Test drove the Elevate: Honda's reliability at a great pricing

The sunroof was small but felt adequate for the driver. The quality is infinitely better than that of the Toyota Hyryder and Maruti Grand Vitara.

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For too long, folks have waited to get that sweet 1.5 from the City in a crossover form factor. The BR-V was the first, but the Mobilio had crashed the party first and Honda could not shake it off from the BR-V. Though it had its strengths, the BR-V never took off in the face of strong competition from the Creta, and later it was discontinued.

Well, the wait is over and we have the new Elevate which brings the City's engine and CVT gearbox once more. The big squarish front has its own unique identity, and you are unlikely to mistake this for any other vehicle. But somewhere it looks a little too compact and has an uncanny resemblance to the Magnite from the side profile.

Inside, the seats are comfortable, there is a nice tan theme (on the higher variants only) and it is certainly airy and full of light, unlike the swooping constricted interiors we see nowadays. But I didn't like the hard plastics throughout, plus some switches are damn cheap.

The rear seats are really nice and comfortable too, but the rear armrest slopes down at an uncomfortable angle too much. The middle seat has a rather pronounced hump. And the boot is quite large too.

The sunroof was small but felt adequate for the driver. The quality is infinitely better than the mosquito net of the Hyrider / Grand Vitara.

Both the gear shifter and handbrake could have been presented better, in keeping with the rest of the interiors. Here, I thought they looked rather ordinary.

On the go, the steering felt nice and communicative, but the engine was slightly vocal when I gave it full throttle. The suspension felt very good in controlling bad patches of road. Also, in tight gaps, the Elevate can nudge in where a bigger car would baulk. Plus, you can see the flat bonnet which is helpful.

At the end of my test drive, I was rather happy with it overall, especially given the great pricing that they have offered, and the typical Honda reliability. Yes, I wish it was a little more plush because you only have to step into the Honda City to see the differences (complete with electronic parking brake, hybrid-petrol engine, the works).

Maybe that true Honda City crossover is yet to come in a plush form later.

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