Both the Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos were recently updated in India. While the Hyundai Creta saw the addition of new features on most trims and deletion of a few features from the base trim, the Kia Seltos got a more comprehensive updated with a revised feature list, a variant rejig and even saw the introduction of a new gearbox option. Here we are looking in detail how the base variants of both the SUVs - Hyundai Creta E vs Kia Seltos HTE - compare against each other in terms of exterior and interior features, engine options and price.
Hyundai Creta E vs Kia Seltos HTE - Exterior Differences
On the outside, the base E trim of the Hyundai Creta recently lost its ORVM-mounted turn indicators, which have now been relocated on the front fender. Elsewhere, the Creta E comes with a simple black grille with a silver garnish on top, missing out on the chrome treatment from higher-spec trims. While it does get LED DRLs, the headlamps are projector halogen units and it also misses out on fog lamps. At the rear, the Creta E gets LED tail lamps but misses out on LED bar light connecting the two tail lamp clusters. It rides 16-inch steel wheels wide wheel caps and also misses out on the chrome treatment for the door handles.
Incidentally, the base Kia Seltos HTE gets very similar levels of equipment on the outside as the Creta E. That includes a simple black grille with silver garnish, projector halogen headlamps with LED DRLs, LED tail lamps and 16-inch steel wheels. Just like the Creta, the Seltos also misses out on fog lamps and the turn indicators are mounted on the front fender. The rear differentiator in terms of exterior design for the SUVs are the color options they are offered with. While Hyundai offers its entire palette of colors available with the Creta on the base E trim, Kia offers the Seltos only in white and silver color options.
Also Read : Hyundai Creta 1.5P SX MT Ownership Review - Video
Hyundai Creta E vs Kia Seltos HTE - Interior Differences
The primary difference between the base variants of the Creta and the Seltos are how generously they are equipped on the inside. The base Creta E variant is frankly quite bare bones and only gets the most basic features. That includes all-four power windows, semi-digital instrument console, steering-mounted controls, manually adjustable ORVMs, manual air-conditioning, black/beige dual-tone interior, front center arm rest and rear AC vents. Heck, it does not even get an audio system.
In comparison, the Seltos HTE variant comes equipped with all the features from the Creta E variant mentioned above, and then some more. The Kia HTE additionally gets 2-Din Audio system with Bluetooth, steering-mounted audio controls, USB charging ports, sunglass holder and dual-front reading lamps. However, it misses out on the rear center arm rest and seat back pockets that the Creta E gets.
Also Read : Kia Seltos Diesel - Automatic vs Manual Drag Race
Hyundai Creta E vs Kia Seltos HTE - Engine Options
Under the hood, both base versions of the Creta and Seltos are available with two engine options - there's the 1.5L, naturally aspirated, four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 115PS and 144Nm of peak torque. There's also a 1.5L, four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine that produces 115PS and 250Nm of peak torque. Both engines solely come mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. The petrol engine has an ARAI rated fuel efficiency of 16.8 kmpl while the diesel engine returns an average of 21.3 kmpl.
However, a major mechanical difference between the two base models is that while the Creta gets disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the rear for the E trim, the Seltos HTE gets disc brakes at all four corners and that improves braking performance significantly.
Hyundai Creta E vs Kia Seltos HTE - Price and Verdict
The petrol version of the Hyundai Creta E costs INR 9.99 lakh* and the diesel one costs INR 10.51 lakh*. As for the Kia Seltos HTE, the petrol version is priced at INR 9.95 lakh* and the diesel costs 10.45 lakh*. The Kia Seltos HTE is thus the clear winner of this comparison test, thanks to it being a few odd thousands more affordable than the Hyundai Creta E and also because it has the upper hand in safety. Subjective aspects like styling and design aside, the rest of the package is mostly identical.
Stay tuned to IndianAutosBlog.com for more such comparisons and other four-wheeler news.
