5 Things We Learned After Driving The Honda Elevate

The Elevate might be a little under-equipped compared to its rivals, but it has a lot to offer

Update (04/09/23): Honda has announced the prices of the Elevate SUV.

Honda Cars India is all set to launch the Elevate SUV on our shores in the first week of September. Pre-launch bookings are open and the compact SUV is expected to reach showrooms by mid-August. Recently, we spent some time with the 2023 Kia Seltos facelift rival and here are our 5 takeaways. 

Look Past The Brochure

The one thing that bothered us at first was the shortage of features when we looked at the brochure. But there are a lot of things that you don’t see on a piece of paper. Quality, trust and reliability are some things you only understand once you experience a car and spend time with it.

With Honda, all these things are given. The quality of all materials used inside and outside is excellent. Once you start to use a Honda car, you will get why it’s a trustworthy car. It offers smooth drive experience, and good execution of features like the touchscreen display, which is an improvement over Honda’s past cars. Honda’s service experience is also one of the best and as we all know, their cars excel in reliability. All of this brings trust into the equation.

Traditional Yet Classy

At the time of its unveiling, the Elevate didn’t have any fancy design touches and it just gave us a traditional SUV vibe. But is that a bad thing? Absolutely not. Honda played it safe and it works. The Elevate, even with its traditional SUV styling, does look classy.

This classy appeal of the Elevate is due to the upright exterior design which has a massive front grille, sleek LED headlights and DRLs, boxy styling and stylish 17-inch alloy wheels. The clean-looking cabin with straight lines, wooden inserts and a dual-tone tan-black theme add a premium element to the Elevate.

Sensibility Is The Priority

Out of all the things expected from a compact SUV, spaciousness and practicality carry a lot of importance and that was definitely a focus here. The doors open wide when entering the Elevate, so getting in and out is extremely easy. The cabin is roomy, especially at the rear seats, where even 6-footers can sit comfortably. 

At the front, you do sit a little high as the fuel tank is placed under the front seats, which results in a shortage of headroom, but for average-sized adults, that should be fine. But the best use of space in the Elevate is in the boot. It gets a 458-litre boot space, which is not the biggest in the segment, but more than enough for your trips.

Even in the case of cabin practicality, the Elevate doesn’t compromise. You get bottle holders on all doors, cup holders in the centre console and on the rear armrest, thin slots for keeping your phone, wallet or keys and storage inside the centre armrest.

Compromise On The Powertrain

The Honda Elevate comes with a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine that makes 121PS and 145Nm. This is the same engine you get with the Honda City, which is fine, but for a car of this size, it should have gotten a more powerful engine option as well. 

The 1.5-litre engine does get the job done. It’s refined, and the driving is smooth and relaxed, but there is nothing exciting or engaging about it. A turbo-petrol engine option would have been more fun to drive.

Also Read: Could Honda Elevate Be The Next 5-Star Safety Rated SUV In India?

Also, we were expecting a hybrid powertrain with the Elevate, the same as we get on the City, but that’s absent here too. Regarding hybrid technology, Honda does it better than the likes of Toyota and Maruti. If the carmaker had offered it, Elevate would have stood higher in this segment.

The Missing Features

There are a lot of things that the Elevate offers, but it still misses out on some key features that are now becoming common in the segment. While it does offer a 10.25-inch touchscreen system, 7-inch digital driver’s display, single-pane sunroof and wireless phone charger, it still misses out on some important features like a panoramic sunroof, power-adjustable driver seats, ventilated front seats, rear sunshades and type-C charging ports.

Even in the case of safety, it does get ADAS with features like lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control and high beam assist, but this is only a camera-based ADAS and it doesn’t have a radar like its immediate rival, the Kia Seltos. So the system gets a bit confused at night, but works fine during the day.

Also Read: Honda Elevate vs Skoda Kushaq, Volkswagen Taigun And MG Astor: Specifications Compared

Overall, the Honda Elevate is a safe and sensible choice. While you do miss out on some nicer features and only get a single engine option, the cabin quality, roominess and comfort along with the reliability of Honda easily make up for it. It doesn’t disappoint, but it doesn’t wow you, either. 

Prices for the Elevate are not out yet, but it is expected to be priced from Rs 11 lakh (ex-showroom) onwards. Once launched, it will be a rival to the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Grand Vitara, Toyota Hyryder, Volkswagen Taigun, Skoda Kushaq, MG Astor and the upcoming Citroen C3 Aircross.