Hyundai Creta v Mahindra Thar Roxx: Rocking the boat

Look, I know these two aren’t traditional rivals. The very foundation of the monocoque cars was to do away with flaws of the body-on-frame chassis. Weight, NVH, dynamics, safety. Monocoques do all of it better. In that light, these two couldn’t be more different. Chalk and cheese. Apples and oranges. Creta and Thar Roxx. But whether you like it or not, their worlds have collided. Mahindra has priced the Roxx aggressively – perfectly primed to take on the mid-size SUV segment. And the market has responded. 1.76 lakh bookings in a single hour for the Roxx shows the rabid enthusiasm for it. A new platform, new interiors, more doors and fewer compromises than ever before – should you pick the Thar over a monocoque SUV? We’re about to find out by putting it up against the benchmark in this segment, the Hyundai Creta.

Side by side

There’s no ignoring how imposing the Thar Roxx looks. It is longer, wider and taller than the Creta and towers over the Hyundai (and most other cars on the road, to be fair). The styling also appeals to the child in you – simple, round headlamps, a flat face, strong lines and that distinct boxy shape. It is a shape that has existed in some form or the other since the 1940s and is impossible not to fall in love with. It is also an attention magnet – not just the usual stares but people come over and ask questions, want to sit in it, check it out from the inside and take a picture with it. One dude insisted on taking a picture of himself while standing out of the sunroof. While the car was stationary, of course. Part of that interest is because we were driving the SUV before it hit the market but we do that very often and no car has generated the curiosity and interest that the Roxx did.

Mahindra has priced the Roxx aggressively – perfectly primed to take on the mid-size SUV segment. -Shot by Avdhoot A Kolhe for Evo India

The Creta… doesn’t stand a chance when there’s a Thar Roxx in the vicinity. Sure the new styling with this facelift is very welcome and it looks a lot better than before. It is a smart looking car but won’t elicit the same oohs and aahs that the Roxx inspires. It also happens to be ubiquitous – there are so many on our roads. Not that this boxy shape is uncommon, it has been around for decades. But it doesn’t seem to get boring, does it?

Horses for courses

This particular Creta gets a turbo-petrol – the 1.5 GDI, putting out 158bhp and 250Nm of torque, mated to the DSG transmission. The Thar Roxx on test has a bigger engine: 2.2-diesel, 173bhp, 370Nm and a 6-speed torque converter automatic. The Roxx also has a 2.0 turbo-petrol option (and the Creta a 1.5 diesel) but we simply couldn’t get both diesels or both petrols together so we have to make do with this oddball comparison. But the engine specs reveal only part of the story. TC off, AC off, into the sportiest drive mode and it was time for a traffic light drag race! Off the line, the Thar is quicker. The torque convertor allows you to launch it hard off the line and it shoots its nose into the lead. The DCT on the Creta might not allow you to launch the car hard but the snappy shifts do claw back time through the run. That, combined with the lighter weight and the rev-happy petrol engine of the Creta meant it quickly caught the Thar and gapped it before we hit the next signal. The tests on our VBOX reflected that too – the Thar hit 50kmph quicker. But then the Creta took over, hitting 100kmph in a rapid 9.08 seconds, while the Thar did it in 10.89 seconds. That said, diesel to petrol isn’t a fair comparison and things would have been a lot closer with a petrol-powered Thar, no doubt.

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Outright performance is clearly the Creta’s purview but what about refinement? Diesels aren’t particularly known for being quiet and the Thar’s shape – at least on the three-door – caused a fair bit of wind noise. However, while the Roxx is a five-door Thar, there’s a lot that has changed here in the approach to making the car. At the unveil, R Velusamy, the chief of global product development at Mahindra spoke a lot about the higher stiffness of the frame, better joint strength, the full metal body and improving refinement levels for the engine. And sure enough, it has translated to a quieter cabin. At 100kmph, it was hard to have a conversation in the three-door Thar. The 5-door? Easy. In fact, we used a decibel meter and measured noise in the cabin to be a mere 3 decibels more than the Creta at 100kmph. On par with a petrol-engined monocoque car, then!

Surface spectrum

It’s impossible to ignore how differently they drive though. You see, body-on-frames have a certain busyness over less-than-perfect surfaces. Things improved drastically when the Thar moved from the utilitarian leaf springs to the multi-link rear suspension, and the new-gen platform on this SUV with the longer wheelbase, the Watt’s linkage, the more sophisticated dampers and hydraulic bump stops refine things even further. It feels a lot closer to a monocoque SUV than ever before, with a refinement to the way it deals with minor pits and bumps in the road’s surface. That said, there’s still a constant pitter patter, a slight lumpiness, that you do feel from underneath you. It is part of the SUV DNA, there’s no escaping it. In that regard, the Creta comes out better off. The softer suspension set up, combined with the stiffness of the monocoque makes it a lot more cosseting over our roads. It feels less bothered by minor imperfections in the road, ironing them out confidently and keeping you oblivious to them in the cabin. It feels a lot more settled, and passengers would appreciate that in the cabin. I’m certain the 17-inch wheels (compared to 19s on the Roxx) also have something to do with it.

