Welcome to likeautomotive! Today we\’ll be comparing the Honda BR-V with the Hyundai Creta. So why are we comparing these two cars? Creta\’s penultimate variant… the ‘SX Plus’ manual-diesel, costs 15.75 Lakh, on road, Delhi. Customers looking for the added practicality of 7 seats might consider sacrificing some style and go for the Honda BR-V.
BR-V’s high-end ‘VX’ (diesel) variant retails for 15.1 lakh, which is 65,000 Rs. cheaper than the Creta. Both cars have similar The Creta has an added touch-screen infotainment system over the BR-V, while the BR-V has extra leather seats over the Creta.
Performance and Drivability:
Honda’s 1.5 liter VTEC petrol mill is a legend. It’s lightning fast performance, buttery smooth refinement and sonorous exhaust note is quite an unbeatable combination. Hyundai has tried very hard to beat Honda, with its 1.6 VTVT mill, but hasn’t quite achieved it.
Overall, the Creta has marginally weak performance than the BR-V and though Hyundai has sound-deadened it to submission, Creta’s engine isn’t as rev happy or as sweet sounding as the BR-V’s. Amongst the diesels, Both cars eem quite similar on paper, but they behave very differently on road. The Creta has tremendous turbo lag below 2000 rpm making it quite frustrating to drive in city traffic. The BR-V, in contrast has almost no turbo-lag, making it ideal for city usage.
On the highway, Creta’s abrupt power delivery makes it ‘feel’ faster than the BR-V, but actually, it isn’t. However, the Creta is significantly more refined than the BR-V, at all speeds.
Fuel Efficiency:
The BR-V petrol manual has an ARAI certified mileage of 15.4 kmpl, which is similar to the Creta’s mileage of 15.3 kmpl The BR-V petrol-automatic has an ARAI certified mileage of 16 kmpl which is 2 kmpl more than the Creta.
The BR-V diesel-manual has an ARAI certified mileage of 21.9 kmpl, which is 0.5 kmpl more than the Creta 1.4 and 2.2 kmpl more than the Creta 1.6.
In our real-world tests, both the manual & automatic petrol BR-Vs were almost 2 kmpl more efficient than their Creta counterparts.
The Diesel BR-V was consistently 1 kmpl more efficient than the 1.4 Creta and 2 kmpl more efficient than the 1.6 Creta diesel (manual) Space and Comfort: The BR-V is a more practical vehicle than the Creta.
Firstly, the Creta has a fairly tight cabin, especially considering its rather generous proportions. The BR-V in contrast has a slightly more spacious cabin, with a significantly more airy ambience.
Plus there’s the extra third row of seats inside the BR-V, which are comfortable enough for smallest members of the family.
With all the seats up, the BR-V still has 220 litres of boot-space which is equivalent to cars like the Celerio. With the rear seats folded, it expands to 691 litres which is almost twice as much as the Creta\’s 402 litre boot volume. Handling and Ride Quality: Creta is an utter disappointment, when it comes to dynamics. It is quite peculiar, as to how Hyundai has screwed up both, the ride quality and handling of the Creta. It transmits the impact from even moderate bumps and ruts to the occupants, which is unforgivable for a so called SUV.
Handling is even worse with a super-light, vague & ponderous steering rack spoiling it even further. The BR-V in contrast both handles and rides surprisingly well considering its tall height. Especially its steering is quite precise and transmits a hint of feedback from surface below. Reliability and After-Sales-Service Both Honda and Hyundai have an excellent track record of product reliability.
Hyundai though, has an edge over Honda in terms of service support. Hyundai has a wider service network with 800 touch points compared to Honda’s 250. Customer service is also better than Honda’s outlets.
However, Hyundai\’s service costs are significantly higher than Honda’s. Resale and Cost of Ownership: Both BR-V and Creta are bound to hold fantastic resale value over the next 5 to 7 years. Petrol powered BR-V and Creta manual have more or less similar Cost of Ownership.
The BR-V automatic though, works out to be over a Lakh rupees cheaper than the Creta petrol-automatic. The Diesel powered BR-V is almost a Lakh rupees lesser in Ownership Costs compared to the equivalent Creta diesel 1.6 That brings us…
to the Verdict:
Fundamentally, the BR-V is far superior to the Creta. It has far better dynamics and drivability than the Creta. It is also a more practical car, thanks to better space and ergonomics than the Creta. Creta is sort of a all show, no go car with flashy looks but no real capabilities. The BR-V is without doubt our pick of this comparison.