Honda Elevate : Our observations after a day of driving

The ARAI-rated fuel efficiency of the Honda Elevate is 15.31 km/l for the 6-speed MT and 16.92 km/l for the CVT variant.

Driving the Honda Elevate 1.5L Petrol MT

1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, DOHC, naturally aspirated i-VTEC petrol engine makes 119 BHP @ 6,600 rpm and 145 Nm @ 4,300 rpm:

Powering the Honda Elevate is the same 1.5L engine that does duty in the Honda City. It’s a familiar engine to most of us and one of the few enjoyable naturally aspirated engines still available at the moment. However, if you are looking for a more powerful and exciting engine, the turbocharged engine options from VW-Skoda (148 BHP) or Hyundai-Kia (158 BHP) are definitely the ones to go for. They make a lot more power and are mated to fast dual-clutch automatics. Some are even available with a manual transmission and are fun to drive. But with almost everyone focusing on forced induction, a naturally aspirated engine from Honda comes as a breath of fresh air (pun unintended). However, if you've driven the previous generations of the 1.5-litre NA engine, you will notice that the recent emission norms have curbed the free-revving nature of the engine ever so slightly. It is still enjoyable, but you miss out on the eagerness of the old engine.

Start the engine and you will immediately appreciate the refinement levels. You don’t get any vibrations on the steering wheel or the pedals while the engine is idling silently. Slowly release the clutch pedal and off you go. The clutch is light and the travel range isn’t very long. Getting off the line is a smooth affair, and this is something you will appreciate in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Shifting gears is convenient and you can drive at city speeds with ease. What’s noteworthy and different from the Honda City is that the first two gears are noticeably shorter. This means that you will be upshifting earlier than you would in the City. The engine pulls strongly from ~2,500 rpm and this means that closing the gap to the vehicle in front and keeping up with the traffic is an easy affair.

Get on the highways and you can truly experience the entire rpm range. We all know that Honda engines have been rev-happy and the Elevate is no different. Put your foot down and the engine pulls strongly till the redline. It is very linear in the way power is delivered and you won’t find a flat spot anywhere all the way to 7,000 rpm which is when the rev limiter kicks in. The fuel cut-off at the rev limiter is sharp and you will get a jerk which is why hitting the redline isn’t something you would be doing that often. As mentioned earlier, the gearing is shorter than the City. The maximum speed you can do in the first gear is 48 km/h while that in the second gear is 82 km/h (City is ~ 100 km/h). The amount of torque available at low rpms is adequate. You can manage to pull the engine from as low as 20 km/h in third gear and go all the way to 120 km/h. You can cruise at 120 km/h in 6th gear with the engine running at 3,200 rpm or at 100 km/h at 2,600 rpm. Downshifting to fourth gear is necessary if you want to overtake quickly. At the end of the day, if you enjoy driving a naturally aspirated engine with a manual transmission, you will feel right at home and have fun with this engine.

The 6-speed manual transmission is also one of the nicer units around and has well-defined gates. It’s sure slotting and the throws aren’t long. You can move through the gears with ease. The clutch is very light and easy to operate in the city. It is snappy though, meaning you have to make conscious efforts to drive the Elevate smoothly.

Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)

One of the things that is associated with a free-revving naturally aspirated engine is the way it sounds when being revved hard. We went in expecting the Elevate to sound nice and sporty like most Honda engines but were quite disappointed the moment I floored the pedal. Unfortunately, while the engine characteristic is rev-happy, it does not sound nice when it is being revved hard. It sounds strained and not something you would enjoy when you are pushing the car in the higher reaches of the power band. That said, the engine is very refined and silent when being driven sedately. Honda claims to have done a lot of work to increase the refinement levels of the Elevate. This includes spray foam application to the structure and insulating the frame parts to soundproof the cabin. The engine and transmission mountings also get additional weights to reduce vibrations.

Wind and road noise starts creeping into the cabin at 100 km/h. At 120 km/h, it is just about manageable.

Mileage & Fuel economy

The ARAI-rated fuel efficiency of the Honda Elevate is 15.31 km/l for the 6-speed MT and 16.92 km/l for the CVT variant. While these figures seem optimistic, we all know that real-life numbers are very much affected by driving style. We will wait for some ownership reports to have a clearer idea.

Bonnet gets insulation underneath. Sad to see that the panel has been left unpainted on the inside though:

Air intake gets a resonator below to reduce engine noise:

The Elevate has a fuel tank capacity of 40 liters and is E20 petrol compatible:

Suspension

Ride Comfort

The Elevate uses a McPherson strut suspension at the front and a torsion beam setup at the rear. Start driving the Elevate and soon you will notice that the suspension setup is in fact a highlight of the car. At slow speeds, the suspension is absorbent and you can glide over bad roads without much drama. Small to medium-sized potholes are handled very well. However, there is an underlying stiffness to the suspension which is evident by the jiggly ride when driving over a broken patch of road. There’s a noticeable amount of body movement as well. What works in the favour of the Elevate is the long suspension travel. It helps absorb even large-sized potholes. Unexpected potholes taken at speed are also handled well and the car doesn’t lose its composure. The suspension goes about its job silently too.

Handling & Dynamics

As mentioned earlier, there is an underlying stiffness to the suspension which aids the handling characteristics of the Elevate. Straight-line stability is good, and the passengers won’t even notice when the car is doing triple-digit speeds. Vertical movement over highways is very much kept in check and there is no floaty feeling on the expressways. Even when seated at the back you can feel the car is composed and comfortable at speed. Expansion joints don’t unsettle the car and the Elevate maintains its composure. On long highway bends, you can carry good speed without slowing down much. The Elevate will hold its line without breaking a sweat.

Get on some twisty ghat section and this is where the suspension setup is very enjoyable. With a steering that feels connected, you can turn in precisely into a corner. The front end also feels very responsive while turning in and you can carry some good speed out of a corner. Despite having an upright stance, the Elevate does not feel very top-heavy. There is some amount of body roll, but it’s never unnerving and you can hold a tight line without much effort. In continuation of the previous point, there’s very little understeer and the Elevate masks its size well to feel very car-like to drive. Quick direction changes and even back-to-back corners are handled without making the driver feel nervous at any point. Our car was equipped with 215/55 R17 Bridgestone Turanza tyres which are comfort-oriented. Yet, they managed to provide good grip on slightly damp roads. With the 6-speed MT and a wide power band, pushing the Elevate on twisty roads was a lot of fun.

Steering

The electric power steering in the Elevate is a very user-friendly unit. It has a turning radius of 5.2 meters which should make taking those 3-point turns easier. The steering is light at city speeds which a lot of the owners will appreciate. As you build up speed, it weighs up and has enough weight for highway driving. It feels very connected and direct. However, enthusiasts will want more feedback from the steering.

Braking

The Elevate gets ventilated disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the rear. They have a strong bite and perform as expected and you can shed speed effectively without much drama. When tried some emergency braking, the Elevate didn’t lose its composure and stopped in a straight line. The pedal feels nice and progressive.

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