SA Road Tests

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Frisky: 2021 Hyundai Creta 1.4 TGDI Executive DCT

Too cool for school runs

Posted: March 2,2021

The numbers
Price: R484 900
Engine: 1353 cc, DOHC 16-valve, four-cylinder, turbocharged
Power: 103 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 242 Nm between 1500 and 3200 rpm
0-100 km/h: 9.7 seconds
Top speed: 185 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7.4 l/100 km
Tank:50 litres
Luggage: 433 – 1401 litres
Turning circle: 10.6 metres
Ground clearance: 190 mm
Standard tyre: 205/65R17 M&S
Spare: Full size alloy
Towing capacities, unbraked and braked: 550 kg and 1100 kg
Warranty: 5 years, 150 000 km with additional 2 years and 50 000 km on drivetrain
Roadside assistance: 7 years, 150 000 km

Generation-2 Hyundai Cretas, with 1.5-litre diesel and naturally aspirated petrol engines, are solid, practical and spacious family SUVs. But if your bank manager is amenable to letting you upgrade to the 1.4 turbo, with dual clutch, grab the opportunity with both hands. You’ll thank me.

Two hundred and forty-two Newton metres, delivered seamlessly from just above idle to 3200 rpm, moves this compact (4300 x 1790 x 1620 mm) Mummy Bus from zero to 100 km/h in 9.7 seconds and on to its top speed of 185 pretty soon after. Provided you’re on good terms with your local Provinciales, of course.

And all you need, at 120 km/h in seventh, is 2250 rpm, making roll-on acceleration a breeze.

The chaebol’s in-house dual clutch transmission is smooth, quick, intuitive and kicks down decisively when called upon. And, in case you lose track of which gear you’re in, a message on the TFT display keeps you informed. But the real fun begins when you drive it in manual mode; stick, no pretentious paddles. Try it; it’s frisky and certainly too cool to spend all its life shopping and doing school runs.

Practicalities:
•    The cargo area is lit, features a bag hook, four lashing rings, a load net and a 12-volt socket. It’s close enough to 82 cm long, almost a metre wide between wheel arches and 42 cm deep, providing 433 litres of luggage space. The fully sized alloy spare lives under the baseboard. The seatback splits 60:40 with its release catches reachable from behind,
•    Back seat passengers have it easy with plenty of headroom, almost limousine-like knee clearance and more than adequate foot space. Extension vents at the rear of the central console allow them to share front occupants’ air conditioning should they choose to. And a powered USB socket allows recharging of a phone without surrendering it to those in front,
•    Tall drivers enjoy up to one and a half fists-width of headspace when their chair is completely lowered, minor controls are readily accessible and easy to use, dials are analogue, and at least one occupant may smoke if allowed; there’s a lighter in addition to the second 12-volt socket and an ashtray tub fits into one of the front cup holders,
•    Other straightforward items include an ordinary ignition key and a proper hand brake that’s placed conveniently for right-hand drive,
•    Conveniently, an Android Auto or Apple CarPlay-enabled phone can be connected to the touchscreen audio centre, to provide screen duplication, while recharging on a dedicated pad below the dash.

Summing up it’s comfortable, sporty, behaves well on gravel roads, has loads of ground clearance for humps and hollows, is spacious for one so small and offers decent luggage space. ‘Way too cool to use only on school runs.

Test unit from Hyundai SA press fleet

More detail on this and other models in the range, in the launch report



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This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is 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.

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