Honda Elevate road test, review

With its bold, upright and high-riding stance, the Elevate will appeal to buyers seeking road presence and imposing looks. Its nose is bluff, bonnet line high and what’s distinctive is its massive, vertical grille, two-thirds of which is actually sealed off. Garnishing the grille is a chunky chrome brow, which extends into the sleek LED headlamps. 

Unlike previous Honda SUVs, Elevate gets a big, distinctive grille.

The designers have tastefully sculpted its body lines, giving it a clean yet muscular profile. What’s nice is that unlike the ‘under-tyred’ City, the Elevate has thicker 215/55 rubber mounted on smart 17-inch alloys, which look good in the wheel wells. An attractive detail is the dual-LED tail-lights, which not only look great but also make the Elevate look wider. Beefy silver scuff plates and roof rails, body cladding on the sides and 220mm ground clearance complete the much desirable SUV look.

Unique body cladding neatly breaks the visual bulk of its profile.

The Elevate is based on the City platform, so under the skin it shares a lot with its sedan counterpart, like the powertrain, steering, suspension and more. The chassis has been stretched to accommodate a best-in-class, 2,650mm wheelbase (50mm more than the City’s), the ride height has been raised for better ground clearance (220mm: which is class leading) and also for longer-travel suspension, and its front and rear tracks are both 1,540mm: 44mm and 56mm wider than the City’s front and rear tracks, respectively. Appreciably, despite its long wheelbase, Honda engineers have managed to keep its turning radius at merely 5.2 metres.