Drove the 7-seater Hyundai Grand Creta recently, this manufacturer has been prolific with launching SUV’s and cars to fit almost every segment. The Grand Creta comes with two extra seats, a longer body and wheelbase, a long list of standard features and a superior ride that all come at a very competitive price.
With two specifications levels – Executive and Elite – for features and equipment and a combination of two different engines and gearboxes, the Grand Creta line-up of five derivatives offer a wide choice to customers.
Styling.
Hyundai’s Grand Creta has a tall look, with a bold facia, and dark chrome accents, which separate it from the normal Creta. It has LED daytime running lights as standard on all derivatives and forms part of the neat headlight cluster. LEDs are also used for the headlights and the rear light cluster on all derivatives.
It has a longer body with the extra seats, and adds another 15cm over the regular Creta. It comes with 17 inch wheels for the Executive and 18 inch for the Elite.
At the rear, a dark chrome strip between the rear light clusters, a bold Hyundai logo above it and twin-tip, rounded square exhaust outlets round of the back design.
The Cabin is well-appointed.
The interior of the Hyundai Grand Creta is simple in it’s design, but highly functional all the same. It has artificial leather seats, and dual tone colours.
The Elite versions displays information for the driver on a 10.2-inch Supervision cluster and starts the engine with a push button. Other Elite features and conveniences in the interior include a sun-roof, automatic climate control, blue ambient lighting strips and curtains for the rear windows that slide out of the door panels.
An infotainment system with an 8-inch touch screen and connectivity for Apple’s CarPlay or Android Auto forms part of standard luxury features across the range, as well as a steering wheel with multi-function buttons for the sound system and cruise control. Wireless charging in the centre console for smart phones is a standard feature across the range.
However, the outstanding interior feature are the two seats that fold out of the floor of the boot area to provide space for 7 occupants. With the rear seats down, the cargo area offers 1 670 cubic litres of space. Lots of space for a road trip.
Safety
Several active safety features combine with static safety equipment such as frontal and side airbags for the driver and front passenger and two curtain airbags. Among the SmartSense active safety features are front and rear Park Assist for the Elite derivatives (front only for Executive level); Hill-Start Assist Control that prevents roll-back; and an Electronic Stability Program (ESP) for all versions.
The outer seats in the second row are fitted with ISOFIX anchorage points for a child safety seat.
Engine and transmission
The Hyundai Grand Creta comes with two powertrains that include a 2-litre Smartstream MPi engine and a Smartstream 1,5-litre diesel CRDi engine with options of a 6-speed manual and a 6-speed automatic transmission.
We drove the 1.5L diesel variant which is linked with the 6-speed automatic gearbox in an Executive and Elite derivative. Certainly not going to win any races, but it handled traffic well, and could take a gap as well.
All derivatives are driven through the front wheels. From the turbodiesel engine comes 85 kW maximum power at 4 000 r/min. and peak torque of 250 Nm between 1 500 and 2 750 r/min.
The fuel consumption over the week was good, and came quite close to the claimed 6 litres per 100 km.
Drive modes.
In the Elite derivatives the driver can also select a drive mode from the following:
- Eco: For best possible fuel consumption;
- Sport: For those times when more speed and power is needed; and
- Normal: Halfway between the previous two modes.
The suspension, with an optimized design to reduce weight, consists of a MacPherson strut setup in front and a coupled torsion beam axle at the rear. With the longer wheelbase of the Grand Creta it delivers an excellent, quiet ride with extremely low levels of Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH), both on tarred and gravel roads.
Pricing
The suggested retail prices of the Hyundai Grand Creta range are:
| Grand Creta 2.0 Executive MT | R 449 900 |
| Grand Creta 2.0 Executive AT | R 489 900 |
| Grand Creta 1.5 Executive Diesel AT | R 509 900 |
| Grand Creta 2.0 Elite AT | R 539 900 |
| Grand Creta 1.5 Elite Diesel AT | R 559 900 |
All prices include a 7-year/200 000 km manufacturer’s warranty; a 4-year/60 000 km service plan; and roadside assistance for 7 years or 150 000 km.
In summation, the Hyundai manufacturer builds quality cars, and are filling gaps in every segment.