2018 Hyundai Creta vs Renault Captur

Hyundai has been on a roll for the last few years and it has tasted success in almost every segment it has entered. But their biggest triumph has to be the Creta. Launched in 2014, Hyundai’s Compactish SUV has been selling consistently around the 10k mark. This is remarkable considering the Creta’s almost Rs 20 lakh price-tag. Now Hyundai has come out with a midlife facelift and unsurprisingly the Korean giant hasn’t fiddled too much with tried and tested formula. It doesn’t look very different from the outgoing model but importantly it gets even more equipment than before.

However, the competition hasn’t been standing still and the Creta’s main rival is yet again a Renault. The French manufacturer is back with vengeance and has launched the Captur, which is essentially a more premium, feature laden and stylish version of the Duster aimed straight at the Creta. Although it is based on the same MO platform as the Duster, the Captur has no design similarities to the Duster whatsoever and it doesn’t carry over a single body panel too.

Just as these two SUVs are very different on the outside, they're similarly different on the inside. The Creta’s interiors reflect the exterior’s safe design. The door pads though are well sculpted and so is the multi-layered dash. The steering wheel looks and feels great, while the instruments are clear and easy to read. Even fit and finish is really good, and this means the cabin justifies the hefty price Hyundai is asking for. The changes on the facelift Creta are more features related which we will come to later. 

Thanks to the large dimensions, there’s lots of space on the inside. There’s plenty of legroom both at the front and rear and the large seats offer good support. The wide rear seat and the near-flat floor also means three people sit in decent comfort. The front seats are supportive and wide, making even long journeys comfortable. 

Slide into the Captur’s cabin and you are welcomed by a pleasant ambience. The light colours, and low dash make the interiors appear more spacious than it actually is. The centre console looks uncluttered thanks to absence of too many physical buttons and the large touchscreen has big fonts and is easy to use. But the graphics on the system which are the same as on other Renault cars has started to look rudimentary, especially when compared to the Creta’s modern system. But where this car falls short by a considerable margin is in terms of quality of materials and fit and finish. Everywhere you see, the plastics are hard and even the graining doesn’t shout quality. The switches and control knobs too feel cheap especially in a car that costs more than Rs 15 lakhs on-road. 

As far as comfort is concerned, front-seat occupants have plenty of room, the visibility out is great and the seats are comfy too. Although the driver seat gets height adjustment, it is perched too high and anyone above average height will find headroom in short supply. The rear bench is well contoured and thigh support is decent. But the rising window-line does rob some of the airiness at the back and it isn’t as spacious as the Creta too. 

Although on paper the Creta at 400 litres has a slightly larger boot, the Captur has a deeper bay and is well shaped too. When it comes to flexibility the Creta gets 60:40 split folding rear seats which the Captur lacks. Even when it comes to storage spaces, the Creta comes out on top as it gets loads of cavities for bottles, cups and Knick knacks.

Although the Creta is more than Rs 1.5 lakhs more expensive than the Captur, its long equipment list more than makes up for it. The 2018 Creta gets features like sunroof, wireless phone charging, powered driver seat, 60:40 split folding rear seats, smart key band (a small digital watch which acts like a key), Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and AutoLink enabled infotainment system, front seatbelts with pretentioners, auto dimming rear view mirror and 6 airbags which the Captur doesn’t come with. 

If you still find the price difference too high, then you can go for the lower SX variant of the Creta which undercuts the Captur and is similarly equipped.

The facelifted diesel Creta still uses the same 1.6-litre 126bhp common rail engine as the old car and like before it is a refined unit. Power delivery from this motor is pretty linear and you can barely feel the turbo kicking in. There’s a gentle surge at around 1900rpm, followed by a strong push till the 5100rpm rev limit. What’s also good is that the engine is fairly tractable for normal driving and you don’t have to constantly work the smooth-shifting gearbox to make quick progress. The powerful engine combined with its relatively low weight means it reaches 100kph from standstill in a very impressive 10.82 seconds. But where it falls short of the Captur is in terms of its in-gear timings. 20-80kph in third takes 11.54seconds which is well down on the Renault. The culprit here is the tall gearing which has blunted performance in the interests of fuel efficiency. In fact, you have to really break the highway speed limit to make the most of the sixth gear which, at 80kph, turns over a lazy 1500rpm, which is just above idle. 

The Captur is powered by the very familiar 1.5-litre K9K diesel engine. Although this 108bhp motor is down on power as compared to the Creta it has good punch and great drivability. Renault has improved sound insulation as compared to the Duster too, as a result it feels quite refined from the word go. Like the Creta, the Captur has a fairly linear power delivery and there is a nice build-up of power from as low as 1600rpm. This motor comes in its own beyond 2000rpm and carries on till 4300rpm, after which power tails off. Even on the highway the punchy mid-range makes overtaking just a flex of the right foot away. This resulted in the Captur posting some impressive times. Although is a whisker slower than the Creta in outright acceleration, in drivability tests it proved to be much quicker. 0-100kmph is dispatched in 11. seconds, while 20-80kmph run in 3rd gear is covered in a very impressive 11.02 seconds. 

The Hyundai is, by far, the most refined car here, and this is not only down to the sound insulation but the engine too is silky smooth and vibe-free. Where the Captur’s motor has a sharp clatter at idle and feels gruff when worked hard, the Creta’s motor feels composed.

The Creta’s soft suspension is ideally suited to tackling potholes and patchy bits at slower city speeds. And here, it does its job very well, absorbing the bumps with a nice, damped feeling and more silently than what the Captur. But, gather some pace and the car feels loose and the damping isn’t as consistent as it is on the Renault. While a boon in the city, the excessively light steering wheel has a sort of floating feel around the straight-ahead position and this unsettled feel does induce a bit of nervousness at very high speeds. The Creta also doesn’t have the ultimate stability of the Duster and feels a little unsettled when you’re going fast. The brakes could be better too as the pedal lacks progressive feel. 

The Duster was always impressive in the way it felt on our roads and it holds true for the Captur too. Over any surface, at speed, the Duster remains unfazed and the refined suspension simply goes about its job, keeping you isolated from the biggest of potholes. It’s only at low speeds that you feel some stiffness and the bumps do jarr you a bit more than in the Creta. It’s the SUV you can enjoy more, thanks to fantastic grip, accurate steering and well-tuned suspension. On the downside the steering is quite slow off-centre and the irritating steering kickback which is typical of this platform when you encounter mid corner bumps is still there.

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Renault Captur RXT

Price: 16.15 lakhs on-road 

The Captur’s SUV looks and car-like driving manners are rather strong points. As a result, its few misgivings like the rough-around-the-edges build and basic interiors seem like a small price to pay. However, the Creta does everything the Captur does, but in a more sophisticated, up-to-date and desirable manner. Sure, the Captur feels the more robust of the two and it even rides better, but at the end of the day, it’s the Hyundai that comes out on top and with good reason.  

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Hyundai Creta SX (O) CRDi