Honda cars in India (3)

Both cars you selected have 1.5 naturally aspirated (NA) engines, and the Honda car engine mated to a CVT is clearly the better option for several reasons. 

Firstly, Honda makes the best small-capacity naturally aspirated engines, and for Mumbai traffic, the CVT is a much smoother automatic than the twin-clutch DCA in the Tata. 

Also, the Tata engine, which develops a mere 106hp, is nowhere near as powerful as the Honda engine (121hp). Hence, Honda Elevate is better than the Tata Sierra DCA, which comes with this 1.5 NA engine.

Yes, NVH levels in the Honda Elevate are quite high, and thus, if it's only the ghats and long drives that you are considering, the Honda City will do just fine. 

Moreover, the City will be more fuel efficient than the Elevate, even more so if you get the hybrid version, thus you will save on fuel bills during your long-distance travels. The only downside of the City is that its ground clearance is low, which can be a problem on bad roads. 

However, if you are not going to go off-roading and the roads in your area are generally in good condition, this should not be a deal-breaker.

Honda Elevate gets a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, which churns out 121hp power and 145Nm torque, which is sufficient power for your everyday use. 

Naturally aspirated engines deliver power in a smooth, linear manner and lack the sudden surge experienced in turbocharged units, and that is often mistaken for a lack of performance when compared to turbos. Power won’t be an issue; the real drawback is at the rear, where the central passenger has to contend with a prominent floor hump and a protruding AC vent, both of which eat into legroom and make long journeys uncomfortable. If travelling with 5 is your priority, we recommend you go with the Hyundai Creta. 

The Honda Amaze ZX CVT is a good option for your wife. It is a spacious and comfortable car with a smooth CVT gearbox. The ZX variant is well equipped too, with features like a sunroof, a touchscreen infotainment system, and a rear parking camera.

The Amaze is also a safe car, with a 5-star Bharat NCAP crash test rating. The only downside is that the 1.2-litre petrol engine is not very powerful, and the CVT gearbox can be a bit slow to respond when you need a quick burst of acceleration.

If you are looking at a used car, the Amaze is a good option. However, we would recommend you buy a new car, as the price difference is not very large, and you will get the peace of mind of a new car warranty.

There are a plethora of automatic petrol cars available within your budget. Given your monthly travel is just 200-300km, we will give less weightage to fuel economy and more weightage to driving comfort. As we don't know other preferences, here's a shortlist of the best options by body style -  

Hatchback - Hyundai i20 IVT Asta (O), Citroen C3 X Shine AT
Compact sedan - Honda Amaze CVT ZX
Compact SUV - Nissan Magnite Turbo CVT, Renault Kiger Turbo CVT Emotion

Both the Honda Elevate and the Citroen Aircross have a very good ride quality and are powered by responsive engines. 

For your requirements, you would not go wrong with either. However, to quantify between the two, we would rate the Aircross better in terms of ride quality, engine performance and refinement. Thus, we would recommend you pick the Citroen since driving pleasure and ride quality are very important to you. 

However, make sure there is a dealer in your area and in the areas you plan to drive to, as the Citroen network is very sparse at the moment.