a SX(O), they might provide one. But there was no timeframe mentioned. I'm trying to get in touch with higher ups in Hyundai. If anyone has some email id or knows Twitter handle of VP or CEO, please share.

Many congratulations Raven(young boi in the pics). You certainly have some great spirit, I mean subjecting the vehicle to a 350kms trip straight after delivery:thumbs up

& now we know the source of all the pre-launch spy stuff :p

Enjoy your "Lazarus"