The Honda Element is the versatile box of motor vehicles, combining unique and practical features with a kind of military/utilitarian chic. Honda says the Element was designed specifically for young adventurers who need to haul wet or messy gear, like you can in a pickup, but with the security of an enclosed cargo area, like an SUVs, plus car-like performance and economy. Element provides all that. And it appeals to a much larger audience than just young men.
Elements durable, scratch-resistant interior is a big part of its charm. Its seats are designed to get wet. Inside and out, it looks like a little truck. But its built with components from the Honda Civic, so it drives more like a car than a truck-based SUV.
The Element was all-new for 2003. Honda has made few changes since then. The 2005 models come with more standard equipment, including side-impact airbags for the top-of-the-line EX models.
Summary:
I have liked the Element ever since they came out in 2003 and didnt even look at anything else except on the internet. Charlotte Sun Honda in Port Charlotte, FL generously let me and my husband borrow a new one for almost 24 hours. It convinced us that this was the vehicle for us for going to the beach, or hauling the dog or birds somewhere or hauling anything for that matter including a couple of kayaks. We are too old to sleep in it by choice, but it has some usefullness if we would want to "nap" on a road trip. We really like the new for 2006 solid color available in the EX-P model and he loves the seven speaker stereo and satellite radio. I had a few reservations because I am a Realtor, but my 88 year old mother-in-law was able to get in and out of it without much problem and she liked it!
Strengths:
I have nothing negative to say about the Element. Even though the 4WD aspect of the Element wasnt near as strong as the 4.3 liter powertarin in the Chevy. On the other hand we never needed to use it anyway as we no longer mud and rock climb and sand dunes arent on our list either. So the Elements soft off road capabilites werent an on going concern. Room, room and more room ! With the roof racks (I have never stored a bike inside a vehicle. Too messy and sucks up way too much space) I can mount both of our bikes upright on the roof along with a average size cargo basket for folding chairs and such. The stereo is da bomb so we dont need to upgrade to a after market audio system to quench our need for high end sound quality. The rear moon roof is a hoot. XM satellite radio fills the void when out in the boonies where normal radio signals are non existant.
With the Elements better fuel economy we can now travel longer distances without the hassel of counting change for gas.
Weaknesses:
The stock tires are useless. Got the dealer to credit me the existing stock tires and had them install a set of B.F. Goodrich All Terrains. It looks great, gives a bit more ground clearance and these tires will easily last 50,000 miles and go just about anywhere.
Similar Products Used:
Chevy ZR2 Off Road 4X4 Blazer, Toyota 4 Runner 4X4, Toyota T100 4X4
From The Drivers Seat
One of the coolest things about this vehicle is how you sit upright at the wheel, sort of like the UPS man in his brown bread van. Its an oddly comforting place to be, with a good view out the flattish windscreen and a solid sense that the vehicle is rotating around you in a turn. That makes the Element more fun to drive than youd expect just by looking at it from its boxy exterior.
A key to that sense of fun -- beyond driving dynamics, which well cover below -- is the playful dashboard and controls. Yep, sure, the readouts and knobs, the dashboard and switches, it all comes in silver or gray, but the shapes themselves are oversized and round, with every vent hole and gauge and HVAC knob an echo of that shape on a larger or smaller scale. It shows a certain whimsy to have all that around you as a driver, and although its hardly as Pop Art hip as the dash of a Mini Cooper, the Elements got its own gig and it works well.
Some of what is missing here is a bit more utility for the basics. For instance, the cupholders are a bit too basic to handle multiple cup sizes and their placement is awkwardly low and back, behind the driver between the two front seats. Moving them outboard, to the doors, would help. It would also be a good thing to do for the backseat passengers as well.
Speaking of which, both front and rear legroom is exceptional in this vehicle, and headroom is extraordinary. An NBA guard could comfortably drive an Element without any special modifications.
Still, this isnt an ideal vehicle for carrying passengers because the second-row passengers only get pop-out windows for ventilation, and these are positioned somewhat forward of where they sit, so getting fresh air can be a bit of a struggle. In fact, regulating air flow, if youre not one to run the A/C on milder days, is a little annoying. If youre agile you can reach back from the drivers seat and just manage to pop open the left-side passenger window, but this isnt a chore for the inflexible. There is a rear sunroof in the far back portion of the cargo area, but its operated manually.
We think its nifty that you can remove the glass on that sunroof entirely, should you want to carry a very tall item upright (or if you want to change into your ski clothing after driving to the slopes and arent shy about poking your torso out of your Element in a parking lot), but for daily use this isnt the most practical of setups.
Driving wise, the Element is a mixed bag.
It handles better than any comparably priced pickup, and given that it rides on a modified Honda Civic chassis this isnt really any surprise (pickups, unless heavily altered, tend to corner fairly poorly even in dry conditions). Also, although you might think the Element looks tippy, it has a very low floor, keeping the center of gravity at car height. This not only eases step-in, it enables the Element to hang on in corners where other, truck-based SUVs would not. That said, we do wish that stability control were an option with this vehicle. It would not only aid cornering, but would also keep things in better control when conditions are really slick.
Other good things: the five-speed transmission and 161 lb.-ft. of torque from the 2.4-liter VTEC four-cylinder engine. This isnt a very potent motor, but its peppy enough, and with a manual gearbox you can get all the gumption out of it that youll need for most trips. Load this vehicle down with four passengers and gear, though, and the Element seems starved for gumption. Not as bad as those old VW Microbuses this vehicle is so redolent of, but still a bit anemic.
Driving Impressions
The 2005 Honda Element comes with the same 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine used in the Accord. Its as sweet as any Honda engine, which means it revs freely and has good low-end torque.
As long as you shift gears at a respectable rpm the engine provides plenty of power with the manual transmission. And youll want the manual transmission for its delightful shifter, mounted up in the dashboard, like in some of the latest rally cars. We didnt find the automatic transmission to be as much fun as the manual.
Element is a front-wheel-drive vehicle so there is a touch of torque steer, that tugging of the steering wheel under hard acceleration, but it isnt a concern. A bigger issue was wheelspin in the wet. Step on the gas, and its easy to spin the front wheels on front-wheel-drive models, particularly in the rain. All-wheel drive cures this.
The ride quality is bouncy. From an engineering standpoint, the Honda Element is basically a re-bodied CR-V; and the CR-V is built on the same platform as the Honda Civic. The Element has a slightly wider track than the CR-V, which helps it handle curves better than we expected of such a tall vehicle. Speaking of tall, the ground clearance and ride height are sufficient for primitive roads, but the Element is not an off-road vehicle by any stretch of the imagination. Nor is it supposed to be.
XM Satellite Radio is available and can be a great companion on long trips, delivering CD-quality sound nearly everywhere. Not having to change stations on a cross-country trip has distinct advantages. Around town we enjoy keeping up with the world on FoxNews, CNN and other 24-hour news stations, and sports junkies should appreciate the large selection of sports programming. Finding stations is made easier with RDS (radio data system), which identifies programming on the radios display. (XM requires a subscription fee, which starts at about $10 per month.)