Photography: Saidatta Naik
It’s time for our long-term Creta to head back, which means it’s time for me to reflect on my time driving this one. The past year or so, the Creta has been my constant. Be it commuting in city, driving to Mumbai for meetings, or even on weekend soirees with family and friends, I’ve had the Creta by my side. Ours was the diesel manual, a big reason why I’ve always kept the Creta with me, even when we had more expensive metal in our long-term fleet. I’ve always had a thing for oil burners given their torquey feel, besides the excellent fuel efficiency. And in the case of the Creta, it’s the latter that’s been a big draw, not just for me, but Creta buyers in general. Our Creta returned around 12-13kmpl in city and well over 20kmpl on the highway consistently, ensuring it was light on my wallet. And with a tank range of over 800km per fill, the Creta has also ensured I didn’t have to visit fuel stations regularly, which is yet another advantage of driving a diesel-powered SUV in my books.
At the same time, the 1.5-litre diesel engine’s peak torque of 250Nm being available from just 1,500rpm is what makes it so good to drive, whether pottering around in traffic or cruising on a highway. Then there’s the comfort – not just the plush ride quality, but also the seat comfort, which has had the Creta impress. Especially on my day trips to Mumbai, where I ended up spending a collective 7-8 hours behind the wheel, every time. The seats have always felt very supportive and never have I gotten back home feeling tired.
Over the years I’ve also seen Hyundai improve the Creta’s balance between ride and handling and in its current avatar, the SUV simply does not give you a chance to complain, given its confident handling and plush ride quality. What also deserves a mention, having driven the Creta for a little over a year now, is its excellent build quality. Despite being driven for over 10,000km now and being over a year old our long term Creta still looks and feels as good as a brand new one. The paint quality is excellent and even the plastics look very fresh, besides which, there are no rattles or squeaks whatsoever, which speaks volumes about the Creta’s excellent build quality.
And with our long-term Creta heading back now, I’m certainly going to miss its effortless, ever-welcoming feel. Until next time!
