When you’re in the market for a compact SUV, the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos are two names that will come up in discussion. Both of these cards hold a strong reputation in terms of performance, features, and value for money. So, which one should you choose? Let’s break it down.
Looks, Aesthetics and Overall Design
Impression at first sight matters, and both the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos makes a bold statement on the road. The Creta offers a bold and dynamic look with an interesting grille. The headlights are still not at the right place as they should but with sleek LED headlights, its not as awkward as it wa earlier. Overall looks of the car has improved many folds.
On the other hand, the Kia Seltos holds a very aggressive in your face design. Seltos’s design can be, characterised as more sporty than screaming “Family Car” like Creta. However this car is also not saved from these day’s designera who are obsessed with turning grille into the biggest part of the car. The shard LED lighting and overall rugged stance, compliments the car.
If you prefer a more sophisticated, elegant and a family car appearance, you can inclince more towards Creta. However, if you love sportier and more adventurous look, the Seltos could be the better pick.
Cabin, Interiors and Feature List
The design language is similar on the inside as well. Fear not, both of these cars offer a premium experience. No matter what variant you opt for, you will feel everything is on point.
Hyundai Creta’s interior is posh and the feel of the car screams comfort. Creta features a well-laid-out dashboard, with premium quality materials, and a massive panoramic sunroof. Infotainment system comes with all the bells and whistles, which is further complimented with a large touchscreen, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. The availability of these systems differ from variant to variant.
The Kia Seltos on the other hand is not behind in any way. Similar to Create, the interiors of this car are also complimented with the same design language as exterior. The interior of this car exudes a youthful and modern vibe with a dual-tone color scheme, ambient lighting, and ventilated seats. The Seltos offers a user-friendly infotainment system with a head-up display, wireless charging, and the top of the line Seltos comes with Bose premium sound system.
Engine Performance and Handling
Do not let Kia and Hyundai salesperson fool you. Both Kia and Hyundai comes under the same parent company and essentially Seltos and Create are same cars with a different packaging and badge. This means that the engine specifications are quite similar. Options of a 1.5-litre petrol engine, a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine, and a 1.5-litre diesel engine remains the same for both of these cars. No matter what you go for, all of these engines are decent and maybe the few of the engines which are left with decent displacement.
Since the chassis are also similar, we found the overall setup of handling and shockers are a little bit better on Seltos. The sportier X-Line setup feels more connected with the road then the top of the line Creta.
Fuel efficiency numbers are also similar for both Creta and Seltos. The engines running these cars deliver competitive numbers with an average of around 16-17 kmpl, while the diesel variants provide approximately 20-21 km/l. The automatic petrol variants obviously offers the worts of the lot with up to 14kmpl in best scenarios
Similarly, the Kia Seltos’ petrol engines deliver around 16-17 km/l, with the diesel variants offering around 20-21 km/l. Therefore, in terms of fuel efficiency, there’s no significant difference between the two.
Safety and Reliability
Both Hyundai and Kia are decent in terms of safety. The 3-Star Global NCAP rating may not seem much when compared to Indian and German counterparts. However both of these cars feel very planted on high speeds. These cars feel strong and solid when compared to the Japanese counterpart in the same segment.
Features such as six airbags, ABS with EBD, electronic stability control, and a rear parking camera are same in both of these cars. The ADAS and connected tech also adds an additional invisible layer of emergency assistance.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a sportier car to and the occasional trips with your friends is your goal, go for Seltos. If you are looking for a posh, comfortable ride for your family, Creta might be a better option for you,
The Drive Story
Creta fits every point in my list.
Thanks for this absolute information that helped me alot in my thoughts of buying seltos or creta.