[BLACNWYTE]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Thank you so much, team.
It's been 5 years and 10 days since the Creta was launched in our market (on 21st July 2015), and the ex-showroom price of (roughly) the same variant - SX MT petrol (2015 got SX+) - has seen a rise of exactly 2 lakh rupees (SX+ MT launched in 2015 at 11.46L, ex-showroom, and now the all-new gen's SX MT costs 13.46L, ex-showroom).

This make it seem that the 2020 SX MT is a VFM car when compared to the 2017 SX+ MT. I always felt the Creta was overpriced but they milked the non-availability of a competent opponent. Now with KIA in the market (even though a sister concern) I feel Hyundai is offering Creta with more features making it worth the cost, at least the base and mid trims.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by noopster1008

I have a question to all the techies here. If i install perforated seat covers to SX model, would it be possible to have the function of seat ventilation ? If not, then any after market option for the same ?

Apologies for the late reply.

Ventilated seats is a feature in the SX(O). The SX comes with fabric seats which look like this, so seat covers isn't a problem.

But yes, if you are going for the SX(O), you need to get customised seat covers because the seats in the SX(O) are already draped in leather as OEM fitment.

Originally Posted by noopster1008

What is you suggestion for things like anti rust coating, PPF, Ceramic coating, polish / wax etc to a new vehicle ?
Have you opted for anything like this ?
Its been a month for my vehicle and I am confused.
What do we need to do with a new vehicle w.r.t. paint/shine and under body etc.

Anti-rust coating is a must, specially for places like my city which receives rains for at least 5 months in a year (heavy rains for 2-3 months). Look for packages with 5-year warranties (such as 3M), if you can.

Polishing and waxing is also a must-do tool to keep your vehicle looking fresh. Throw in the car shampoo wash too, if you can indulge your car in a wet car wash every now and then.

Rest of the stuff such as Teflon and other coatings are useless and hogwash. Dealerships usually add them to increase your bills. Once your car gets to stand under one long rain shower, and all of it just washes away.

Haven't gone for PPF or ceramic coating for any of my cars yet so can't comment on those. However, a good washing + a polish/waxing detailed session is good enough to keep the newness feel going, IMO.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Anti-rust coating is a must, specially for places like my city which receives rains for at least 5 months in a year (heavy rains for 2-3 months). Look for packages with 5-year warranties (such as 3M), if you can.

Can you confirm if the chassis or other panels of this car are galvanised? It is my understanding that nobody apart from the VW group bothers to galvanise their cars in India. Is it any different with Creta or Seltos?

[Hayek]

Wonderful review Avi - certainly in no way inferior to our official reviews except perhaps for the lack of a detailed comparison between variants / engine options. I do find it interesting that Hyundai and Kia are offering both a 1.5 l NA and 1.4 l turbo petrol options. Wonder what the sales break up between these variants is. Did you get a chance to test drive the 1.4 DCT? (Sorry if I missed it in the thread). If so, how does it compare. Am likely to be in the market for a car in early 2021 - and while I have not decided on which segment to look at, this is certainly within the consideration set.

On the looks, I guess they gave the Creta the looks that only a parent can love - but once we own cars, we do turn into their parents. That said, I think the looks grow on you with time. I was driving behind a White Creta all the way from Parel to Ghatkopar a few days ago. And by the end of it, I had got used to the rear end.

Some of the feature inclusions and omissions seem perplexing - agree that I would have preferred 2 air bags and auto adjusting rear view mirrors to some of the more esoteric features like traction modes on a 2WD.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Can you confirm if the chassis or other panels of this car are galvanised? It is my understanding that nobody apart from the VW group bothers to galvanise their cars in India. Is it any different with Creta or Seltos?

I doubt it as well.

Hyundai has marketed the Creta as having 74.3% advanced high-strength steel, but they haven't mentioned about galvanised steel anywhere. A source had told me that the steel used for the Creta body comes with zinc coating, but I have yet to verify this.

Will dig and report back.

Originally Posted by Hayek

Wonderful review Avi - certainly in no way inferior to our official reviews except perhaps for the lack of a detailed comparison between variants / engine options.

Thank you so much for the appreciation, Hayek.

Originally Posted by Hayek

I do find it interesting that Hyundai and Kia are offering both a 1.5 l NA and 1.4 l turbo petrol options. Wonder what the sales break up between these variants is.

61% for diesels, 31% for 1.5L petrols, so that leaves just 8% for the 1.4L DCTs.
70:30 split between Manuals & ATs. Among the AT options - 10% for IVT, 10% for DCT & 10% for the diesel TC.

