Elevate

Overview

The Elevate is what happens when a manufacturer builds a compact SUV the way Honda builds everything else: the engine is oversquare rather than turbocharged, the safety kit is fitted everywhere rather than on the showcase trim, and the marketing does not mention the word adventure once. The 1.5-litre petrol makes 121 bhp and 145 Nm, enough for a five-star Bharat NCAP score to be the headline of a listing rather than a footnote buried in it.

Six airbags and the full Honda Sensing driver-assistance suite are standard on every variant here, which is the sort of decision rivals still reserve for their top trims at two lakh more. Drive it and the logic continues: the ride is compliant without being soft, the seats are the deep, supportive kind, the 220 mm of clearance means a kaccha lane is a surface rather than an event, and the 458-litre boot takes a family’s week-end without the parcel shelf being argued over.

The personality is where the Elevate loses the room. There is no turbo shove, so a morning-overtake on a two-lane highway is a planned event with the CVT droning through its pretend ratios; the interior, while beautifully built, looks like a nicely-furnished office rather than a concept car; and the naturally aspirated engine asks for revs the turbo rivals never seem to need. This is a car that will never be the most exciting thing in a car park, which is precisely the point, and precisely the reason its owners rarely shop again.

• Six airbags and Honda Sensing on every variant
• Five-star Bharat NCAP adult score
• 458-litre boot and 220 mm of ground clearance