2024 Hyundai Creta Diesel MT Long Term Review

The Creta has been a very successful nameplate for Hyundai and the segment leader for a long time now. The second generation Creta facelift was launched in January this year and it had made its way to the FasBeam garage. When it comes to the Creta, my personal favourite is the N-Line with the manual transmission. However, for all practical purposes the diesel makes more sense as an everyday drive, especially since our daily commute is in excess of 60 Km on an average. Our test car is the diesel with the six-speed manual transmission. I have been using the Creta for daily duties since the last couple of months and I can not deny that the Creta has been coping really well. While most manufacturers have closed the lid on diesel powertrains, HMC is one of the few to offer the oil burner to customers and is surprisingly managing to sell more diesel cars than its petrol counterparts in this segment.

With BS6.2 emission norms coming into play last year, Hyundai had to update the diesel engine by adding AdBlue to adhere to the stricter emission standards. So, in practicality this engine is now much smoother and power delivery is more linear. The six-speed manual transmission offers very smooth shifts and has ratios suited to all types of driving situations. Many a times my doctor colleague who was travelling with me was shocked to know that I was driving a diesel, such improved are the NVH levels; they certainly add to the comfort over long journeys. I have also been driving the BS6 Alcazar diesel automatic and there is definitely more refinement in the Creta, however performance is slightly subdued but it hardly matters due to the torquey nature of the diesel motor.

The interiors look plush and inviting. The seats offer reasonable amount of support. The driving position is pretty good too. These observations have been made over the last two months and sometimes it is so tough for us journalists to judge so many parameters over a few hours during the first drives. However, the light coloured grey seats tend to get a bit dirty and need to be maintained rather meticulously. The boot space looks good on paper but you can not really fit many large bags due to the sloping rear glass, but if you remove the rear parcel shelf and keep it aside, there is reasonable luggage space for a family of four. The Auto Hold feature is a real boon in navigating regular stop-go traffic, you do not need to touch the gear-knob and can be in D mode throughout.

This year has the seen the worst summer in decades and it has finally sunk in that climate change and global warming is real. Temperatures have touched over 45 degrees celsius and it has been really difficult considering Mumbai is highly humid too and it was during these times I really enjoyed BlueLink connectivity, I do not have a covered parking and the car would be boiling in the sun. The Abyss Black on the car may look fabulous but it also heats up the car rather quickly, so before leaving for work I would switch on the AC via the mobile or watch app and the car would have cooled significantly before I got into the driver seat. Ventilated seats seem to be a necessity rather than a luxury these days. I honestly did not fathom how convenient connected car tech could be until I used it myself. You can also monitor fuel levels, get driving data and geolocation of the car, pretty neat indeed.

People usually turn away from diesel cars for two reasons – maintenance costs and NVH levels. When I say this I do not count our friends in Delhi who have been subjected to the absurd ten year rule/ban. With the Creta, the maintenance is not much when compared to its gasoline sibling and the modern diesel powertrains are reasonably refined. In fact I love diesel cars, the fuel efficiency they offer is unmatched (leaving hybrids aside) and I do not mean that only from the cost perspective. Life is fast these days and I would rather invest my time elsewhere rather than visiting the fuel pump on a frequent basis (Feel truly bad for the CNG guys who have to do this almost every alternate day). The Creta does nearly 800 km on a single tank of diesel, which put into perspective is a trip from Mumbai to Goa and halfway back.

We have been getting an average fuel efficiency of 17 km/l in mixed city and highway driving conditions. The worst fuel economy being 12.6 km/l on a run to Andheri while a run to Alibaug retuned 20.2 km/l. The above figures are excellent by any means. The cost difference between petrol and diesel in Mumbai is approximately INR 12 per litre and with these fuel economy figures, you do save a lot on running cost. While I say this, its not that the Creta has been tuned for efficiency alone. The engine produces enough grunt and the 116 horses on offer don’t fall short even when the car is fully loaded. The Creta is hugely practical and is our favourite backup car on shoots for carrying equipment, tracking other cars and thus far we are enjoying the huge amount of practicality it offers.