Originally Posted by Hayek

Did you get a chance to test drive the 1.4 DCT? (Sorry if I missed it in the thread). If so, how does it compare. Am likely to be in the market for a car in early 2021 - and while I have not decided on which segment to look at, this is certainly within the consideration set.

Nope.

The usage of our Creta didn't warrant the need for the 1.4L DCT. It would have been overkill for a car which would see at least 90% of it's ownership life doing in-city urban runabouts. Plus, keeping the 1.4L tied up inside the garage while the world goes through Covid-19 lockdowns would have done injustice to that engine.

Plus, within the short period that the Creta was finalised, there was no 1.4L variant available with the local dealership. They haven't ordered or sold a single Creta in that configuration yet, too.

Originally Posted by Hayek

On the looks, I guess they gave the Creta the looks that only a parent can love - but once we own cars, we do turn into their parents. That said, I think the looks grow on you with time. I was driving behind a White Creta all the way from Parel to Ghatkopar a few days ago. And by the end of it, I had got used to the rear end.

I reasoned it this way - most of the time I would be with the car, it would be inside and in the driver's seat. So the exteriors won't be a problem. Let the traffic around me deal with those extreme looks.

And, I love the side view of the 2020 Creta. Looks quite bold and aggressive in it's stance. So whenever I am parked (at office or anywhere inside the city), I am spared from the direct front/back views. That also helps.

Originally Posted by Hayek

Some of the feature inclusions and omissions seem perplexing - agree that I would have preferred 2 air bags and auto adjusting rear view mirrors to some of the more esoteric features like traction modes on a 2WD.

Not sure how much the traction modes cost, but I completely agree with you - would have been much happier with 2 side airbags + an Electro-Chromic IRVM instead. I think the traction modes are just a gimmick.


Lighting Up The Night

The 2020 Hyundai Creta, at least in it's SX & SX(O) avatars, doesn't need any immediate upgrades to it's lighting setups. Apart from looking absolutely fabulous during the night when fully lit up - those LEDs add an extra ambience to the car for sure - the lights themselves are quite strong and evenly spread.

Before we start, let me tell you that the pics I have taken don't do justice to the fabulously bright lights of the 2020 Creta. You have to see them in person, preferably in all-dark conditions, to appreciate them. Hyundai has done a fabulous job with the entire lighting setup in the Creta, except for a few overlooks.

All pics have been taken by my OnePlus 8. Apologies for being late as it has been raining here continuously for the past week.


The DRLs (which light up as separate positioning lamps too) are ultra-bright.


Illumination of the road just ahead, from the DRLs.


The front foglamp is placed low, IMO, but..


..it's throw is great!


The low-beam of the headlamps.


The upper two LED lamps of the trio constitute the low beam.


Check out the low-beam throw.


The high-beam of the headlamp section.


Look closely and you will notice that the lower single LED high-beam lamp is slightly bigger in size than the upper two LEDs.


And the high-beam throw!


The rear lights of the Creta.


You have to see them in person!


With the brake pedal pressed - 3 bulbs each inside the two tail lights + the Stop Light (Middle-mounted?) glow up.


A close look at the fully-lit tail lamp section together with the brake light.


The twin number-plate lights are equally as bright.


Indicator lights up front and on the ORVM. Placed too low, IMO.
Hyundai should have integrated the side-turn indicators with the DRLs.


Indicator sections inside the tail lights.


Indicator + tail light.


The ORVM's indicator light.


The throw from the entry-assist puddle lamp under the IRVM. Very bright.


Cabin's front lit up by the twin LED map lights.


Front lights are quite bright.
Also notice the extra side bolstering of the front seats in this pic.


The entire rear section is also nicely lit up.


Thanks to these twin rear LED lights placed inside each of the rear grab handles.


The Speedo section looks absolutely terrific at night.
Clear, sharp and everything in detail.
I dare say this is one of the best-looking backlit analogue speedometers in our market today.


Buttons on the IRVM for SOS, RSA & Bluelink are well-lit.


Clear and legible fonts aid the lighting for readability.
(Note - the middle USB port has a drive plugged into it and the 12V socket lid is closed, but all of them are backlit)


Same goes for the gear console and it's buttons (even the knurled Modes knob) which looks fab.


Ambient Blue Lighting on the front passenger dash (above the glovebox) and a small, short on on the steering's right.
Look at both the foot-well sections which have been left completely dark!
Also notice the driver doorpad buttons on the right. Only a single button for the driver-side window glass is backlit.
What were they thinking?! 17 lakhs and the owner still has to fumble in the dark?!
Couple of serious misses by Hyundai.


