By Otsile Kadiege

We recently joined Honda South Africa in the Western Cape for the launch of the new Elevate – a B-segment crossover SUV. Our first driving impressions of the newcomer are mostly positive but it isn’t without its niggles.

Exterior design and styling

On the outside the new Elevate has an elegant and understated look. Highlights include standard full-LED headlights with a slim design throughout the range, an upright grille, LED fog lights and a cosmetic front skid plate.

The entry-level Elevate Comfort is fitted with 16-inch steel wheels while the Elegance derivate sports slightly larger 17-inch diamond cut alloys. Other profile highlights include roof rails and mirror integrated LED turn signals.

At the rear, the new crossover sports standard LED taillights with integrated bulb turn signals. Customers are spilt with a choice of six exterior colour options (3 pearlescent and 3 metallic), namely Obsidian Blue pearlescent, Platinum White pearlescent, Phoenix Orange pearlescent, Lunar Silver, Meteoroid metallic and our favorite – Radiant Red metallic.

Overall, Honda has nailed the design of the Elevate – simple, modern and uncluttered.

Interior design, tech and practicality

Stepping aboard the Elevate, you are greeted by a straightforward interior design with a perfect balance of hard, quality plastics and soft touch materials. The front row seats look and feel comfortable, and also offer sufficient bolstering. The rear has adequate space while the expandable luggage capacity offers the best-in-class boot space.

On the tech front, the Elevate Elegance makes use of an 8.0-inch touchscreen that runs on Honda’s intuitive infotainment system with average graphics and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity. The Comfort grade gets 4 speakers while the Elegance comes with an additional 2 speakers delivering a decent sound experience. The cherry on top for the Elevate Elegance is a small but welcomed sunroof.

Safety

On the safety side of things, the Elevate comes with dual front, side and curtain SRS airbags, front row seat-belt pre-tensioning system, ABS with EBD, VSA (Vehicle Stability Assist), hill start assist, and ISOFIX child seat anchors. Sadly the range-topping Elegance derivative misses out on a cruise control feature.

Powertrain and driving impressions

The Elevate is solely available with a in-house sourced 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine developing 89kW and 145Nm. The Comfort is only available with a 6-speed manual transmission while the Elegance makes us of a CVT gearbox.

At launch we got to drive the Elevate Elegance which impressed us with its exceptional ride quality, and ample power and torque. Despite Honda’s efforts to make it feel like a conventional auto box, the CVT gearbox shouts and screams when accelerating moderately. That said, it’s compliant when driving at a snails pace.

Honda claims the Elevate Elegance with its CVT box will average 6.1l/100km and the 6-speed manual Elevate Comfort will average 6.7l/100km.

Pricing

Elevate 1.5 Comfort – R369,900
Elevate 1.5 Elegance – R429,900

Verdict

After our short time with the new Elevate, we are confident that Honda’s new volume driver has what it takes to take on some Mzansi’s most loved crossover SUVs. We can’t wait to have one on test for a more comprehensive review.