Honda Elevate drive impressions: Few important pros & cons for buyers

The engine felt much better than Maruti's K15C and city driveability was better than VW's 1.0 TSI.

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Got a chance to test drive the Honda Elevate yesterday. It was a fairly decent test drive covering open road stretches as well as city traffic, good enough to get an idea of the capabilities of the car and the engine. The variant distribution as per the attached brochure shared by SA confirms the one that was leaked and seems final.

Pros:

1. Power is adequate. Though the initial torque feels a bit lesser than the city, pushing the throttle further brings the i-VTEC to life. The engine kept pulling with a sweet sweet sound which was absolute music. Made me want to push the engine more. The engine has not lost its character even with the heavier body and boxy design.
2. The engine felt much better than Maruti's K15C and city driveability was better than the 1.0 TSI due to no turbo lag and smooth and linear acceleration. Other than the first gear, the rest of the gears are tall enough and the engine is tractable. So one can easily potter around in 2nd or 3rd in the city. Also absence of turbo lag makes city overtakes much smoother and you don't need to wait for the power to kick in in any gear.
3. Gearshifts are not super short, but slick and sure slotting. Also, the clutch is quite light and effortless. So shifting gears is a joy. This is one engine which is great fun to drive in its manual avatar.
4. The high bonnet makes it easy to judge the dimensions but also creates a bit of a blind spot in front due to its height. A front camera would have been super useful.
5. The legroom in the rear seat is plenty to move and stretch your legs. The seat base for all seats being low makes it very easy to get in and out for even senior folks despite the higher ground clearance.
6. The multi-mode reverse camera is good and the resolution felt adequate. Adaptive guidelines are a big miss though. The lane watch camera works great but comes only in the VX and ZX trims.

Cons:

1. Though the car is big, the cabin space has been a bit goofed up. The seat base is short and under-thigh support for all seats other than the driver is inadequate. Sitting in the front passenger seat creates a knees-up position and one has to keep their feet on the angled floor, but that's also not too comfortable. Rear-seat passengers will also need to keep their feet on the angled floor to be comfortable. The City is more comfortable to sit in.
2. The rear seat width is a bit tight for 3 people and the angled door edge does not have padding like the Honda City. Best for 3 slim people. 3 heavier folks will not be too comfortable for sure. Also, the raised middle seat is a bit of an issue for long drives. Will be best to add foam in the seat covers to level it (not possible in the top variants though).
3. Overall fit and finish is not as good as the City which definitely feels more premium.
4. No idea why Honda has removed the rubber beading from the doors and placed it on the body. Not sure whether this will cause water seepage issues and require a compulsory rain visor. Can't figure out what Honda achieved by doing this.

Overall this is a decent all-rounder without excelling in anything. That's why it has to undercut the competition by a fair margin to attract attention. The SV variant of the City is better specced than the V variant of the Elevate. So ideally the Elevate SV variant should start at 9.99 or max 10.25 lakhs with the V variant coming to 11.25 lakhs. Honda has a tough job pricing this by under-cutting the City as well as the competition. If Honda over-prices this one, it will be another failure. Honda has tried with a decent attempt and hopefully will not screw it up with the pricing.

PS: The Phoenix Orange colour is properly metallic and not like the old Jazz orange. Plus it's available only on VX and ZX as per the attached brochure. Also attaching an image of the colour palette. Except for the orange one, all colours are carried forward from the City.

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