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The sporty SUVs are a beautiful contradiction. SUVs by their very nature are tall and heavy, and sporty cars are supposed to be the exact opposite. And yet, go-faster SUVs are some of the most popular cars out there today. At the luxury end of the segment, fast SUVs rake in big margins and the volume players are taking a leaf out of this playbook. The Creta has existed with a turbo petrol for a while now, but it has always done so as a part of the core Creta family. That is changing with the launch of the Hyundai Creta N Line. It gets the N Line treatment as we have seen before on the i20 and Venue — a more aggressive body kit, sporty interiors and tweaks to suspension and steering systems to make it drive better. The Creta has always been an incredible all-rounder, delivering space, comfort, features and performance at a competitive price. How does the N Line treatment tip those scales? Is comfort sacrificed for thrills? We’re about to find out.
Before we jump in to the driver’s seat, we must talk styling because the Creta N Line is a daily big departure from the standard Creta, particularly at the front. The grille is entirely new, with a solid body coloured panel right under the LED strip followed by a slimmer mesh grille underneath it. The bumper is completely new as well, with a strong chin and sharp lines. The N Line logo sits confidently on the new grille and red accents add some flash to the bumpers. From the side, you get new 18-inch wheels (one size up from the standard Creta) with the N logo, and red brake calipers tucked in behind them. The red accenting continues all the way around the car to the rear. At the back, it is impossible to miss the chunky rear spoiler and the angry faux diffuser at the bottom. The changes are simple but effective, transforming your average family SUV in to something with real attitude and poise. What I like best is that it looks properly different from the standard Creta on the outside and is more than a paint or sticker job. An N Line customer who is paying more feels like they’re getting something more for their money.
The big changes on the interior are the new all-black interior theme, with red accenting all over. The seat stitching and piping, the dash, the AC vents, the gear shifter, the steering stitching — they all get contrast red stitching that pops well. There’s smattering of N badges on the seats, steering and gear stick to remind you that you are in something special. The standard steering wheel has been swapped out for a meaty N-Line badged three-spoke ’wheel. But this aside, nothing is really new on the inside of the Creta N Line. The interior architecture with the twin screens up front and physical controls for the HVAC unit remains unchanged.
On the equipment front, it remains well loaded with a panoramic sunroof, dual zone climate control, electric seats, a dash cam, connected car features, ventilated seats, Bose audio and even Level 2 ADAS. That said, all this is on the top-end N10 variant. The entry level N8 variant sits lower than this and it misses out on a bunch of equipment, most importantly the ADAS suite, Bose speakers, 360-degree camera, ventilated seats, it gets a 8-inch infotainments screen instead of the 10.25-inch one on the top end and also a more basic instrument cluster.
There’s very little to criticise in here, but the lack of wireless CarPlay and Android Auto remains a big miss. The wired connection also requires a USB type A port, instead of the more modern Type C port — all follies shared with the standard Creta. Something else I would have liked to see on the car I was driving was red dials. The Creta instrument cluster does feature them — in sport mode. This manual version doesn’t have drive modes and the cluster is stuck on the default blue/while dials. I don’t understand why the default view here wasn’t the red dials from sport mode to fit the red and black theme in the cabin better.
The Creta N Line carries over the same 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine from the standard Creta. The four-pot makes 158bhp and 258Nm of torque, and isn’t uprated from the standard car for the N Line. That said, these outputs are plenty and the N Line feels quick. Hyundai claims a 0-100kmph time of 8.9 seconds. Performance feels brisk, with a refined engine and smooth delivery. Boost comes on strongly, and peak torque arrives at 1500rpm — and once on boost, it pulls strongly before tapering off close to the redline. The Creta N Line is available with a 6-speed manual and 7-speed DCT on both N8 and N10 variants, giving you the flexibility to pick and choose. We drive the manual and came away impressed — the shifter has a simple, round knob with dimples, the N logo and legible numbers. Squint hard enough and you’ll see inspiration from the Golf GTI’s golfball shift knob. It feels really nice to hold, and looks really good front and centre in the cabin. On the go, the shifts feel mechanical and satisfying. You can feel the shifter moving through the gates and clicking in firmly when you select a gear.
This, combined with a fairly light clutch with an easy-to-find biting point, makes it rather enjoyable to use. We were driving the car on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway it wasn’t called upon too much, but when in the city, it was enjoyable to row through. The only criticism I have of the N Line Creta is that the exhaust isn’t as naughty as the i20 or Venue N Line. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the four-cylinder is inherently more refined than the 3-cylinder in those cars, but I can’t be sure. What I can be sure of is that it doesn’t sound as fruity, and consequently loses some points there.
This is where the real changes are. Tweaks have been made to the steering and the suspension to make the Creta N Line a more dynamically sound SUV. The larger 18-inch wheels make a difference here as well. For starters, the steering feels more direct. On the manual, there are no drive modes so I couldn’t fiddle around with steering weight, but I didn’t feel the need to with the steering weight being we’ll judged. It is a little weightier at low speeds, but never uncomfortable and at high speeds, the weight is well judged and gives plenty of confidence. More than the weight, the directness of centre is what really makes the difference. The larger wheels and suspension tweaks to make a difference, giving you a more connected feel to the front end when you turn in. There’s next to no play off centre, and reactions are consistent from the front. We didn’t get to really test the handling of the N Line at the limit, after all we were on that arrow straight Expressway, but on the few bends we did encounter, it feels positive. It holds a line well, doesn’t understeer very easily and has genuine sporting credentials.
The tradeoff for that is ride quality. The Creta is more firm than before. You can feels a constant pitter patter of the surface of our imperfect roads in the cabin, reminding you that you’re in something sporty. If you’re looking to lounge in the backseat, the N Line may not be the ideal choice. It isn’t as plush as the standard Creta, but then again, that was expected of an N Line variant so I wouldn’t really rate it as a downside. The good thing is there’s no float and vertical movement even on challenging wavy surfaces, giving you plenty of confidence at highway speeds. Given its sporting intentions, I’d actually say that the ride and handling balance is well judged.
Prices for the Hyundai Creta N Line are out — the N8 starts from Rs 16.8 lakh for the MT and Rs 18.3 for the DCT. The variant we’re driving is the N10 MT at Rs 19.3 lakh, and there’s a DCT that sits at Rs 20.3 lakh (all prices ex-showroom). Mind you, these prices are introductory so expect them to get hiked very quickly. At these prices, the Creta N Line seems like great value. It is about Rs 30,000 more than the regular Turbo variant and you’re getting a lot of bang for that back — fresh stying, better interiors and a more enjoyable car for the driving enthusiast. The N8 manual may lack some kit bit seems like a really appealing car at this price point.
