[Aditya]

Mod Note: Honda Elevate review has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread. Thanks!

Honda Elevate Preview

Big shoutout to CrAzY dRiVeR for shooting these pictures & his coverage of the Honda Elevate unveil event. Thanks for sharing!

Honda has unveiled the Elevate compact SUV. The car will compete against the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, MG Astor, Skoda Kushaq, Toyota Hyryder and Volkswagen Taigun. Some of these cars are very strong sellers in the Indian market.

SUVs have been outselling sedans in India for a while now. Honda does not have any SUV in its product portfolio since the demise of the CR-V and WR-V. This makes the Elevate a very important car for the company. Additionally, the Elevate is being developed as a global model and is likely to be exported to other markets.

The Elevate has been developed on the concept of ‘Urban Freestyler’ by the Honda R&D Asia Pacific center located in Thailand.

Bookings for the Elevate will open in July, while the launch is scheduled for the festive season.

Exterior

Looks imposing from the front and has presence thanks to the large grille:


Looks plain from the rear, but overall, the design is clean. It should offend none. Build quality is similar to the City:


Looks more crossover than SUV from the side. It's Not a tall vehicle. There's a generous dose of black cladding all around:


Comes with an Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body. Measures 4,312 mm in length, 1,790 mm in width and 1,650 mm in height with a wheelbase of 2,650 mm and ground clearance of 220 mm. Turning radius = 5.2 m:


Headlight cluster consists of LED turn-indicators and dual LED lights for the low HID high beam:


The Elevate is equipped with Honda SENSING (ADAS), including features like Collision Mitigation Braking System, Lane Keeping Assist System, Auto High-Beam, Road Departure Mitigation System, Adaptive Cruise Control and Lead Car Departure Notification. ADAS camera mounted in front of the IRVM:


Old-school wipers at the front:


Two-tone diamond cut 17" alloy wheels shod with 215/55 R17 Bridgestone Turanza T005 rubber:


Keyhole on driver's door is an eyesore. Could have been integrated into the handle next to the request sensor:


Panels gaps are not consistent and are especially wide around the bonnet:




ORVMs come with integrated turn-indicators and 360-degree cameras mounted on the undersides:


Sunroof is small and of no use to rear passengers:


With the sunroof opened:


Tail-lamp cluster consists of LED pilot and stop lamps and halogen turn-indicators and reverse lamps:


Here's a look at the Elevate in white. This car was loaded with accessories and chrome, which are not standard:






And red. Notice that most of the vents of the upper portion of the grille are closed. Bumper gets an air dam and a silver skid plate:


Aero wiper at the rear:


For now, the Elevate will be available with just one engine - the 1.5 DOHC i-Vtec petrol unit that produces 119 BHP @ 6,600 and 145 Nm @ 4,300 rpm. It will be mated to a 6-speed manual transmission and a 7-speed CVT. No engine cover:


Underside of the bonnet is unpainted. Looks bad:

[Aditya]

Interior

Black and brown interior theme. Comes with a 7-inch HD full color TFT MID showing fuel consumption, trip meter, outside temperature, G-Meter and clock. It also allows the driver to customize the operations, such as the meter set up, keyless access, lighting set up, door and Honda SENSING:


Plastics are hard and feel coarse-grained and Could have been better. Interior feel is elevated by the use of leather on the dashboard:


Thick faux wood insert:


Steering wheel has been lifted from the City:


And so have the light and wiper stalks:




A/C vents get a thick silver border on the sides and bottom:


Doorpads have leather and silver inserts:


Leather upholstery. No ventilated seats here::


Pedals are decently spaced out. Dead pedal has been provided:


Floating touchscreen head-unit with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Weblink, Bluetooth and USB. Additional sub-screen functions are also provided for easy access such as ASVM (Assistant Side View Monitor), ARVM (Assistant Rear View Monitor), Clock, Calendar, Compass, Customizable Picture, and shortcuts to commonly used infotainment settings. Also has Honda Connect. Touchscreen has physical buttons for common functions. Honda claimed premium audio, but there's no branding as such:


Climate control system has physical buttons:


Shelf to store a smartphone. Wireless charging has been provided:


12V power outlet:


Two USB ports - one for connecting to the head-unit and one for charging:


Two cupholders ahead of the gear shifter:


Leather-wrapped 6-speed gear shifter with leather boot:


Glovebox is average sized. In the display car, it was getting stuck and needed some force to open fully:


Roof bezel consists of individual map lights as well as controls for the sunroof:


Sunvisors have vanity mirrors and illumination:


Rear doorpads have an identical theme to the front units:


Space is on par with the other cars in the segment. Headroom is just enough for a 6 footer. Carved out roof liner helps matters. A center armrest has been provided. Seat is split in a 60:40 ratio:


Well shaped adjustable headrests for the left and right occupants, but none for the middle one:


Rear air-con vents have options to adjust the air volume as well as direction:


You get a 12V charging port down below:


Smartphone holder in the front seatback pocket is a good touch:


Boot space = 458 litres:


