IT'S ALL IN THE FAMILY
How do you pick a winner between two almost identical cars? Our job is getting harder and harder!
COMPARISON TESTS USED TO BE SIMPLE. YOU had seven clear buckets to rate the cars on. Styling, interiors, build quality, powertrain, comfort, dynamics and of course price — add up the points, and you had a winner. And then came the Hyundai Motor Group to make our lives difficult. What you are looking at are two identical cars. And it’s a testament to the smarts of the engineers and planners at the aforementioned Group that, while identical, they look as different as apples from oranges! How can two cars that evoke such markedly different reactions to their styling look, feel and drive the same? Therein lies the rub.
A platform that has no name
I called the engineers. I, obviously, Googled it. I called the communication guys. And I got no answer. No, wait. I did get an answer. “It has got no name.”
Unlike the VW Group who make a solid song and dance about their platforms — who hasn’t heard of MQB? — the Hyundai Motor Group doesn’t talk platform sharing. In fact they make every effort to not mention the sharing of anything, either within brands or among brands. There is nothing wrong with that, it’s just their strategy, but what I can tell you is that their platforms, their architectures, are
constantly evolving. I’ll use Hyundai here as an example because they go back 20 years in India. Everybody remembers what early Accents and Vernas were like but, starting with the i20, and really moving ahead with the first Creta, Hyundai turned things around remarkably. Every single new car got better to drive, and I don’t mean 5 or 10 per cent — the differences were night and day. And so it is with the new Creta. Where the earlier Creta’s PBunderpinnings had more in common with the Elite i20 this new Creta’s third generation K2 architecture is shared with the Verna, Elantra… and of course, the Seltos!
To drive then this new Creta is nothing like the old Creta. For its time, the Creta was a big jump for the segment — lighter, nimbler, easier to drive and more sophisticated than rivals, but it was still soft and a bit squishy. The new Creta tightens everything up. It rides with a European firmness. There is no pitch or float at the nose and no sogginess on the rear axle. Over bad patches of road the Creta rides almost flat. It feels a bit firm but with passengers not getting thrown around, they’re more comfortable. At slower speeds in the city, it has a firmer edge than before but it is never uncomfortable. And it is round corners that the biggest differences are evident with significantly more cornering grip, less body roll (it isn’t eliminated altogether) and noticeably less tyre squeal and understeer. You even have more steering feel though it still falls under the lifeless category of electric power steering.
And all of this is absolutely no different to the Kia Seltos. The Seltos set the benchmark for ride and handling in this segment and the Creta matches it. It drives exactly the same — planted, stable, confident. It corners the same — with authority and an element of fun. It feels the same — sophisticated and like good money has been spent on engineering the body shell. The only real difference between the Seltos and Creta (at least on the cars we have here on test) is the former gets Goodyear tyres while the latter has Nexen rubber. And that makes the Creta understeer and squeal its tyres earlier than the Seltos. Moral of the story? Check with your dealer what tyres your mid-size SUV will be delivered with.
Sportiness or sensuous sportiness?
Let’s talk about styling. The Seltos is classically handsome, pleasing to the eye and appealing to every single person. Like really, what is there to complain about on the Seltos? It’s getting close to a year since it hit the roads and even now it turns heads, particularly (to my eyes) the GTX in black. Talk about hitting the nail on the head!
As for this new Creta… it’s a case of styling being a very personal subject. All of us in the team have some rather strong words for the Creta’s styling and the first time I saw it, I baulked. But then, for the two months of the lockdown, the Creta was parked under my window and I got used to it. This is something that will grow on you. And this is something that you definitely will not miss when it passes you by. In that sense, Hyundai’s designers have done their
job in making an unmissable SUV and I also must say they’ve been very, very brave. Going by Hyundai’s past form it would have been easy to make a traditionally-styled SUV. Here they’ve transitioned to a whole new design language and turned out an SUV that is polarising (to say the least). Ultimately though, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I’ll leave it at that. What I can appreciate are the Creta’s twin exhaust tips while the Seltos hides away the exhaust.
As for the interiors, here (at least to my eye!) the tables are turned. The Seltos has this rectangular dash in a glossy black whereas the Creta has a more traditional dash with a separate hooded binnacle for the dials, which I think looks nicer. What the designers have achieved is to make the cabin look completely different, though in reality there’s an incredible amount of commonality, down to the chime of the air purifier under the centre armrest when you start up the car. What else is common? The drive mode selector dial is the same, so too is the 10.25-inch touchscreen, Bose sound system on the top end variants, window switches, even the (cooled) seats, window line and of course space. Heck, even the pedals are the same! The instrument panel uses the same 7-inch display but the layout is different. Kia uses the screen for the MFD and flanks it with the analogue dials while the Creta uses the screen for a digital speedo (that has jazzy effects and changes colour in Sport mode) and flanks it with analogue dials for the tacho, fuel gauge and temperature.
Both the cars get flat-bottom steering wheels but where the Creta scores is in terms of equipment, the most noticeable of which is the panoramic sunroof (as opposed to the Seltos’ regular-sized affair) that makes the cabin seem more spacious than it is. It also gets paddleshifters for the DCT and a cushion for the rear headrest, while features unique to Seltos remain the blind spot monitor that pops up on the 7-inch screen, head up display and the front parking sensors and camera.
Both the Seltos and Creta also get smart connectivity features and voice commands. Kia calls it UVO Connect, Hyundai calls it Blue Link but both work the same way, call the concierge via the button on the rear-view mirror, are serviced via the same call centre, have an in-built e-SIM, and use the mobile app to start the car remotely, cool it, geo-fence it, locate it if stolen and more. The only difference is, you can start the Creta remotely even if you’ve bought the manual transmission, unlike the Seltos (and even the Venue) which works only on the automatic.
Head to head
Finally the powertrain and, I know it is getting tiresome, but things are again identical. In both you get the 1.5 diesel, 1.5 naturally aspirated petrol and, what we have here, the
1.4 turbo-petrol with the DCT twin-clutch automatic. In the Seltos you also get the turbo-petrol with the manual gearbox while on the Creta it’s only offered with the DCT.
As for the performance… identical and pleasing. The 138bhp engine is quick, does 0-100kmph in under ten seconds, makes a nice exhaust note when pushed, is silent when pottering around, has strong bottom end for easy performance and overall puts a smile on your face. The DCT gearbox, while not as quick as a VW DSG, is responsive to your needs and inputs and adds to the driving pleasure. And you will have fun. Both also have very good brakes courtesy disc brakes all round. Choose either, the Seltos or the Creta, and there’s no question you will have the most fun-to-drive SUV in this segment.
Is a verdict even possible?
Tough one, but we’re not the kind to shirk away from a verdict. For those who have strong opinions on the styling the verdict is a foregone conclusion. But keeping personal tastes aside we must deliver a verdict and for that I must wind back to my verdict on the Kia Seltos — where I couldn’t find anything to fault, save for the lack of steering wheel paddles for the DCT. The Creta, it now gets those steering wheel paddles. Sounds like a very facile argument to crown it the winner but fact is, among the identically priced twins, the Creta has more relevant features. And of course Hyundai’s network is stronger and wider. Fact also remains that whichever way you go, you will have picked the best mid-size SUV in the country right now. ⌧