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Roch-Lè Bloem
I spent a week with the latest member to join the Honda stable of family-oriented SUV’s. It’s fresh, eye-catching and packed with features that will make this SUV a success in this very competitive segment. It’s powered by the iconic i-VTEC 1.5l DOHC engine. Urban and freeway driving yielded around 6.41l per 100kms, with a comfortable and smooth ride with bold styling and all the safety bells and whistles. It’s ready for that urban office commute on weekdays. Come weekends, load up the boot with all sorts for that adventurous trip.
Urban Freestyler
The Honda Elevate, developed under the grand concept of ‘Urban Freestyler’, has been designed to integrate into various lifestyles and fulfil individual customer requirements through offering consumers a product that appeals through desirability, functionality, and usability.
It takes two!!
The All-New Honda Elevate will be available in two derivatives – Comfort and Elegance - and is equipped with Honda’s 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC petrol engine generating a power output of 89kW @6600rpm and torque of 145Nm @ 4300rpm. This new 1.5-litre powertrain is powerful and efficient. This is used in combination with a 6-Speed Manual Transmission for the Comfort grade, and a Continuously-Variable Transmission (CVT) for the Elegance grade.
Exterior
The Honda Elevate has a new rugged body design. That front grille is what makes this SUV so eye-catching. Overall dimensions are generous with an aggressive wide stance, ready to tackle your drive. Choose between 17-inch alloys or 16-inch steels.
The All-New Honda Elevate is sure to stand-out on the road, with its bold and assertive exterior design elements, in combination with generous overall proportions. The smoothly creased hood lines, aggressively wide stance and bold grille is guaranteed to make a dramatic first impression.
Pic: Supplied
LED
Both derivatives are equipped with LED lighting all-round (headlights & taillights), with distinctive daytime running lights above the headlight cluster. The Elegance grade additionally gains LED front Fog lights as well as automatic headlights.
Interior
The spacious interior has a solid, premium SUV feel, with contemporary fabrics and soft-touch materials. The modern, minimalist aesthetic is created by the horizontal sweep of the instrument panel and clean lines and surfaces throughout. The interior environment is further elevated by the electrically controlled sunroof* that allows natural light to fill the cabin and adds to the open airy atmosphere.
The cabin of the Elevate is also generously spacious for both front and rear passengers, while also offering the largest luggage capacity in its class, at 458L. The Comfort grade features seats upholstered in high quality fabric, while the Elegance is adorned with Eco-friendly leather, further complementing the upmarket feel of the vehicle.
Packed with features
For starters, there is a new intuitive 8-inch Touchscreen Infotainment, wireless smartphone charger (Elegance) The Elevate model range includes a host of comfort and convenience features as standard, including automatic air-conditioning, smart keyless entry with walk-away locking*, rear parking sensors and a multi-angle reverse parking camera.
Another exciting addition to the newcomer is the high resolution 8” touch-screen display audio which has been neatly integrated into the instrument panel. The brand-new infotainment system also comes standard across the Elevate model range and gives users full functionality of a smartphone via Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™. Bluetooth is included and can be controlled via remote controls on the steering wheel. Passengers can also enjoy their favourite playlists through Honda’s new high-quality audio system, with 4 speakers available on the Comfort model and a total of 6 speakers on the top of the range Elegance. The Elegance model further benefits from an exclusive 7-inch TFT multi-information display that provides essential driving information, as well as an integrated wireless smartphone charger located in the centre console.
Pic: Supplied
Verdict
An erstwhile addition to the highly competitive SUV segment from Honda. Smooth and a very comfortable ride, with plenty of space. Fuel consumption is also relatively ‘light’. But the cherry on the cake has to be it’s competitive pricing (below).
Pricing (incl vat)
Elevate 1.5 Comfort Manual R 371 000
Elevate 1.5 Elegance CVT R 430 800
Includes:
Service Plan: 4-year / 60,000km
