The Maruti Suzuki S-Cross is the first car to be retailed through the Nexa outlet of Maruti Suzuki. In other words, the crossover is the company’s first premium vehicle in the Indian market. The car was first launched in 2015 and is on the verge of getting a much-needed upgrade.
The Hyundai Creta is presently a big name in the Indian SUV segment. And that is evident by the number of Cretas you will see on the road. The SUV is one of the best products the company has introduced for the Indian market. The demands are at a peak presently.
But what is to be seen here is that the newest 2017 S-Cross will be up against the success of the Hyundai Creta at the time of its launch. Hence, let’s go ahead and find out is whether all the Maruti S Cross specifications are good enough to compete against the Hyundai Creta or will lack the performance section.
The way they look
The 2017 Maruti Suzuki S-Cross is a notch above the outgoing model. It appears to be bulkier than before with excess black plastic cladding all along the lower skirts of the car. The front section wears a butcher look. The headlamps hold projector units but lack LED lighting. Instead, it gets HID lamps even on the top-end variants. The front lip spoiler gets excessive black cladding with the fog lamps at the two ends. However, the biggest distinguishing factor is the chrome additions on the vertical slats on the front grille. The rear section is highlighted by the faux metal skid plates at the lower end and the clustered split tail lights.
The Hyundai Creta is almost legendary now, though it hasn’t been long before the car was first introduced in India. It is the-the perfect SUV and has the best physical designing, arguably of course. The front section is extremely masculine and big. It gets horizontal slats on the grille, which is creamed in chrome. The fog lamps, lower down, aren’t round, but rectangular in shape. The side section holds a prominent body line passing across the length of the car. The wheel arches are much more prominent than what you will see in the S-Cross crossover. The tail section gets the same split units, but is sleeker and wraparound in design.
The interior features
Once you take up the driver’s seat, you will feel you are in a virtual cockpit. The analog meters, including the tacho and the speedo gets blue instrumentation and, thus, are sportier. The dash gets AC vents which are placed on the top of the touchscreen infotainment system. The system gets connectivity of Apple CarPlay and satellite navigation system. The layout is spacious with the seats covered with leather upholstery on the top-end variant. The HVAC and the handbrake knobs are polished with shiny chrome.
The Hyundai Creta, as it looks, is bigger on the inside as well. The passengers get a lot of knee room, headroom and shoulder room to work with. The designing is nothing loud or too fancy, but is extremely sober yet classy. The AV vents on the dashboard are winged to the large touchscreen infotainment display. The driver gets a lot of control buttons all over, including the steering mounted controls. On the safety front, the Creta gets 2-airbags, ABS with EBD (electronic brakeforce distribution) along with brake assist and traction control.
The power plant
The Maruti Suzuki S-Cross did not have a petrol engine even in the current generation model. In the new model too, it hasn’t gained a petrol engine. However, it has lost the bigger 1.6-litre DDiS diesel. Hence, now it comes with the same 1.3-litre DDiS as before, which is the only available option. The engine is capable of making a maximum power of 88 bhp at 4,000 revs per minute and a peak torque of 200 Nm at 1,750 revs per minute. The transmission duties will be done 5-speed manual transmission gearbox, a delight for the purists.
On the other hand, the Hyundai Creta is extremely powerful, much more than you would get in the S-Cross. It comes with a 1.6-litre petrol and diesel engine. The petrol trim can produce a maximum power of 122 bhp along with a peak torque of 154 Nm. The diesel trim is a more powerful one and produces maximum power of 126 bhp along with a peak torque of 265 Nm. It gets both manual as well as automatic transmission units in both the fuel trims.
Our verdict
The Maruti Suzuki S-Cross is a premium car, no doubt. The new version looks great, no doubt. However, when compared to the Hyundai Creta, the power figures are modest. In other words, the Creta is much more powerful than the S-Cross, more than you could imagine. The Hyundai car has a lot of options on offer as well, which we don’t find in the crossover. It lacks a petrol engine and an automatic transmission to sum it up.
However, the S-Cross too holds a trump card here. The new version looks amazing and many will prefer it over the Creta. All thanks to the excessive chrome additions and the muscular body.