[TusharK]

The Hyundai Creta sold in the Russian market has been given an update. The SUV gets two engine options as well as an all-wheel-drive system, which the Indian version misses out on.



As part of the facelift, the Creta gets a new cascading grille that seems to suit the car rather well. The front bumper has also been tweaked slightly and houses a pair of fog lamps.



While the Creta retains its futuristic LED headlamps and LED tail lights, the rear fascia has been reworked. Overall, the updates make the car look less quirky than before.



The interior of the car looks similar to the Indian Creta. It has a dual-tone dashboard with a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a 4-spoke flat-bottom steering wheel.



In Russia, the Creta is available with either a 121 BHP 1.6-litre petrol or a 148 BHP 2.0-litre petrol engine. Transmission options include a 6-speed manual and an automatic. The biggest difference between the Russian Creta and the Indian version is that the former comes with an all-wheel-drive option.

Link to Team-BHP News

[TrackDay]

Ad for the Russian Hyundai Creta

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCkLTcNNUfQ

Another video of the facelift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X54IrLd7RIs

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by TusharK

The biggest difference between the Russian Creta and the Indian version is that the former comes with an all-wheel-drive option.

And the later never gets either of those engines

Now I'm expecting a bunch of hot responses 'praising' Hyundai India for not offering AWD here and how the market is taken as a granted by every manufacturer. Sometimes I had to agree with them. But on this case, I don't think we need AWD on soft-roaders.

[Mustang Sammy]

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

And the later never gets either of those engines

Now I'm expecting a bunch of hot responses 'praising' Hyundai India for not offering AWD here and how the market is taken as a granted by every manufacturer. Sometimes I had to agree with them. But on this case, I don't think we need AWD on soft-roaders.

Would beg to differ. AWD can be quite beneficial in our road conditions, especially during periods of bad weather, when the ability to dynamically modulate power to individual wheels could be life saving.

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by Mustang Sammy

Would beg to differ

Always welcome, that's why we have open forums

Originally Posted by Mustang Sammy

AWD can be quite beneficial in our road conditions, especially during periods of bad weather, when the ability to dynamically modulate power to individual wheels could be life saving.

No objections that AWD will perform better than 2WD

BUT...

There is a difference between Should have & Good to have
For the climatic conditions in Russia it is a should have feature and for our country it is Good to have.

[ArTigor]

The design of Russian Creta has these minor tweaks to the Front Grille and Hatch which makes big difference to the overall appeal. I prefer this Russian one.

Here is a comparison of Chinese Ix25(Orange), Russian Creta(Blue) and the Indian Creta(Black),
(Image credits Internet open source.)
Russian one surely looks nice, especially the part on hatch just below the rear windshield, which has been tweaked instead of the strip that we get here on Indian Creta, omission of the strip on hatch and design tweak makes the car look lesser rear bulky & squatted. Good that they omitted the hedious Silver colored arc strip too.

[CEF_Beasts]

Most importantly Russian Creta has a proper High Mount Stop Lamp (HMSL) which is much better compared to the India and Chinese Creta’s.

Also as seen in this Russian Creta is a 360deg camera (same as the Alcazar to be launched tomorrow) so expect it to come to the Indian Creta soon either as an update feature in the current model or with the facelift

And the previous generation Creta also got a 2L Petrol with 4WD in both China and Russia. It can only negotiate small obstacles which makes 4WD absolutely useless and unnecessary added weight resulting in eye-watering fuel economy.

Originally Posted by ArTigor

Good that they omitted the hedious Silver colored arc strip too.

That’s only for the dual tone Cretas as seen in the opening post, similar to the dual tone Indian versions. Monotone Russian Creta gets that silver coloured arc strip as posted above by another BHPian

[theAutomaniac]

Originally Posted by TusharK

The Hyundai Creta sold in the Russian market has been given an update.

I do not understand why every Indian auto media firm is referencing this as a Creta facelift! It is just a Creta with a market specific design change just like the ix25 (SU2c) and India-spec Creta(SU2i)!

Also, as a matter of fact, the 2nd gen Hyundai Creta was never launched in Russia. Hyundai used to sell the 1st gen car there which had got an update back in 2020, months after the second gen was launched here.

