Road Test: Hyundai’s Grand Creta. A spacious and gracious seven seater.

It really is Grand and seats seven with ease, including luggage and sorts. The world of SUV’s in Mzansi continues to grow at a fairly rapid rate, adding to the fact that the switch from sedans to an all or multi-purpose vehicle is real and evident. There has been lots of activity of recent in this space with several SUV’s being launched. I spent a week with the Grand Creta in Cape Town recently. Up and down mountain passes, on the N1 and N2, some wine routes off the beaten track and then some. And I have to mention that even with the stylish SUV fully laden at times with golf bags and passengers, the Grand Creta was such a pleasure to drive.

 “When you look at vehicle size, convenience and feature levels and pricing, the Grand Creta definitely had slot to fill in our vehicle offering. The new Grand Creta has a spacious interior, and with its longer wheelbase offers an excellent ride quality with extremely low noise levels” says Stanley Anderson, Sales and Operations Director at Hyundai Automotive South Africa.

 

Exterior

Tough, yet graceful. Dominating, yet elegant. Hyundai’s Grand Creta pairs a bold and tall stance with elegant design. The bold front grille with its dark chrome accents fits in with the rest of the Hyundai range, while giving the Grand Creta an identity of its own. The more-than-ample 20 cm ground clearance is evident from its recognisable SUV profile and emphasises the versatility that the Grand Creta offers its driver and occupants. LED daytime running lights are standard on all derivatives and forms part of the neat headlight cluster.

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Spacious Interior

The interior of the Hyundai Grand Creta immerses you in uncluttered design. Complete with a premium dual tone interiors and artificial leather seats in all derivatives, the carefully selected materials accentuate the aesthetic. An airy and cool ambience is created by the light-coloured seats.

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.

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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.

 

 

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.

 

Under the Bonnet

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. In the entry-level Executive versions, the 2-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine is coupled with a 6-speed manual transmission and the 6-speed automatic gearbox, while the turbocharged 1,5-litre diesel engine is linked with the 6-speed automatic gearbox in an Executive and Elite derivative. Fuel consumption across all road surfaces, urban and country, was a modest 6.8l per 100kms.

 

Drive Modes

Drive it anywhere. Elite derivatives of the Hyundai Grand Creta benefit from a front-wheel drive traction control system that makes it easier to navigate difficult driving terrains like snow, mud, sand, eco, normal and sport.

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Verdict

The addition of the 7-seater Grand Creta, with different looks and design features than its 5-seater namesake, means that Hyundai offers an even more comprehensive and one of the biggest ranges of sports utility and crossover vehicles in South Africa. A real family transporter and a very competitive price.

 

Pricing

Grand Creta 2.0 Executive MT R507 900 (Incl)

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.