It’s a responsive engine, building revs rapidly and the 7-speed DCT does a great job of masking the turbo lag in Sport Mode. But even in a manual takeover with the paddle shifts, it won’t hold the revs for you, upshifting at about 6000RPM to save itself from imploding. Triple-digit speeds are achieved effortlessly and the cabin is well insulated from road and wind noise too. But, and this is the big but, the perception of acceleration or ‘fun’ is heavily blunted by the lack of an accompanying aural drama.
Now, we’d be OK if we were in the regular version of the Creta, but knowing that you’re paying a bit extra to get the go-faster-looking sibling, you also want to FEEL it going faster. A huge component of that feeling is the associated noise as you build speed and in this case, it just sounds like the whining of an engine getting schtick. Not a motor that’s eager to put a smile on your face.
Having said that, the drive can still be fun if you take over control, engage Sport mode and use the paddle shifters judiciously. The shifts are quick, the steering offers a good turn-in feel and the grip is confidence-inspiring through long and fast corners. The N-Line-specific steering wheel gets thumb stops and is just the right thickness to make it a pleasure to hold over long journeys. The perforated grip areas feel great and even the button quality and feel are leagues ahead of the normal version.
The salvation comes in the form of a mature ride though, even on the larger 18in wheels and stiffened dampers. Unlike on the i20 N-Line, Hyundai hasn’t revealed how much they’ve tightened the nuts on the suspension, percentage-wise, but it’s a sublime ride quality on all kinds of roads. Keen cutlets might want to upgrade the stock 215/55 R18 rubber but it would only be an exercise in excess.
Stability at extreme speeds is impressive and at lower speeds, going through a bad patch is dismissed off in a refined and composed manner, without much of the lateral movement common on cars with a stiff set-up. However, our final judgement on this should be reserved for Mumbai city roads and not a 120km round trip on the ribbon-smooth Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.