Final report: Having lived with it for months, it really comes as no surprise that the Creta remains the king of the midsize SUV segment.
The Hyundai Creta CVT has perhaps been the most in-demand car of the Autocar long-term fleet. Refined, comfortable and user-friendly, we’ve run this SUV for over 6,000km for shoots, commutes and road trips. Unfortunately, though, it’s now gone back to its maker, so I’m going to tell you what living with it was like.
Most of my running with the Creta was done in the city, although Saumil and Hormazd did do some highway work on their road trips to Goa and Mahabaleshwar, respectively. Regardless of the usage, we agreed that this refined 1.5 petrol paired with the CVT auto makes for a seamless driving experience. And given that it especially excels in the city, it comes as no surprise that this atmospheric petrol engine outsells the other options. However, its lack of performance can be felt on the highways when you want to drive in a spirited manner. So, if performance is what you’re looking for, best opt for the 160hp turbo-petrol.
Refined and seamless, the Creta IVT felt at home in city traffic.
What it lacks in performance, it makes up for in fuel efficiency, by petrol SUV standards at least. In our instrumented real-world test, the Creta CVT returned a maximum of 15.05kpl on the highway, which went as low as 7.5kpl in bumper-to-bumper city traffic. Also worth noting is that the efficiency will drop drastically into single digits if you drive at a brisk pace on the highway. Overall, though, with my daily usage, the efficiency hovered between 10kpl and 11kpl for the most part. What also helps conserve that little bit extra is the auto start/stop function, which works decently.
Although it livens up the cabin, the ivory upholstery soils easily and is tough to keep clean.
Other than the refined and fairly efficient powertrain, I also appreciated the feature-rich and well-appointed cabin. The light grey and ivory upholstery and the copper inserts and stitching work well together, though it was nearly impossible to keep the ivory bits clean given the intensive running our Creta did. And in typical Hyundai fashion, our top-spec SX(O) Creta had all the bells and whistles like a panoramic sunroof, dual-zone auto AC, cooled front seats, two screens, ADAS and a 360-degree camera. The high-res 360-degree camera and blind-spot monitor, in particular, proved their worth in the rainy season when visibility was poor. Even the Level 2 ADAS features worked well, and I liked using the adaptive cruise control on the highway. What’s also nice is that if you turn them off, they’ll remain off till you manually turn them back on. I even appreciated the Bose audio system, but passengers in the rear did feel like the volume was quite soft.
Reclining backrest, sunshades, armrest and neck pillows mean the rear seat is a comfy place.
Speaking of the rear, it’s a great place to be. There’s enough room for three, and the pano roof and light upholstery make the cabin feel airy. And the reclinable backrest, sunshades, armrest and neck pillows seal the deal. However, not all is well, as the Creta does miss out on wireless smartphone integration, which is particularly annoying given that the smaller 8-inch screen in lower variants gets it. I also would’ve liked to have a sliding front armrest. The twin screens, while great to look at and easy to navigate, are set a little too low and don’t fall in your line of sight. And it doesn’t pack a heads-up display like the Kia Seltos, which would’ve alleviated this.
It’s also not one for enthusiastic drivers, as handling can best be described as safe. Although there’s a noticeable body roll, the grip is ample, and overall, it feels predictable around bends. The ride quality is cushy at low speeds, but it feels jarring over sharp potholes, and large bumps tend to catch it out. There’s also some noticeable vertical movement at highway speeds, but this doesn’t feel uncomfortable like the Cretas of old.
Full-LED headlamps offer great illumination and throw; the auto high beam function works well.
Other things I liked in my time with the Creta were the LED headlights, which offer great illumination. The auto high beam function also worked well, meaning I didn’t have to constantly shift between high beam and low beam. It’s also nice that the Creta gets physical controls for the AC and some of the infotainment controls.
I also managed to solve two things that were annoying me. The first one was that Android Auto was appearing only in a split screen, which was resolved by unchecking a box deep in the sub-menus of the system. The second was the lock/unlock beeps, which were done away with by long-pressing the lock and unlock buttons on the key simultaneously for a couple of seconds.
I know we say this a lot, but this car will actually be missed a lot by all of us in the office. Given its strengths and how easy living with it has been, it’s not hard to see why the Creta continues to rule the midsize SUV segment.
Also see:
2024 Hyundai Creta long term review, 8,820km report
2024 Hyundai Creta long term review, 4,850km report
2024 Hyundai Creta long term review, 1,700km report