The boot light.
Hyundai should have provided twin lights on either side for better illumination.
The throw from the single boot light bulb is not enough for the entire boot.
Notice how the intruding right wheelwell (above the Jopasu dusters) looks darker.

[RavenAvi]

Team-BHPed our Phoenix yesterday afternoon.

Noticed a couple of minor gremlins with the HU yesterday:

- Before backing out Phoenix from my office's parking lot, I had the currently playing song on Mute, which means Paused. Slotted into R and started reversing, and the song suddenly started playing midway through the process of backing out. Song play is set to lowered volume while the car is in Reverse, so it wasn't a sudden, unpleasant, loud surprise. Thankfully.

- Got into Phoenix in the morning and patiently waited for the HU to load the USB directory before it started playing the current song from where it had left off yesterday, then put it on Mute through the steering-mounted Mute button so that I could reverse out from our garage without any distractions. But I noticed that while reversing, although the song's sound was muted, but the song itself was continuing to play instead of getting Paused, as it normally does when Mute is pressed. Subsequent Unmute/Mute actions worked flawlessly, though, with the current song playing/pausing as it uses to.

Nothing which a software update won't correct. For now, the HU gets a bit temperamental when the Reverse gear is in action, methinks.

[RavenAvi]

Well, the long lockdowns have certainly brought all life around these parts to a crawl. Add to that all the holidays in August, and we are seeing at least 15-16 days staying at home this entire month.

Sample this - we came out of another lockdown on 7th, 8th & 9th were holidays, office days on 10th & 11th, then 12th was a holiday for Janmasthami, office days again on 13th & 14th, then holidays on 15th Aug and 16th being a Sunday.

Also hearing that another lockdown might be scheduled from 20th Aug to 27th Aug.

Phoenix's running is extremely low right now. ODO stands at just 180-odd kms. I am really glad I went for a petrol during these times, plus the convenience of an AT which is a blessing for my present condition.

The biggest difference between the old and the new generation is the suspension, which is now firmed up and makes itself felt at city speeds. But it's not an uncomfortable or bone-jarring ride, instead it's a comfort to feel some of the undulations of the roads which are going under your wheels. This makes you more attached to your car's behaviour and also a more careful driver, IMO. The seats keep you snugly fit inside them and don't throw you about. Although, I think better tyres would have made a difference. I bet Michelins in the same size would be at least 2 leagues above the stock JKs which Hyundai is providing.

And oh yes - the feeling of watching the raindrops pattering on the pano sunroof's glass is something one needs to experience! The whole ambience is tailor-made to enjoy the rains to the full, I tell you.

Received a call from the Hyundai dealership on Sunday afternoon that the official HSRPs (High-Security Registration Plates) were finally ready, and to get them fitted. On Monday, they called again to tell me that the RC Card had also arrived and to come and collect it. On Tuesday, I drove over and got the HSRPs fitted and also got the RC Card.

Meanwhile, I had ordered some essentials for Phoenix from Amazon.

Fovera Car Backrest Cushion - for some additional lumbar support to the back and lower back. It arrived earlier in the afternoon today. Haven't fitted it to the driver seat yet.



Elegant Carpet Mats set of 5 - I am on the lookout for a good bucket/7D mat set but none are available for the 2020 Creta yet, so got this as a stop-gap necessity for now.


Printed price. I got it for 1,976/-.


Front mats. Driver's side comes with additional padding for the resting right heel/foot.


A close look.


The entire 5-piece set.


Driver side mat and it's extension.



Passenger side mat, extending till the insulation padding under the footwell.



Rear mats. Had a rear central mat left from our Lazarus days so carried it over into Phoenix for added foot comfort for the 5th passenger.


The new rear central mat for the 5th passenger.



10.25" Screen Guard for the Head Unit - With Phoenix getting so much attention from relatives and neighbours alike, this was a necessity. Plus, the OEM film provided is useless for protection.

The sticker on the package. Got it for 399/-.


The entire guard is one piece. An alcohol swab and a dry swab are provided.


Fitted. I aligned it from the top right across the top, but it ended up sticking itself slightly misaligned on the bottom right, while leaving some space at the bottom. Fearing that it might become useless if I removed it a second time, I let it be.



Silicone Key Cover - Protection for the keyfob. Priced at 199/-.

[RavenAvi]

One Month Update:

Exactly a month and only now I am nearing the end of my first fuel fill-up from the day when I took delivery.

ODO currently stands at 228 kms.

That translates to an overall FE of 9.81 kmpl, as per the Fuelio app. This is with AC on all the time and set to 25°C, and with me alone in our Phoenix most of the time.

