Hyundai Creta review, road test

And unlike the distinct SUV exterior, car-oriented is what the Creta is like from behind the wheel. The jacked-up seating position is a bit negated by the high window line, especially at the rear where you get a distinct sunken-in feeling that is more sedan than SUV. Some amount of ‘theatre-style’ or raised seating at the rear would have been welcome, but the additional headroom needed would have fouled with the swooping roofline at the rear.

The seats themselves are more than generous. There’s no shortage of under-thigh support all round and the width of the squabs is great too. Driving the Creta for several hours, we did come away with the feeling that the cushioning is well-judged on the leather trim cars, but a bit too soft on versions with fabric seats. Also, the contoured rear seats have a pronounced bulge in the centre backrest which can make it uncomfortable for the middle passenger.

The Creta gets full marks for packaging. There’s hardly any wastage of space in the cabin and few SUVs in this class can accommodate five passengers and luggage as efficiently, with space left over for an assortment of storage bins. Only the automatic Creta’s rear seat splits 60:40, but you can still fold the other version’s seat in one piece to give a flat bed.

Cabin quality, as expected, is very good but it’s not perceptibly better than lesser Hyundais, which are superbly finished to begin with. The dashboard has some hard plastics and shiny bits, but the overall impression is that it’s well put together.

Equipment levels are a bit of a mixed bag with the top-end SX(O) trim only available on the 1.6-litre diesel manual. The 1.6 petrol and the 1.6 diesel auto get the one lower SX+ variant and that means no leather seats, side and curtain airbags, electronic stability control or 17-inch wheels.

The top-end SX(O) variant also misses out on certain kit, which we’ve come to expect as standard in the fully loaded variant. Features like adjustable lumbar support, a more comprehensive trip computer (features like distance-to-empty and real time fuel consumption are missing) and rain-sensing wipers could have been thrown in.