Swapped my 12 year old WagonR for a Honda Elevate CVT Apex Edition

The engine, transmission, steering and brakes appear to respond intuitively and predictably.

BHPian autonow recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

My new Elevate VX CVT Apex Edition

Background:

My first car was a WagonR that I had been driving happily for 12 years. Initially I had planned to keep it for 10 years, but having used it sparingly it stretched to 12 years with 67K on the odo. The car served me well and I have written a small tribute to it here.

It was running fine but after doing 30-35 km daily runs recently in peak hour traffic, I found myself yearning for an automatic, given my age (45+) and back issues which often led to pain and numbness in my left leg. Thus started the search for a new car. I read up many threads on the forums and concluded that Brezza ZXi AT would be a good replacement, with its high stance and trusted Maruti Suzuki badge.

I had also considered Magnite/Kiger Turbo CVT, but decided against them after having read not so impressive reviews from their owners. Also, considered Fronx AT, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that it is just a glorified Baleno, which I was not considering at all.

However, the proposal for Brezza was greeted with ‘meh’ by the family. Apparently, the upgrade was not upgrade enough and Maruti was ‘boring’ and ‘dabba’, meaning not safe enough. I had to agree and so the search continued, now in the next class i.e. longer than 4 metres.

Accordingly, I listed the requirements.

• It had to be an SUV with a high stance, thanks to the conditioning in the ‘Tall boy’ WagonR. The rear seating area had to be spacious and the bigger the boot the better.
• Automatic transmission was also a must for the reason I mentioned above and also so that the missus could drive it easily, as the only problem she used to face with the manual WagonR was stalling because of the improper gear shifts especially on inclines.
• The car had to be trustworthy and hassle free, as these were the things that we had come to appreciate while owning the Maruti.
• As I was going to drive it on a daily basis, I wanted a car that was fun to drive (I know, VAG).
• Price below 20L OTR in Kerala, mind you, taxes are one of the highest here and BH registration is also not available.

Brezza: The test drive was ok, nothing very inspiring but I felt it would do the job. Not pursued because of the ‘meh’ mentioned earlier.

Creta: Test drive was again ok, nothing very inspiring. The cabin felt nice and luxurious. S(O) was the variant which was within my budget, but the dealer didn’t pursue it much. Exchange value offered was also less than my expectation and the fact that everyone was buying it also went against it. Moreover, I had read about the questionable safety of the car.

Taigun: They first brought the 1.5 Turbo AT for the test drive and I loved it, but it was beyond my purchasing power. The 1.0 Turbo AT was almost as good but having experienced the other one it felt bland in comparison. Still, it came under the fun to drive category, but the dealer was not offering the price/discount that I had heard about. Plus the family was also not too keen on it, since it looked smaller than the competitors (yes, I am coming to the Elevate) and consequently had smaller rear legroom and boot. Doubts were also there about maintenance costs and AC performance, although the dealer was stressing that all that is old story and these newer VAG cars are heavily localized and won’t have those issues. Still, we decided to look elsewhere. Coming back to the drive, it was really smooth and effortless, and although I had been driving a much smaller car before, I was able to handle it confidently within no time. Small annoyances aside like the swapped wiper and indicator handles, it was a pleasure to drive. In an alternate universe I see myself driving it.

Elevate: Went to both showrooms in Trivandrum. Test drive was not much different from others. The engine felt peppy enough, reasonably fun to drive. I was not looking for a race car and considering that the engine was non-turbo and the transmission a CVT, it did not disappoint. The high stance and the cabin space seemed impressive. Plus, it had the novelty factor and overall felt the most bang for the buck. Simultaneously, I had been reading ownership reviews and found them mostly encouraging.

Citroen Aircross (Wild card): Actually visited the showroom to take a look at Basalt which had just been launched and the reviews were mostly positive. However, we found the Aircross more suited to our requirements. The car had a nice and fresh design and looked imposing. The test drive was also great and we liked the engine as well as the suspension, which I felt were quite similar to the Taigun. The factors that came in the way were:

• Citroen as a new entrant did not inspire trust.
• The dealership were not sure about the prices, feature upgrades that were on the cards and overall availability.
• I was expecting some killer deals considering their low sales but none was offered.

Started by enquiring about the V CVT variant, later decided to buy the top ZX variant as that was also coming under my budget and finally decided to go for VX CVT R and save some money, being not too keen on ADAS, although cruise control would have been nice. However, it remains to be seen whether I am going to miss it on the highway trips that I might plan. The Apex Edition was just launched and I decided to get it for the added bling. The dealer also confirmed that the additional 15k would normally only get me the seat covers and that everything extra was a bonus. The exchange price offered was also quite close to my expectation and I managed to convince them to give a discount of 75k inclusive of 20k exchange bonus.

