In the fiercely competitive compact SUV battlefield, where manufacturers constantly vie for consumer attention with flashy features and aggressive styling, Honda chose to take a measured approach with the Elevate.
Launched in September 2023, this deliberately crafted vehicle represents Honda’s thoughtful re-entry into a segment where substance often takes a backseat to style.
The Elevate embodies Honda’s philosophy of creating vehicles that prioritize fundamental automotive virtues—reliability, comfort, and driving pleasure—while addressing the practical needs of modern Indian families.
A Design That Commands Respect
The Honda Elevate strikes a delicate balance between contemporary styling and timeless design elements. In an era where many manufacturers opt for increasingly futuristic and sometimes polarizing aesthetics, Honda chose a path of restrained elegance.
The front fascia features a bold, upright grille flanked by sleek LED headlamps with integrated daytime running lights, creating a purposeful and confident look that communicates strength without aggression.
From the side profile, the Elevate displays well-proportioned dimensions with a commanding stance, aided by its impressive 220mm ground clearance—among the highest in its class.
This elevated stance serves both aesthetic and practical purposes, allowing the vehicle to negotiate challenging road conditions while providing drivers with that coveted commanding view of the road ahead.
The rear design continues the theme of understated sophistication with clean lines and LED tail lamps.
Available in a palette of seven single-tone colors (Phoenix Orange Pearl, Obsidian Blue Pearl, Radiant Red Metallic, Platinum White Pearl, Golden Brown Metallic, Lunar Silver Metallic, and Meteoroid Gray Metallic) and three dual-tone options with Crystal Black Pearl roof, the Elevate offers ample personalization opportunities without resorting to gimmicky design elements.
What’s particularly noteworthy about the Elevate’s design is its focus on longevity rather than momentary appeal.
In a market where design trends shift rapidly, Honda has crafted a vehicle that will likely age gracefully, avoiding the premature aesthetic obsolescence that often affects more aggressively styled competitors.
Cabin Crafted for Comfort and Practicality
Step inside the Elevate, and the Honda design philosophy becomes even more apparent. Rather than dazzling occupants with flashy screens and ambient lighting (though these features are present in measured doses), the cabin prioritizes ergonomics, space efficiency, and material quality.
The dashboard layout follows a clean, horizontal design that maximizes perceived width, with physical controls for climate functions—a thoughtful touch in an era where many manufacturers confine such controls to touchscreen interfaces.
The front seats deserve special mention for their excellent support and comfort. With appropriate bolstering and cushioning, they accommodate a wide range of body types while providing good long-distance comfort.
The driving position is naturally commanding, with excellent visibility in all directions—a fundamental SUV attribute that sometimes gets overlooked in contemporary designs.
Rear seat comfort similarly impresses with generous legroom and headroom. The bench seat offers good thigh support for outboard passengers, though the center position, as in many vehicles in this segment, remains better suited for occasional use.
The 60:40 split-folding functionality enhances versatility, complementing the already generous 458-liter boot space that easily accommodates family luggage for weekend getaways.
Throughout the cabin, storage solutions abound, including door pockets sized for water bottles, a center console with thoughtfully designed phone slots, and convenient cubbies for everyday items.
The quality of materials deserves mention too—while not overtly luxurious, the plastics and fabrics feel durable and well-assembled, suggesting they’ll maintain their appearance through years of family use.
Heart of the Matter: The Powertrain Experience
Under the hood lies Honda’s refined 1.5-liter naturally aspirated i-VTEC petrol engine, producing 121 PS of power and 145 Nm of torque.
In an era dominated by smaller turbocharged engines, this powerplant represents Honda’s commitment to proven engineering principles.
The naturally aspirated configuration delivers linear power delivery without turbo lag, offering predictable performance across the rev range.
Transmission options include a slick-shifting 6-speed manual and a smooth CVT automatic with paddle shifters. The manual transmission deserves special praise for its precise action and well-judged ratios, making it enjoyable even in urban conditions.
The CVT, meanwhile, prioritizes smoothness and efficiency, though it can sound strained during aggressive acceleration—a characteristic common to this transmission type.
What truly distinguishes the Elevate’s driving experience isn’t outright performance figures, but rather the engine’s character.
The i-VTEC motor revs eagerly and demonstrates impressive tractability, pulling cleanly from low RPMs even in higher gears. This translates to fewer gear changes in urban settings and reduced driver fatigue.
Fuel efficiency proves reasonable too, with the manual variant delivering an ARAI-certified 15.31 km/l and the CVT returning a slightly better 16.92 km/l.
Honda has opted not to offer diesel or strong hybrid variants, at least initially. While this might disappoint some potential buyers seeking maximum efficiency, it reflects Honda’s focus on refining a single powertrain to excellence rather than diluting engineering resources across multiple options.
Ride and Handling: The Honda DNA Shines Through
Dynamic behavior has long been a Honda strength, and the Elevate continues this tradition despite its elevated stance.
The suspension setup—MacPherson struts up front and a torsion beam at the rear—strikes an excellent balance between comfort and control.
The long-travel suspension absorbs road imperfections with aplomb, filtering out harshness without feeling floaty or disconnected.
The steering system deserves particular mention for its natural weighting and precision. Light at parking speeds yet gaining appropriate heft as velocity increases, it provides genuine feedback that encourages driver confidence.
