Honda Elevate Review - Finally Ticking The Right Boxes

Updated: Sunday, August 6, 2023, 8:22 [IST]

Honda's sojourn in India has seen the Japanese firm make the sedan segment its own with the City. Honda's other offering in India, the Amaze compact sedan, has gained a considerable following in the ten years it has traversed our roads.

However, where the firm has stumbled in connecting with its Indian audience is the SUV segment. Honda's best-known SUV in the Indian market was the CR-V. However, the CR-V's price meant it was never a mass-market success in India.

That doesn't mean Honda hasn't tried going down the mass-market SUV route. However, the firm's BR-V didn't look like a 'proper' boxy SUV, nor did it set the sales charts on fire and slinked off into Honda's outbox.

But now Honda's back with an SUV that embraces the boxy life. So does the Honda Elevate have what it takes to crack the Indian SUV code? We drove the all-new Honda Elevate in Udaipur to find out for ourselves.

Honda Elevate Review: Design & Features - Ticking The Right Boxes

The Honda Elevate is boxy in all the right ways. The best way to see this is front-on, with the Elevate's muscular bonnet and upright front end sporting a large grille with the Honda badge grabbing eyeballs.

The Honda Elevate's front grille is flanked on either side by sleek LED headlamps (which also host the LED DRLs). Connecting the headlamps is a thick chrome bar, similar to the one in the City sedan.

The Elevate's fog lamps come housed in enclosures lower on the front bumper. Also seen lower down is a sleek air dam, underneath which sits the faux bash plate and black plastic cladding.

The sides of the Honda Elevate sport plastic cladding connecting the flared wheelarches of the SUV. Another thinner strip of this plastic material runs across the lower section of the doors.

The flared wheel arches host 17-inch dual-tone diamond-cut alloy wheels that bring a bit of bling to the SUV. The door handles and upward kinked window lines are done up in chrome, while the roof rails feature a silver finish.

Switch to the rear of the Honda Elevate, and the roof-mounted spoiler and raked rear windscreen immediately grab your attention. The Honda badge connects with the wraparound L-shaped LED taillights with the help of bar-shaped red trim. The lower sections of the Elevate's rear bumper sports plastic cladding in black and silver finishes.

Step inside the Elevate, and you're greeted by what Honda calls a progressive cabin. The dash is a multi-layered unit dominated by the 10.25-inch HD infotainment touchscreen that takes centre stage. The instrumentation setup behind the steering wheel features an analogue speedometer and a 7-inch display.

The infotainment setup sports buttons underneath the large display that help control its different functions if you don't like messing around with your fingers. The infotainment unit supports wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and is connected to an 8-speaker surround sound system to play your tunes on the go.

Other highlights of the Honda Elevate include the plush seats, the wireless phone charger, the sunroof and the Honda Connect suite of connected car features, which allow you to connect with and control the SUV's functions through a compatible phone or smartwatch. Every new Elevate will come with five years of Honda Connect subscription.

The Honda Elevate comes packed with a host of safety features that make it, on paper, one of the safest in the segment. The Elevate sports six airbags, ABS with EBD, Vehicle Stability Assist, Agile Handling Assist, Hill Start Assist, rear parking camera with guidelines and rear parking sensors.

The Honda Elevate also sports a host of driver aids from the Honda Sensing suite, making it the third SUV in the segment to sport ADAS. The Honda Sensing suite on the Elvate includes Collision Mitigation Braking System, Road Departure Mitigation System, Lane Keeping Assist System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Auto High-Beam and Lead Car Departure Notification System.

Honda Elevate Review: Specs & Dimensions - Natural City Power

The Honda Elevate shares its underpinnings and powertrains with the fifth-generation City sedan. Underpinned like its sedan counterpart by Honda's Global Small Car Platform.

The Honda Elevate is 4,392mm long, 1,790mm wide and 1,650 tall with a 2,650mm long wheelbase and 220mm ground clearance. The Elevate SUV weighs 1,206kg in manual guise, with the CVT version tipping the scales at 1,258kg. The Elevate from Honda offers 458 litres of boot space and a 40-litre fuel tank.

Pop the Elevate's bonnet, and you'll find the same naturally-aspirated, DOHC, 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, i-VTEC petrol engine from the Honda City. In the all-new Honda Elevate, the engine pushes out 119.35bhp at 6,600rpm and 145Nm of peak torque at 4,300rpm.

The Elevate delivers power to its front wheels assisted by either a six-speed manual transmission or a CVT automatic gearbox. The Elevate with the manual gearbox returns a mileage of 15.31km/l which rises to 16.92km/l with the CVT.

The Honda Elevate rides on either 16-inch steel wheels or 17-inch alloy wheels. The former comes fitted with 215/60 tyres all around. The alloy wheels, on the other hand, come draped with 215/55 tyres. The spare wheel on offer is the 16-inch Steelie.

Honda Elevate Review: Driving Impressions & Experience - Everyday City SUV Governed By ADAS Supernanny

The Honda Elevate's naturally aspirated petrol engine loves to rev to its 7,000rpm limit for fun. The DOHC engine's power delivery is linear, and you feel the Elevate steadily pull forward as you rise through the revs and gears. However, on steep ghat roads, we did wish for a bit more oomph.

The Honda Elevate's light clutch, combined with the short throw gearbox, allows drivers to shift up and down the gears without any issue. However, we found the engine to be rather noisy when it got to around 3,500rpm, which can get annoying and requires NVH refinements for the cabin.

Speaking of the cabin, the space inside the Elevate is brilliant for an SUV this size. Six-footers can settle into the seats, both at the front and rear, without getting too cramped for space. The seats are comfortable with the rear bench, offering good under-thigh support.

Those inside the Elevate will hardly feel the bumps and ruts as Honda has tuned the suspension to be softer, giving the SUV a rather plush ride. However, this and the extended ground clearance ensure that you feel the body roll through the turns and curves.

The Elevate's steering is light, allowing you to glide through city streets and change lanes for fun at slower, jammed speeds. Once speeds start building up, the Elevate's steering weighs up, encouraging you to continue powering on.

Drop the anchors on the Elevate, and the all-new Honda SUV stops well. The Honda Elevate's brake pedal offers good initial bite, and the anchors (discs at the front, drums at the rear) ensure the 1.25 tonne (kerb weight) SUV stops rather quickly.

Honda's Sense driver aid setup on the Elevate does not feature a radar module and relies on its array of cameras instead. And while we found it to be practical on the move, the automatic braking system acted too much like Supernanny for our tastes and heart rates.

Honda Elevate Review: Final Thoughts & Verdict - Elevating To A New Level

The Honda Elevate sees the Japanese firm finally get its SUV game right for the Indian market. With its boxy shape, high ground clearance, comfortable cabin and tried and tested powertrains, the Honda Elevate offers a good option for those not finding Hyundai, Kia, Maruti and Toyota's offerings to their tastes.

However, Honda is over a generation late to the game, and with its rivals gaining more powerful powerplants, the Japanese firm will need to get aggressive with the Elevate's pricing to ensure the SUV has a fighting chance.