Boot lamp is located on the left:


Tools are stored in a styrofoam casing:

Other Points

• Elevate stands for: Empowerment, Liberation, Exploration, Versatility, Aspiration, Transformation, Evolution

• Additional active safety features include: LaneWatch, Rear Seatbelt Reminder, Vehicle Stability Assist, Hill Start Assist, Emergency Stop Signal, Rear Parking Sensors

• Honda is celebrating 75 years

• Honda is celebrating 25 years in India

• HCIL to launch 5 SUVs by 2030 starting with the Elevate

• BEV based on Elevate to come in 3 years

[GTO]

I quite like the design! Looks clean, proportionate & a bit butch for a crossover. I would take this kind of styling over the Creta's el-weirdo concept car look any which day. That being said, I think Maruti has done a better job of contemporariness for the mass market in the Grand Vitara. That car does look smart.

Add some neat rims & subtle enhancements to the Elevate and it will look great. Am so happy Honda didn't overdo the cuts & creases, as we saw with so many of their cars (including the WR-V). Clean designs age better too.

Don't underestimate the power of brand Honda, guys. As long as the Elevate does most things right (like the City), doesn't do anything wrong (like the City) and is priced appropriately, the Elevate will do well. That being said, it won't be a runaway success because the competition in this segment is very fierce from same-price competitors (e.g. Creta), the segment below (fully-loaded sub-4 meter crossovers like the Sonet) and the size above (XUV700, Harrier, Scorpio-N).

Not offering the hybrid is inexplicable. When you are carrying a loaded gun in your arsenal, why the heck won't you take it out and fire? The Koreans offer more powerful turbo-petrols, the Koreans & Indians have turbo-diesels, Maruti-Toyota have hybrids with unbelievable FE...and Honda still believes its 1.5L NA motor is the best thing since sliced bread. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of the 1.5L Vtec motor & relish revving it to 7000 rpm. But why there isn't a hybrid on offer from the City Hybrid (and a turbo-petrol) is perplexing. This is Honda being lazy & complacent.

Looking at the engine offered, transmission technology, exterior design, interior design and feature list (nothing really stands out), this looks more like a launch of "2017" rather than "2023". It might as well have competed with the earlier Kia Seltos or 1st-gen Creta. Mahindra worked 10X harder with the XUV700 than Honda has with the Elevate.

[volkman10]

Honda future plans:

- Honda confirms EV plans for India. Electric version of #HondaElevate will come in 3 years.
- Honda also confirms 5 SUVs for India by 2030







ELEVATE is an acronym:

- Here are the dimensions of the Honda Elevate. It is 4.3m long, has a 5.2m turning radius and 220mm ground clearance! Honda really making sure it checks all those SUV boxes.

- Honda Sensing

- The new Honda Elevate gets 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC engine that makes 121ps and 145 nm with a 6-speed manual and smart CVT gearbox

- Bookings opening in July

[YD14]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Honda Elevate, gauge the size before its reveal, a mini HR-V?

Looks like bigger WRV to me. I have bad feeling about this.
Also are are they planning a electric version? Why talk about 2040 all electric goal now?

Edit: Ok they are planning an electric version.

Only lane watch and rear camera mentioned. No 360 degree camera I guess.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Honda future plans:

- Honda confirms EV plans for India. Electric version of #HondaElevate will come in 3 years.

3 months oh no, 3 years?!

Elevate looks like a decent looking option who does not want Korean/VW/Skoda twins

[SoumenD]

No rear middle seat headrests.



But am happy with how it looks and the specs. Looks like a natural upgrade from Jazz. Size-wise seems at par with competition and going by honda's space management, should be spacious enough.



Any idea its based on Brio/Amaze or City/Jazz? Hope its the latter, else would feel cheap for a 20L car

[GhostGrid]

Everything is larger than Creta except for Width which is same (1790). There is no doubt that this will be expensive.

[saildrive]

Seems like match box on wheels going by the camaflaged video running right now!

[jimmzbond]

Originally Posted by saildrive

Seems like match box on wheels going by the camaflaged video running right now!

I agree, they should have increased width more. This is not in right proportion.

[Animesh]

FYI width of Hyundai Creta is exactly the same at 1790 mm.

[sandeep3764]

The power figures are disappointing for this segment.

[PreludeSH]

Width is same as Creta. Depends on how they will liberate the interior space. The engine will be a weaker point without hybrid.

[jimmzbond]

Elevate
Length - 4312mm
Width - 1790mm
Height - 1650mm
Wheelbase - 2650mm
Ground clerance - 220mm
Turning radius - 5.2m

CRETA -
4,300 mm L x 1,790 mm W x 1,620-1,635 mm H
turning radius - 5.3
GC - 190mm

Booking start in jul, deliveries from festive season

[Auto spawn]

Why aren’t they offering hybrid from launch? Seriously a missed opportunity of also bringing in a turbo petrol that would make the Kushaq and Taigun feel the heat!

145nm of torque feels too less on my City CVT, wonder how will it pull a heavier SUV?