Body roll, while naturally present in a vehicle with this ground clearance, remains well-controlled during cornering, with the chassis displaying predictable behavior even when pushed.
Braking performance impresses too, with a progressive pedal feel and good stopping power from the front disc/rear drum setup, augmented by ABS and EBD.
High-speed stability ranks among the best in class, with the Elevate maintaining its composure even on concrete highways with expansion joints and over standing water—situations that can unsettle less composed vehicles.
What’s most remarkable about the Elevate’s dynamic character is how it makes the driver feel instantly at home.
There’s a natural cohesion to the controls that speaks to Honda’s holistic approach to vehicle development, where each component is tuned to work harmoniously with others rather than optimized in isolation.
Technology: Substance Over Spectacle
The Elevate’s technology suite focuses on useful features rather than specification-sheet bragging rights.
The 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system in higher variants offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, responding promptly to inputs while maintaining an intuitive interface.
The partially digital instrument cluster provides clear information without overwhelming the driver with excessive data.
Honda’s decision to include Honda Sensing—its advanced driver assistance suite—deserves commendation. Features like adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, and autonomous emergency braking provide genuine safety benefits, especially during highway journeys.
The LaneWatch camera, which displays the left blind spot on the infotainment screen when the turn signal is activated, proves particularly useful in India’s chaotic traffic conditions.
Other thoughtful technological touches include a multi-angle rearview camera, automatic headlamps, and push-button start.
The single-pane sunroof, while not panoramic, allows sufficient light into the cabin without compromising structural integrity. USB charging ports positioned for both front and rear passengers acknowledge modern connectivity needs.
Critics might point to missing features like ventilated seats, a 360-degree camera, or wireless charging that some competitors offer.
However, Honda’s approach prioritizes technologies that enhance safety and daily usability rather than those that merely look impressive in brochures but add limited practical value.
Safety: A Foundational Priority
Safety forms a cornerstone of the Elevate’s design philosophy, evident in both active and passive safety systems. Six airbags come standard across the range—a commendable decision when many manufacturers restrict this to higher variants.
The Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure, developed through extensive crash research, distributes impact forces to protect occupants.
The previously mentioned Honda Sensing suite adds an additional layer of crash prevention technology, potentially avoiding accidents altogether.
Features like Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), Hill Start Assist, and Agile Handling Assist work unobtrusively in the background to maintain vehicle control in challenging conditions.
This comprehensive safety approach has earned recognition, with the Elevate (sold as the WR-V in Japan) receiving a 5-star safety rating in Japan NCAP crash tests.
This achievement underscores Honda’s commitment to occupant protection regardless of market positioning or price point.
Value Proposition: Premium Basics Over Budget Luxuries
Priced between Rs. 11.73 lakh and Rs. 16.93 lakh (ex-showroom), the Honda Elevate occupies the heart of the compact SUV market.
Rather than competing on equipment lists alone, Honda has positioned the Elevate as a vehicle that delivers exceptional fundamentals—build quality, driving dynamics, comfort, and safety—while providing a reasonable feature set.
The variant structure follows a logical progression from the base SV through V and VX to the top-spec ZX trim, with each step adding meaningful equipment rather than token features.
Even the base variant offers essential safety features and comfort amenities, avoiding the stripped-down feel that entry models sometimes exhibit.
Ownership costs benefit from Honda’s reputation for reliability and low maintenance requirements.
The service interval of 10,000 kilometers strikes a balance between convenience and preventive maintenance, while Honda’s widespread service network ensures support across India.
The standard 3-year/unlimited kilometer warranty provides peace of mind, with extended coverage available for those seeking additional security.
The Competitive Landscape
The Elevate enters a crowded battlefield dominated by established players like the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Grand Vitara, and Volkswagen Taigun.
Each competitor brings distinct strengths—the Creta and Seltos offer extensive feature lists, the Grand Vitara provides strong hybrid efficiency, and the Taigun delivers European driving dynamics.
Where the Elevate carves its niche is in delivering a holistically satisfying ownership experience rather than excelling in spec-sheet comparisons.
It offers class-leading ground clearance, exceptional space efficiency, refined driving dynamics, and Honda’s reputation for durability—attributes that reveal their value over years of ownership rather than during the initial showroom experience.
Honda Elevate is the cheapest SUV in market
The Honda Elevate represents a refreshing approach to the compact SUV segment—one that prioritizes fundamental automotive virtues over flashy gimmicks.
It doesn’t shout for attention with radical styling or headline-grabbing features, instead earning respect through thoughtful engineering and attention to the details that matter in day-to-day ownership.
For buyers who value long-term satisfaction over immediate impression, who appreciate driving dynamics alongside practicality, and who understand that true luxury lies in refinement rather than feature count, the Elevate presents a compelling proposition.
It embodies Honda’s engineering philosophy in SUV form—rational, thoughtful, and built to delight its owners through years of service.
In a market often driven by trends and novelty, the Elevate stands as a reminder that exceptional automotive design isn’t about reinventing the wheel, but rather about perfecting its implementation.
It may not revolutionize the compact SUV segment, but it certainly elevates the standard for what matters most—creating a vehicle that genuinely improves the daily lives of those who choose it.