SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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Made over: 2022 Hyundai Creta 1.5 Executive IVT

Ivy who?

Posted: December 4, 2022

The numbers
Prices: Premium m/t at R419 900, Premium IVT at R439 900, Executive IVT at R479 900
Engine: 1497 cc, DOHC 16-valve, four-cylinder, naturally aspirated.
Power: 84 kW at 6300 rpm
Torque: 144 Nm at 4500 rpm
0 to 100 km/h: 12.0 seconds (m/t.), 11.8 seconds (a/t)
Top speed: 170 km/h
Real life fuel consumption (IVT): About 6.8 l/100 km
Tank size: 50 litres
Luggage: 416 – 1384 litres
Turning circle: 10.8 metres
Ground clearance: 200 mm
Standard tyre size: 215/60R17
Spare: Full size steel
Towing mass: Not rated
Warranty: Five years, 150 000 km with additional two years and 50 000 km on drivetrain
Roadside assistance: Seven years, 150 000 km
Service plan: Four years, 60 000 km at 15 000 km intervals


“Makeover” is industry-speak for anything from “minor facelift” to “major change.” That’s what happened with Hyundai’s mid-size Creta SUV, now built in Indonesia and remodelled for 2022.

Up front are the new Hyundai grille, LED headlamps on upper-level Executive, new indicators and fog lights, and revised lower bumper. Its side view is distinguished by a silver flash along the lower roof and down the “C” pillar and, naturally, new wheels. All versions in the three-model lineup now wear 17” rims. The back end, apart from its lower-bumper and tail lights, was completely reshaped and treated to new reversing lamps and fog lights; now two-in-one rather than single-purpose units.

Its 1.5-litre engine, introduced in 2021, remains the same - a little smaller and slightly less powerful than the old 1600, it performs just as well yet is more economical. An unfortunate trade-off is that it’s no longer rated for towing.

Suspension, entertainment, brakes (discs at both ends) and safety equipment remain unchanged but the big news is that, while the entry-level car still uses a six-speed manual gearbox, automatic transmission on upper models is now IVT. Ivy who?

You know about CVT. IVT, Intelligent Variable Transmission, is similar but different. It’s Hyundai’s in-house alternative that works much better. Unlike conventional CVT pulleys and belts that slip against each other, IVT employs a chain-link belt that uses its own tension to adjust pulley diameters, so eliminating slippage and improving power delivery. The chain belt also lasts longer, is maintenance free, and is more reliable. In plain Korean, this eight-step IVT drives, reacts, and kicks down like a regular automatic.

While that’s a fine selling point, Creta’s trump card is that it’s basically free of unwanted “features.” It gets the job done with a proper key, analogue instruments, HVAC- and music controls you can find, manually adjustable seats, a proper gear stick, a full-size spare, the kit you actually want and a minimum of nurse-maidey gadgets. They all have an entertainment centre that works well while looking good, reversing camera and warning beepers, basic cruise control, tyre pressure monitoring, and sufficient safety measures to keep any sane person out of trouble. Performance-wise, the car runs well but isn’t a racehorse.

OK, they do have tab-style parking brakes and if you find yourself in one with single-touch driver’s window control, a charging pad, six airbags rather than two, artificial leather rather than cloth and LED headlights, you’ll know you’re in the top-model Executive version. But those things aren’t too difficult to live with, surely?

Despite being quite small, only a whisker over 4.3 metres long, it offers a decently sized boot while accommodating fully-grown people in the back seat. This folds almost flat, in two sections, to permit loads up to about 1.5 metres long. Unfortunate omission: no cargo cover to discourage break-in artists.

Bottom line: As a minimum-nonsense family taxi, Creta’s hard to beat.

Test unit from Hyundai SA press fleet.

The launch report is here

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is thoroughly researched, given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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