Overview
And our initial impression was that what
We also found the cavernous cabin to be quite useful--and the plastic interior to be completely impervious to the molehills of snow that came inside the car on the soles of our boots.
If you're waiting for a "but," wait no longer.
We recently redrove the Element for a week during far less turbulent weather and found a few more shortcomings than we discovered on our first week of driving this vehicle. We'll get to those in a moment, but we think we may be on to something; Element sales are down about 5,000 units versus this time last year. Perhaps this is due to the failings we'll detail, or perhaps this has a lot to do with increased competition.
After all, there are more small wagons selling for roughly $20,000 (the Element EXS we drove retails for $20,550) this year than there were last year. And there are also a few improved pickup options around now.
And that's the thing about the Element--its clever packaging is meant to bridge the best of what you can get from a pickup with the best qualities of a wagon.
How? First, it has up to 135 cubic feet of cargo volume with the rear seats removed. That's nearly as much room as you'll find in most minivans--and way more space than you can get in any wagon for the money. In perspective, 135 cubic feet is more than double the amount of cargo room you'll find in either Subaru's 2005 Legacy Wagon or the new Mazda6 Sport Wagon, both if which sell in the same price ballpark as the Element.
Add to this equation a plastic load floor, with heavy-duty plastic walls and fabric that's treated to be stain resistant, and you have a cockpit that's nearly as tough as the bed of a pickup--but that can also accommodate four passengers. The back seats are removable, and in case you want to keep those seats in the car they can be clamped to the side walls of the interior to make plenty of room for moving most objects (note that we said "most").
Note, too, that the root of this equation is compromise. And that "promise" is at the root of that word. There's a lot of promise with the Element. But what of the payoff?
From The Driver's Seat | Should You Buy This Car? | Specs
From The Driver's 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. It's 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 you'd expect just by looking at it from its boxy exterior.
A key to that sense of fun--beyond driving dynamics, which we'll 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 it's hardly as Pop Art hip as the dash of a Mini Cooper, the Element's 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 isn't 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 you're not one to run the A/C on milder days, is a little annoying. If you're agile you can reach back from the driver's seat and just manage to pop open the left-side passenger window, but this isn't a chore for the inflexible. There is a rear sunroof in the far back portion of the cargo area, but it's operated manually.
We think it's 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 aren't shy about poking your torso out of your Element in a parking lot), but for daily use this isn't 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 isn't 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 isn't a very potent motor, but it's peppy enough, and with a manual gearbox you can get all the gumption out of it that you'll 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.
Overview | Should You Buy This Car? | Specs
Should You Buy This Car?
Yeah, well, what about all those reservations we voiced? Here they are, blow by blow.
- The Element may have a large cargo bay, but it's not set up for home improvement chores. To wit, the maximum width of any load is less than 40 inches. After a trip to the lumberyard we were unable to fit a standard sheet of plywood into the Element. The length wasn't an issue, as the top hatch/bottom tailgate system would've allowed the six-foot sheet to protrude out the back, but the width meant we had to go back into the store and have the board precut before taking it home. So much for pickup truck-like utility.
- No fabric inside makes things LOUD. Really loud. On a two-hour drive the Element proved headache-inducing. We're sure you could get used to the higher volumes of road noise that ping throughout this cabin, but you may lose some hearing in the process. Or maybe you can pick up a carpet remnant and Velcro it to the floor to deaden the noise if you face a long daily commute.
- A bouncy ride is strictly for kids. Yes, the Element handles quite well given its dimensions, but there's a ton of head toss, that sensation of having your brains scrambled in your skull as go over bumps. Don't know what we mean? Watch an old war movie and look at the GIs' heads as they drive around in Jeeps. That's what you've got going on here. Not as bad, but it is worse than you'll see in similarly priced cars.
- The competition has some intriguing alternatives. Nope, we don't mean the Scion xB, that boxy beast marketed by
Toyota Motor . For utility the Scion is really lacking. But for the same money as the Element there are other wagons we think handle better and ride more comfortably, have similar or superior fuel efficiency and stronger motors and are just more civilized in general. What they don't offer (and here we're thinking of the aforementioned Mazda6 wagon, the new Subaru Legacy and the forthcoming Ford Freestyle) is the same level of utility for the money.
But you have to ask yourself: When was the last time you really wanted to sleep in your car or carry a muddy mountain bike inside? If you can't think of any such instance, then a wagon may make more sense. If you really do haul a great deal of sporting equipment at all times, then maybe an Element is just what you need. Clearly 60,000 or so people are buying this car per year. And it's probably because, in all, it provides an unmatched melding of features for the money. It's just not all things to all people.
Overview | From The Driver's Seat | Specs
Specs
Manufacturer Contact: The Honda Website
Suspension Type: Front: Control-Link MacPherson strut with stabilizer bar. Rear: Double wishbone with stabilizer bar.
Acceleration: N/A
Engine Type: Displacement: DOHC inline four cylinder with variable valve timing; 2.4-liter
Horsepower: 160hp at 5,500 rpm
Torque: 161 lb.-ft. at 4,500 rpm
EPA Mileage: 21 mpg city, 24 mpg highway
MSRP: $20,550
Overview | From The Driver's Seat | Should You Buy This Car?