It feels a lot closer to a monocoque SUV than ever before, with a refinement to the way it deals with minor pits and bumps. -Shot by Avdhoot A Kolhe

Where the Roxx rocks (yes, word play), is when the roads deteriorate or disappear. Which has happened a lot in our base in Pune, through this monsoon. Here, the SUVness shines through – it feels so robust, so indestructible. You can hammer over bad roads that force lesser SUVs to crawl over them, the higher ground clearance ensuring you don’t have to worry about anything breaking. The suspension soaks up cavernous potholes and ditches very competently as well – the hydraulic bump-stops mean there is no uncomfortable thudding and there’s plenty of compliance. So often, I found entire sections of the (disappearing) road to myself because traffic had funnelled itself into the small strips of remaining tarmac. It actually made driving in the city less stressful! With the Creta, you don’t have the same clearance and you’ve got to slow down for the nasty stuff lest it chew off a bumper, or crack the sump. And don’t get me started about the flooding…

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The daily grind

The Roxx is actually very competent in crowded city streets, even if the roads haven’t been carpet-bombed by the monsoons. Sitting that high up gives you really good visibility and just makes driving less stressful. It is wide, so it can’t squeeze into the same gaps that the Creta can but fewer people try to bully you and cut you off. Respect is given. Or taken, rather. The AT is really convenient, the light EPS steering makes it a lot easier to manoeuvre than the 3-door Thar, however, the start-stop system is a bit annoying – it is a little laggy and it doesn’t feel seamless. The Creta has its own set of strengths in the city – it is more compact and therefore easier to thread through traffic and while it doesn’t offer the same commanding king-of-the-road driving position, the controls are light and easier to manage, and it is easier to park as well. The footboard and grab handles on the Roxx do help elderly folk but it obviously isn’t as effortless as getting into the Creta. Living with the Creta on the daily should be easier – the cabin is more ergonomic. Storage spaces are better designed, with a large armrest storage bin, sizeable door pockets and a small tray in front of the co-passenger as well. In contrast, the Thar has limited storage up front. The large phone tray is useful but armrest storage is small and the door pockets don’t even hold a 1-litre bottle – only smaller bottles fit.

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Both are very well kitted out – with cruise control, USB A and Type-C ports, drive modes (only on the Roxx diesel), ventilated seats, a panoramic sunroof, branded sound systems, 360-degree cameras and connected car features. The Creta does get some additional kit, including dual-zone climate control, rake and reach adjustability but also has wired CarPlay and Android Auto, whereas the Thar Roxx has wireless connectivity. As for safety, it is worth noting that both get six airbags, ISOFIX mounts and Level 2 ADAS, though there is a big distinction with the Creta getting rear radars and the consequent features that the Roxx doesn’t get. The Roxx though, sits comfortable in the knowledge that the 3-door got a 4-star GNCAP rating and this new platform should only better that when BNCAP crash tests do happen.

As for backseat comfort, it comes down to what you prefer. Both have ample room (the Roxx has the longer wheelbase at 2850mm compared to the Creta’s 2610mm) but the Roxx allows you to sit high up and have a commanding view of the road. You sink inside the Creta’s more but that is no bad thing considering you have more comfortable seats with better under-thigh support and the ability to recline the backrest. The soft neck pillows and sun blinds also add to the sense that the Creta’s backseat takes care of you just that little bit more.

To the enthusiast, the word 'sensible' often take a backseat to the callings of the heart. -Shot by Avdhoot A Kolhe for Evo India

Verdict

It is a hard one, this. On the day, the Creta had the better performance, the nicer ride, more features and more comfort on the inside. It is the sensible buy – objectively, it does more things better than the Thar Roxx and those strengths of the monocoque, along with the strides Hyundai has made with the last few updates, hold it well. If you’re looking for an SUV as a tool for mobility – a mere machine to get you comfortably from one place to another – the Creta ticks all the right boxes. However, we’re enthusiasts. And the fact that you’re reading evo India probably puts you in our camp. To the enthusiast, the words ‘sensible’ often take a backseat to the callings of the heart. And that is where the Thar Roxx talks to us. Straight to the heart. It isn’t perfect – it has its inherent compromises with ride and comfort but it is such a massive leap up from the 3-door, and every time you climb inside it, it puts a smile on your face. Not many four-door, everyday cars (or in this case, SUVs) manage to do that!