2018 Hyundai Creta Facelift- First Impression

The Creta was first showcased to the world by Hyundai in 2014 and it made it to the Indian market the following year(i.e. 2015)… Over the next three years Hyundai kept giving it little updates, the most remarkable of which was the dual tone colour schemes… But in 2018, three full years after launch, the Korean manufacturer finally decided to give the highly desired Creta a fresh look and a host of new features to add to the existing pretty accomplished vehicle…

Lets start with the exteriors, most of the changes have occurred on the front with the new grill which gives it a more subtle look, the grey skid plate added to give it a more imposing SUV-like stance… The headlight cluster also gets small changes, the most noticeable of which is the repositioning of the LED DRLs which now are placed around the new squared-off fog-lamps instead of the rectangular ones in the outgoing model… The rear only gets small changes like a new skid plate and a slight change in the back-light cluster which still isn’t LED… The only real change from the side are the new absolutely beautiful diamond cut alloys which only the top spec models get… And it also comes now in two new colours, the Marina Blue and Sunset Orange…

The interior of the new facelift carries on being the same multi-coloured, black and beige theme.. The space and comfort of the seats are identical to the previous model… The 7 inch infotainment system is carried on from the previous model which now has a new software with the Hyundai Auto-link app connectivity along with Apple Car-play, Android Auto and Mirror Link, and a 3 spoke steering wheel with an MID instrument cluster… There are also a ton of new features like an electric sun-roof, wireless charging, 6-way electically adjustable driver seat, cruise control and a wearable smart band which works as a smart key but also becomes your fitness tracker… Other features include steering mounted audio and phone controls, automatic climate control, rear AC vents and an ARKAMYS sound system along with rear parking sensor with camera… Although it misses out on the ventilated front seats that are offered in the new Verna… 

The engine options offered by Hyundai still include the 1.4 U2 CRDi diesel engine that offers about 89BHP@4000RPM and 220Nm of torque from 1500-2750RPM, the 1.6 VTVT petrol engine which produces 121BHP@6400RPM and 151Nm of torque @4850RPM and finally the much favoured 1.6 U2 CRDi VGT diesel which churns out 126BHP@4000RPM and produces torque figures of 260Nm from 1500-3000RPM… There isn't much change in the tuning of these engines but the 1.6L diesel now has an expanded power band and Hyundai claim that they have extracted 4% and 3% more fuel efficiency from the diesel and petrol engines respectively… The gearboxes offered are still the same 6-speed manual and automatic…

The new Creta comes with 2 airbags, ABD and EBD as standard on all models and the top spec SX(o) variant gets 4 extra airbags, Vehicle Stability Control, and Hill Start assist… With all the added premiumness, also comes a slight increase in price with the new model ranges from 9.5L-15L ex-showroom Delhi…

To conclude, what Hyundai have done is make the already great urban-SUV even better… Expect the already high sales to go up even more because now with the new fresh look, the Creta will attract a lot more attention and has pulled even further ahead of the competition even though the price tag is higher than the others, I recon its worth the added premium feel…

-Aditya Jha