2026 Honda Elevate Facelift First Drive Review: Did They Fix It?

We recently took the 2026 Honda Elevate facelift on a road trip from Gurugram to Jaipur. The refreshed SUV recently arrived months after the Honda City facelift and is part of the automaker's renewed commitment to revamp its lineup in India. The older Elevate scored big on comfort and practicality, but it didn't impress in its features department. The facelifted version aims to address this. Here's what we found after driving the SUV for 350km in a single day.

The Honda Elevate has always been a handsome SUV due to its upright stance, bold front design, and boxy silhouette. Still, the 2026 facelift has a meaningful impact on its visual appeal. Honda has made the SUV look more aggressive without making any major changes.

The front-end changes are the most noticeable. All the chrome inserts from the earlier version are gone; you now get gloss black accents. It gets a new mesh grille with a hexagonal pattern, and the LED fog lamp housing is now body-coloured. The Honda badge has been removed from the grille and now sits on the hood, making way for the 360-degree parking camera lens.

The lower part also gets gloss black inserts and a faux skid plate finished in silver. The front design is nicely tied together by the tri-LED light bar, which sits between the LED headlamps and gives the Elevate a more futuristic look.

The design of its 17-inch machined alloy wheels hasn't changed, but they now get a darker finish. Similarly, the rear remains unchanged, but the connected LED taillamps give it a fresh appearance at night. Honda has also launched a new Nordic Forest Pearl colour option, and the dual-tone finish option is available in three different shades.

The interior changes are more substantial than the exterior ones. Honda has introduced a fresh dual-tone colour theme of Ivory White and Black. The dashboard and door panels also feature soft-touch surfaces finished in Ivory White. Combined with the wrap-around ambient lighting, the cabin looks more upmarket than before. However, the ambient lights have a fixed orange shade.

The front seats remain as comfortable as before. The upgrade here is that both seats are now powered. The driver's 8-way adjustability makes it easy to find the right position, but the passenger seat’s 4-way adjustability leaves room for better under-thigh support. On the upside, they now get active ventilation.

Rear-seat comfort is another strong point of the Elevate thanks to the ample knee room and headroom on offer. However, the automaker could have added a recline function as part of the facelift. Honda has also added rear ventilated seats in the Elevate facelift, which gives it brownie points against its rivals.

Apart from the ventilated front and rear seats, the Elevate facelift also gets a 360-degree parking camera, a blind-spot monitor (left side only), a built-in air purifier with a dedicated AQ display, and an 8-speaker audio system. Everything works as expected.

The 10.25-inch floating-style touchscreen does a decent job, while the driver information is still displayed via a semi-digital instrument cluster. Proximity lock/unlock and remote engine start are other convenience features worth mentioning. Overall, the feature upgrades make the driving experience feel more premium than before, addressing a key pain point of the earlier model.

Perhaps the strongest feature of the Honda Elevate is its practicality. The centre console and door panels have ample dedicated spaces for cups/glasses, bottles, and other small items. The 458 litres of boot space is a big plus; we were able to fit luggage for four people with a bit of room to spare for smaller bags. Family car buyers will come to appreciate this.

Mechanically, the Honda Elevate facelift gets no changes, but there are improvements. Firstly, the NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) levels inside the cabin are better controlled than in the pre-facelift version. This makes the Elevate feel better to drive and more robust.

Honda has also replaced the manual handbrake with an electronic parking brake (EPB). The system also gets a Brake Hold function, which adds convenience during city driving. At a stoplight, the Brake Hold function automatically keeps the SUV stationary without requiring the transmission to be shifted into Park. To move off, you simply tap the accelerator. Other improvements include disc brakes on all four wheels, and the SUV feels more confident when coming to a complete halt from motorway speeds.

The naturally aspirated, 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, i-VTEC petrol engine remains untouched. It produces 121 PS of power and 145 Nm of torque. We drove the CVT automatic version, but the 6-speed manual gearbox is still on offer.

While the power figures aren't exciting to read, the Elevate has enough grunt for both city driving and highway speeds. Holding triple-digit speeds on the expressway is not an issue. The paddle shifters, which simulate a 7-speed action through the CVT automatic, come in handy during quick overtakes by providing a more immediate response from the engine. However, the typical rubber-band effect and engine noise remain part of the Elevate driving experience.

The starting price for the Honda Elevate is Rs 11.80 lakh (ex-showroom), same as before. However, for features such as the powered front seats, ventilated rear seats, and 360-degree parking camera, you would have to go for the new ZX+ top-end variant. Priced from Rs 16.80 lakh (ex-showroom), it might feel somewhat lacking for tech-savvy buyers in this price bracket. The lower variants improve the value proposition by offering rear disc brakes, EPB, ambient lighting, an air purifier, and more.

For first-time SUV buyers who want a no-fuss option, the Elevate works well thanks to its comfortable ride quality and practical nature. For those switching from a premium hatchback or sedan, the Elevate may feel restrained in terms of features and performance. Moreover, the absence of multiple powertrain options narrows down the audience willing to compromise on features for the Honda badge, build quality, and reliability.