Round four — dynamic abilities and ride quality. Between the S Cross and the Creta, it is the Maruti that trumps the Hyundai in the driving dynamics department. On straights at fairly high triple-digit speeds, both the S Cross and the Creta have a slightly floaty quality about them that prevents you from pushing hard. You’re better off cruising at around 110-120 km/h. Round bends, however, the slightly firmer suspension set-up of the S Cross means it’s mildly better than the Creta but the difference isn’t much. Neither of the two steering systems is particularly rich in feedback and sharp but the Hyundai’s system feels overly light. At city speeds and while manoeuvring through traffic it’s a boon but as speeds rise, it feels unnatural. The S Cross is marginally ahead of the Hyundai in this aspect. Where outright grip is concerned, the Hyundai’s 205/65 R16 Bridgestone Duelers provide better road-holding abilities than the S Cross’ 205/60 R16 JK Tyres. Riding over bad roads is where the Hyundai betters the Maruti, the former’s softer suspension set-up aiding its ride quality. To be fair, the S Cross has a pretty good ride quality on its own but when pitted against the Creta, it’s the Hyundai that nudges ahead with its plusher ride.
Both vehicles employ ventilated discs up front, but while the S Cross gets solid discs at the rear, the Creta gets drums. On paper, this should have meant that the S Cross would walk away in the final round of this comparison. Surprisingly, it doesn’t. At Car India, we test a vehicle’s braking abilities twice: once, from 80 km/h to a complete standstill and then again from 100 km/h to a dead stop. In the first case the S Cross stops sooner while in the second case the Creta stops sooner. However, in both cases the Creta takes a shorter distance to come to a standstill, which in an emergency could mean the difference between a hit and a miss. So where braking is concerned, the Hyundai Creta takes the final round. Perhaps, a grippier set of tyres for the S Cross may have done the trick.
On the whole then, it’s a close call really; one that goes down to the wire. Both vehicles are fairly evenly matched and while the Hyundai Creta does some things better, the Maruti Suzuki S Cross shines at another set of things like offering more creature comforts and better handling abilities. However, there is no comparison without a winner and in this case, we’d say that the better-looking Hyundai Creta with its better engine characteristics, better braking, grippier tyres and better ride quality is the one that wins.