I paid the booking amount of 21K and they were ready to deliver the pearl white by 12th October (Vijayadashmi). It was a pleasure dealing with Mr. Midhun and Mr. Umesh from Muthoot Honda, who kept me informed about all the developments and religiously followed the timeline that I had given. They didn’t push for buying anything extra, allowed me to pick my car in the yard and helped me do a thorough PDI (as much I could on my own using the Team-BHP checklist). They even installed the 70 mai dual dashcam that I had bought from Amazon upon my request. Even though my chosen date of delivery was a non-working day, they made it worthwhile by arranging for a cake and unveiling the red cloth etc.

At the Yard:

Delivery Day:

Observations so far:

Having brought Miss Elly (yes, that’s what my children named the car) home, it took a day or two to get used to the dimensions of the car. The full view of the bonnet, the rear and the lane watch cameras, all helped in inspiring the required confidence. My wife has also been trying her hand and she is also getting there. I can’t wait to sit and relax on the back seat.

Driving impressions:

The engine, transmission, steering and brakes appear to respond intuitively and predictably. I can’t say for sure now whether they were better in the Taigun/Aircross. To be honest, I really don’t know what a rubber band effect is. If it means pressing the pedal hard and the car not zooming past everything else, then yes, it is there. However, I don’t expect the car to respond like that, it would be dangerous! I have not tried that anyway, considering that the manual recommends the RPM to be kept under 2K for the first 1000 KM. It pulls as expected when I press the accelerator pedal within the limited RPM levels. I have also been trying the paddle shifters, and found shifting down useful for engine braking in order to avoid using the car brakes too often. I have observed some positive effects on mileage due to this. I am still looking for use case scenarios for the (+) shifter. Experienced people can throw some light on it.

I also want to know from the experienced people here about their method of closing the gaps in day to day traffic. Sometimes, it is annoying to see two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws or even some nimble smaller cars rushing into those gaps which should reasonably be occupied by me. I think it has more to do with me trying to safeguard my car from getting brushed by them.

Cabin noise: Having read so much about cabin noise, I find that the issue is there. However, coming from the humble WagonR, I am not really bothered. I think it is mostly the engine revs and the tires against the road, and I kind of expect it. Actually, I find it helpful in the sense that it keeps me aware of the goings on and keeps me alert. Regarding the so called bothersome noises at speeds higher than 100 kmph, I am yet to check that. In fact I would like to know from Keralites in this forum about the roads where I can do this checking. I don’t know if there is any place near Trivandrum or anywhere in Kerala where you can safely or legally drive at those speeds.

I had considered changing the tyres right after delivery, but somehow got lazy and didn’t pursue it much. Also, I had the unnecessary financial burden at the back of my mind. I am hopeful (again based upon some of the reviews here) that the tyre noise will reduce to comfortable levels after a few thousand kilometres.

Fuel efficiency: I have been getting an average of 10-12 kmpl on my daily runs (as per the MID), which involves a mix of rush hour traffic, open but winding roads and highway with traffic lights. On good days it is closer to 12 kmpl and on bad days it is closer to 10 kmpl. On my few runs on the highways I have seen the average between 15-20kmpl. I always try to keep accelerator inputs to a minimum and glide as much as possible. Nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing the average gauge on the MID fill up.

This what I am talking about:

Any pro tips for further increasing the mileage will be highly appreciated.

Comfort and stability:  One of the main reasons for buying this car was the comfort it offered. I had read about the comfort levels in Honda City and my reasoning was that Elevate having been built on the same platform should be similar. I will say that I am not disappointed with the suspension setup and mostly I find the ride comfortable on all kinds of roads. Sometimes it does get bumpy on very bad roads. Similarly, owing to the size and weight, the car seems planted and handles well enough. The rear seat space is huge and is spacious enough for three average sized persons. The feeling on long highway trips is yet to be observed. I have driven maximum two hours at a stretch and have come out not feeling tired or cramped, so that is a plus. I am 5’9” and find the seat at the lowest level pushed back to a notch before the furthest the most comfortable driving position with the steering wheel at the highest and furthest away from me. The ACC also seems to work well and creates a comfortable environment soon enough.

Cameras: The cameras are just ok and do their job. They could have been better and a 360 degree camera would have been ideal.

Infotainment: Again, it is adequate and works well with wireless android auto. I have seen some rare disconnections but nothing really to complain. Music flows loud and clear enough from the six-speaker setup that the VX variant gets. The voice assistant button mostly works as expected and so do the other buttons on the steering wheel. The Honda Connect app is also useful and I often use it to check my driving score after my trips. Ability to lock the car remotely is also useful.

Final Thoughts: I am happy with the purchase and I don’t think I would gave got anything better at the price I paid. It is exciting to drive and I keep learning something new now and then. I plan to take it on longer trips. Trivandrum-Madurai-Kodaikanal is on my mind, lets see how soon I can make it happen.

I eagerly await inputs from the folks on this wonderful platform.

Parked at Home:

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