Real-time daily tripmeter FE numbers keep hovering between 9-11 kmpl, depending on the distances and speeds achieved during each of the runs. Overall FE shown in the MID's display is 10.7 kmpl, so it is off by around 0.9 kmpl from actual figures.

Running is extremely low, what with lockdowns, incessant rains, very light office work, limited domestic runs and both us and Phoenix mostly staying at home. The sun hasn't been out for around 10 days now. It's been drizzles, rains, lashing rains, downpours, gusts with sleets, etc. (you get the idea)

Also did a few wade-through runs in the past week through knee-deep waters on some clogged roads amidst heavy downpours. No problems at all. No issue with water-wading capacity of the 2020 Creta.

The Bluelink app is becoming quite an irritant sometimes. Details on that soon.

Also noticed the newest poll in our "What Car?" section. Even though I own the Creta and am extremely satisfied with it, I voted for the Tata Harrier. Only one reason - you buy a Creta/Seltos with your mind, but you buy a Harrier with your heart. If only my past experiences with Tata hadn't been so, so bitter..

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Shouldn't the fog lamps throw light closer to the vehicle? From the pictures - it looks to be forming a similar pattern as the low beam from the headlamps.

[Turbokick]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Shouldn't the fog lamps throw light closer to the vehicle? From the pictures - it looks to be forming a similar pattern as the low beam from the headlamps.

Sorry to hijack the question though I was exactly trying to find the same thing today.
It is closer to the vehicle compared to what it is for the low beam.

Here it is how :


1. High beam
2. Low beam
3. Fog lamps

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Shouldn't the fog lamps throw light closer to the vehicle? From the pictures - it looks to be forming a similar pattern as the low beam from the headlamps.

Originally Posted by Turbokick

Sorry to hijack the question though I was exactly trying to find the same thing today.
It is closer to the vehicle compared to what it is for the low beam.

What Turbokick said.

If you look closely at the two pics which I shared, specially from the points where the beams start/end, the foglamp beam is closer than the headlamps' low beam.

Fog lamps. (some part of the illumination on the left is blocked by the dirt mound marked with a red arrow, casting it's shadow on the cement bag ahead)


Low beam.


But yes, it should be closer. Maybe the foglamps are adjusted as such so as to cover the points between the DRL illumination and the low beam illumination.

[adarsh.n]

Thanks for the detailed and wonderful review RavenAvi. Just curious to know if the lowline TPMS in the SX variant indicate the tyre that has a low pressure or is it just a indicator that flashes on the instrument cluster leaving us to figure it out ourselves.

[RavenAvi]

Thank you, Adarsh.

Originally Posted by adarsh.n

Just curious to know if the lowline TPMS in the SX variant indicate the tyre that has a low pressure or is it just a indicator that flashes on the instrument cluster leaving us to figure it out ourselves.

In the Lowline TPMS system, there's a yellow indicator - in the shape of a planted tyre's cross-section with an exclamation mark in the middle of it - just below the temperature gauge on the extreme left in the speedometer section which lights up and stays on when the car is started, to indicate that a tyre/some tyres has/have low air pressure(s).

In addition, the MID screen in the center of the speedometer also flashes "Low Pressure!" with a warning triangle icon.

Marked with light-blue arrows.

(From the video below)

Unfortunately, no specific tyre(s) is mentioned. You have to individually check all 4 tyres to see which one(s) is the culprit.

This is standard across all Creta variants except the SX(O).

From 2:49 to 3:19 in the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWFXf-_HmZ8

The Highline TPMS in the SX(O) shows air pressure values of all individual tyres and also indicates which tyre(s) have low air pressure by marking their air pressure values separately in yellow colour.

(From Youtube)

[anandbangalore]

RavenAvi - great review. It did answer a lot of my Q's before I saw the car in person.

I'm closing down on the new Creta. The extra space will be a welcome change from our existing sedan.

I was concerned about the large panoramic sunroof - build quality, leaks, heating, motor issues etc. As nice as it looks, it is still a 'first-of-its-segment' sort of thing and it's worth knowing from past experiences and Hyundai's confidence in this new feature.

I had some initial concerns of my own and the group here will have additional thoughts. What is this groups take on some of these concerns?

1. Metal vs Glass Strength: Worst case scenario - incase of an accident - is rooftop metal better able to protect the folks inside the car? Or is this sunroof glass toughened to absorb some impact?

2. Is the glass shatter proof like the windshield?

3. Mechanics: The roof now has moving parts. How good is the motor which drives the sunroof? In my Vento, I was stuck on a long drive with an electronic window which wouldnt roll up. We had to drive through hot weather for hours before we found a mech who would fix it.