My guesses are that Hyundai might've taken almost two years more to develop a different version of the Creta with changes to the chassis in order to handle the bigger engines and also to comply with the stricter safety norms. Though these are just my guesses for the delayed launch, there could be other reasons as well.

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by theAutomaniac

My guesses are that Hyundai might've taken almost two years more to develop a different version of the Creta with changes to the chassis in order to handle the bigger engines and also to comply with the stricter safety norms. Though these are just my guesses for the delayed launch, there could be other reasons as well.

If we look at the launch year of the 1st Gen Creta in Russia then it was 2016, compared to India’s 2015 and China’s 2014. Now if look at the launch years for the 2nd Gen then China got in 2019, India in 2020 and Russia now in 2021. So in all 3 markets the 1st Gen Creta was in production for 5 years before moving to the 2nd Gen.

China already got the bigger engines in the 2nd Gen Creta before it was launched in India so I don’t think any change has been made in the Russian Creta in terms of chassis from the Chinese Creta other than the minor tweaks in the exterior.

The reason for Russia to get the Creta 2nd Gen now was that they wanted to complete the 5 years life cycle like the other markets.

And Russia still gets the older 1.6L Gamma MPi Petrol and 2L Nu MPi petrol which were also available in the 1st Gen Creta.

[landcruiser123]

Indian market won't see bigger engines due to higher taxes. That's why all petrols & diesels for this segment are <1500cc.

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

And the previous generation Creta also got a 2L Petrol with 4WD in both China and Russia. It can only negotiate small obstacles which makes 4WD absolutely useless and unnecessary added weight resulting in eye-watering fuel economy.

Originally Posted by theAutomaniac

My guesses are that Hyundai might've taken almost two years more to develop a different version of the Creta with changes to the chassis in order to handle the bigger engines and also to comply with the stricter safety norms. Though these are just my guesses for the delayed launch, there could be other reasons as well.

Doubt it.
Cars like Camry/Swift/SX4(S-Cross) are engineered to support AWD systems in their platform. I'm sure its the same with Hyundai. The AWD versions are meant to only tackle weather like snow, not really going off-road.

AWD + larger engines don't make sense in India where customers are extremely price sensitive and the country doesn't receive much snow (barring the Himalayas).

[Emvi]

The front grille design looks a bit Audi-esque to me. It actually looks far better than the current Indian version. In addition, reworked design elements at the rear end has definitely made the car a looker. The overall design now looks well sorted.



Image copyright- respective owners

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Mustang Sammy

Would beg to differ. AWD can be quite beneficial in our road conditions, especially during periods of bad weather, when the ability to dynamically modulate power to individual wheels could be life saving.

I think the kind of AWD system you find on most softroaders (like CRV or Tucson) works as 2WD on regular basis and the 4WD system is engaged only when there is a 'slip'. This type IMHO is not very beneficial on a tarmac even when it rains and the roads can get somewhat slippery around corners.
Only if it is a full time AWD where the power is going to all 4 wheels all the time (but the split will vary based on the condition) will be really beneficial on wet tarmacs.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by ArTigor

Here is a comparison of Chinese Ix25(Orange), Russian Creta(Blue) and the Indian Creta(Black),
Attachment 2168252 (Image credits Internet open source.)

Could be because of the color, to me the Indian version (black colored) looks better of the three?

[TrackDay]

Walk around and interior explanation of the Russian Creta. The car seems to be more or less similar to the Indian one exterior wise except for a few minor changes here and there. No idea what the presenters are saying as it is probably in Russian, but the video shows pretty much inside and outside the car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo6UFwCPZwY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNe6MrhPkI0

[Vasanth]

I don’t see any problem here. Russia is a country where it snows almost all year round. The roads get slippery and dangerous. It will be beneficial for them. For example even the UK market gets a regular sedan and station wagons with All-wheel-drive option. That does not mean they can go off roading. It is to provide better road grip for their road conditions. And some of them even have 2 sets of tyres. For summer use and winter use.

For a tropical country like India, personally, I don’t find it very useful.
There are two types of SUV customers in india.
1) The ones who need real SUV, with 4WD and low range gearbox, locking differentials and what not. Enthusiasts and owners of huge farms, tea/coffee estates; They are the ones who make use of SUV features.
2) The ones who need only more ground clearance.