BHPian samyakmodi recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Some of you might remember that I was looking to buy a car for home duties and had zeroed in on a Honda Elevate. The Honda dealer from whom I had been purchasing my cars for over 25 years was somehow extremely laid back and non-responsive. After repeated follow up calls, there was a radio silence. Hence decided to go ahead with another dealership in Indore which was aggressive and extremely prompt in giving all the information. Decided to go ahead with Lunar Silver Metallic ZX CVT with Ivory and Black two tone interiors. The car looks handsome and with the new interior colour theme feels very spacious inside, although now it comes with piano black finish and you miss out on the wood finish which wouldn’t be prone to scratches that easily. The delivery experience was good despite the dealership delivering a lot of cars on the day of Dusshera. Everything was explained well and the sales team was very patient and warm. As an ongoing promotion Honda India had promised a car with 360 degree camera and ambient light package – which is VIN based (or so I was told) and would be ordered once the car is delivered. Well, that is what we did and the dealership called the car over to install both the accessories after 15 days. The 360 degree camera from Honda is abysmal to say the least. There were some gremlins after installation as well – once in the 360 mode, the display wouldn’t go back to normal, no matter what. The dealership promptly sent a technician to get that corrected. Irrespective of the correction – the moment you hit the indicator – the camera shows the wheels on the corresponding side. Maybe it’s behaving as it is intended, but the original camera (for the left side) would earlier work as a side view camera displaying what’s following you from the left side of the car. Maybe there are still some tweaks that need to be made. With the 360 degree camera came a rotary knob which the dealership installed near the gear shift. Easy to use – but still trying to figure out how to exit the 360 degree view. The switch for the ambient light was simply pasted near the steering column on the right side with a very weak adhesive. It plonked off the very first day. So when you enter the car – you are greeted with the switch dangling. Now on to the driving experience as I took out the car today for the first time to go to the office (in the past 1 month the car had barely done about 300 kms).The ride quality, like any other Honda car, is very good.The seats are very comfortable as well. The cushion quality is surprisingly good. What surprised me was the lack of travel on the seat. It feels cramped in the driver’s seat for my 6 feet 2 inches frame.Like almost everyone mentioned, the tyre noise is a bit too loud. Maybe changing the stock tyres should improve the NVH levels inside the cabin.The stock music system in the car could’ve been much better as the stock speakers are absolutely rubbish. Might change them.The fuel efficiency is scary to say the least! 6.5kmpl! Against 15-16kmpl they claimed in the city. But maybe it improves substantially after the first service and 1000 kms.Overall, driving is comfortable with the bonnet’s “muscles” being clearly visible while driving – which gives you a good idea of how wide the car is.With wide rear doors and “elevated” seats, ingress and egress for my parents is very comfortable compared to the other cars at home.With a commanding view while driving, wife should also be comfortable driving the car.Now some quirks and features of the car (Like Doug would say)When you hit the left indicator – the infotainment screen comes alive, showing who is following you on the left side. Though in my car, this is showing the ground now for both sides after the 360 degree camera installation.At the rear seat, the centre passenger’s seat belt comes from the roof. You have to attach it to another buckle, which is on the rear seat and then use it like a regular 3 point seat belt.You can not pair your phone while on the move. You need to be at a standstill, in P mode with the handbrake fully engaged – only then will the car allow you to pair your phone. A bit inconvenient, to be honest.You press the lock button twice on the car’s remote key and then hold a button with a circular arrow for a couple of seconds – and the car’s engine comes to life!! This I believe, is for cooling the car.The air conditioning in this car is like any other Honda – chills really fast and is very efficient. I had become accustomed to keeping my aircon at 21 degrees because of my other cars – but in this – I have to keep it at 24 to not freeze to death. Good job, Honda – this car will be the first choice during summers. Maybe BMW and Mercedes take a page out of Honda’s aircon book.The car greets you with a lot of chimes when you switch it on, while drawing Elevate’s silhouette on the infotainment screen – it kinda sounds like a laptop starting up.With the ambient lights – the cabin definitely looks much better now.I noticed – after the 360 degree camera installation – now I have 2 rear cameras. Couldn’t Honda integrate them together?You really need to push the doors hard to get them to close – maybe it is because it’s a new car OR maybe it’s because I am kind of used to soft-close doors now.This car comes equipped with ADAS – so the steering vibrates a bit when you are changing the lane without indicators but without any audio cue, it also gives you a warning on the dashboard when it detects a vehicle in front (I think it is a moot point without a chime – If I can see the warning on the dash board, I definitely can see the vehicle just a couple of inches above through the windscreen). I was also hoping the car would give me some audio or visual cue if there is a vehicle creeping up from my blind spot.The locks on the doors could’ve been better designed. Kinda clumsy to unlock.The car has a wireless charger – which you have to switch on whenever you want to use it. Couldn’t quite understand why they would do that.Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