4. Leakproof: This is perhaps my biggest concern. I didn't find the word 'leakproof' in Hyundai's Creta site. How good are those rubber seals to begin with? And how good will those rubber seals be after they age?

Thanks,
Anand

[RavenAvi]

Thank you, Anand.

Originally Posted by anandbangalore

I was concerned about the large panoramic sunroof - build quality, leaks, heating, motor issues etc.

If there's one thing which is excellent by Hyundai standards, it's the build quality and fit & finish of the parts used in their cars. The pano sunroof is no different. It's solid, no leaks so far, the motors work flawlessly, but yes, the cabin heats up if you leave it open on a hot, sunny day, because the pano sunroof is essentially a huge glass window at the top which is directly under the sun. But then, the heat dissipation from the cabin is much faster too, as compared to rolling down the windows in a non-sunroof car, because heated air accumulates at the top of a car's cabin and gets released upwards.

Originally Posted by anandbangalore

1. Metal vs Glass Strength: Worst case scenario - incase of an accident - is rooftop metal better able to protect the folks inside the car? Or is this sunroof glass toughened to absorb some impact?

A complete metal roof is always the better option in terms of safety (at least 3-4 times more safer). As thick as a sunroof's glass might be, it will always be susceptible to some impact during a severe accident or a rollover.

Most cars these days are built from high-strength steel and are designed in such a manner that they can absorb high amounts of energy and impact by spreading it throughout a car's body into the more reinforced areas. A car equipped with a sunroof has roof beams and cross sections which are built with higher-strength steel so as to try and keep the structural shape of the roof intact. Also, such cars have better built A, B & C pillars so that they can absorb any/all pressure or impact a car may get from the sunroof's glass.

(Image sourced from the first link specified below)

And, a pano sunroof section is actually quite heavy (100+ kilos). It's basically equivalent to having an extra passenger in your car. Hence, it may provide some protection as long as one doesn't end up rolling over at ultra-high speeds and ending up on a sharply tipped rock or something similar. Even then, if the glass is good, it may crack. If not, it may shatter and cause grievous injuries.

Also, be ready for slightly lesser FE figures when compared to a non-sunroof car.

Originally Posted by anandbangalore

2. Is the glass shatter proof like the windshield?

Depends on the quality of the material used. Since sunroofs are mostly made from thicker glass, they should be shatter-proof.

Originally Posted by anandbangalore

3. Mechanics: The roof now has moving parts. How good is the motor which drives the sunroof?

Again, depends on the quality of the winding/unwinding motor. But usually companies like Hyundai don't compromise on the quality of such parts, hence their cars have a slight premium over others in the same segment(s).

Also, only the front part of the pano sunroof slides back to open. The part over the rear passengers is fixed, and the front part slides over this rear fixed part when opening.

So far, all is smooth and good.

Originally Posted by anandbangalore

In my Vento, I was stuck on a long drive with an electronic window which wouldnt roll up. We had to drive through hot weather for hours before we found a mech who would fix it.

This happened with my 2014 Honda City as well. The driver door's window got stuck permanently and wouldn't roll down. In the searing summer before the ACC kicked in, it was pure torture. The Honda guys couldn't solve the problem either. They did a jugaad (temporary fix) inside the door panel which didn't work half the time before I sold off the car.

Originally Posted by anandbangalore

4. Leakproof: This is perhaps my biggest concern. I didn't find the word 'leakproof' in Hyundai's Creta site. How good are those rubber seals to begin with? And how good will those rubber seals be after they age?

Well, I have driven through heavy to very heavy rains in the past month with the inner lid open but there's absolutely no leaks so far. The sunroof depends on the water drainage channels which are designed around it to drain all the water through small outlets near the wheel sections. If these drainage channels get clogged for some reason, it may malfunction and water may leak into the cabin.

Also, if the rubber seals are of good quality, it will age well. Periodic inspection and maintenance of the sunroof takes care of that. Do note that most rubber seals are not 100% waterproof hence inspection at regular intervals is a must.

Covered parking is essential if you buy a panoramic sunroof car. It is more susceptible to damage when parked in the open.

Sunroofs are pretty much a trend in most cars these days. With pano sunroofs entering the sub-15 lakh segment, it will soon become an in-thing in the times to come. Carmakers know this hence the quality shouldn't be a compromise, specially in top-end variants of seemingly premium cars.

Read these for references:

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/sun...ce-and-safety/

https://www.kiacountryofcharleston.c...ramic-sunroof/

https://www.geico.com/living/driving...-cars-sunroof/

And yes, don't park your pano sunroof equipped car under a coconut tree. Just in case, you know.