Second coming
Not as holy a revival but an important one for Hyundai nevertheless as the Creta goes under the scalpel and it comes out better than before
Almost three years on and t he Hyundai Creta hasn’t even started looking old. It’s a handsome looking compact SUV that can be seen aplenty on the road. In keeping with its popularity, demand and the competition, Hyundai decided to up its features game and upgrade the Creta for 2018. It sports a new look and packs new features that surely helps it get up-to-date with the latest fads.
Let me tell you straightaway that the new Creta does not get any mechanical changes in its 2018 avatar. Quite frankly, it didn’t need any either. You can still choose from a 1.4 or a 1.6-litre diesel engine and a 1.6-litre petrol with choices of a 6-speed automatic or manual transmission. For this review, we were driving the 1.6 diesel, manual variant specced in the top-of-the-line SX(O) trim. This variant comes loaded with six-airbags including side and curtain airbags, more leatherette and traction control.
Aesthetics have played a key role in this makeover of the Creta. Visibly, the front-end changes are the most prominent. The grille is now larger and is in a “cascading” effect as Hyundai puts it. I’ve heard of resemblances to the ones on Fords and Audis but admittedly, Creta’s new grille is bolder, brings it in-line with Hyundai’s family of SUVs and decidedly makes the Creta stand out from its former design. The headlights bear the same exterior shape but have a redesigned separator for the bi-functional projector headlamps, static cornering lamp and side indicator. A minor change but makes a difference nonetheless. Then comes the front bumper which has seen a complete redesign. The lines have changed from straight and boxy to flowing ones, wrapping themselves around the bigger grille while also scooping out space for the fog lamps and ending in a splitter-like shape right above the lower section. The lower bumper gets a more defined look, mimicking the appearance of a skid plate. A glance at the side of car will reveal a new set of 17-inch alloys while the rear remains largely unchanged, barring the cladding on the lower bumper which gets extended till the boot lid while also complementing the front-end look.
Climb aboard and the interior sees interesting new additions. Sunroofs are back in