Honda Element

“Guess who traded in her Xterra for a 2008 Honda Element today!”

“Cool!!”

“i give up.... who?”

“paint it like the Mystery Machine.”

“Sounds nice, good luck with your new vehicle.”

“I want one, I want one...congratulations...I have always loved that car...
last edited: 2/02/08 2:37:19 PM”

“Congrats!”

“Congratulations! I'm jealous. Amazing things they are. A friend who works dog rescue with me has one and adores it. One of these days...”

“Which model did you get?”

“I really, really want a Toyota F-J Cruiser! Anybody have one?”

“I just traded my 07 4wd Element EX for an 08 Double Cab Tacoma 4x4...I loved the E and would have kept it but I needed more towing power. I have the landing pads for a Yakima Rack if you are interested. The rest of the rack is going on the truck but the pads were specific to the E. The first thing to get too is the eBay console...since there isn't a good center console (unless you got an SC). Here's what mine looked like:

HDR of the E with bikes on top

Normal shot of the E with my license plate


The E, favorite car at trail days


Honda does a major redesign on their cars every 4 years and 09 is the scheduled redesign for the E. In 010 they are supposed to put a diesel engine option in it giving it about 40mpg...I averaged about 22mpg with mine mixed. I will probably buy another one as a work car/daily driver when I pay off the Tacoma after I sell my house in a year or two.”

“I actually removed the sunroof and folded up the back seats and stood out the top to shoot pics at the parade but was able to duck inside when attacked by water guns.”

“That's awesome.

Thanks about the Yakima pads, but I weaseled them to throw in a roof rack plus a kayak holder. I don't get the car until Saturday bc they need to get the tangerine color driven to their lot plus install the rack plus kayak holder. I got the LX model. I don't need all the fancy schmancy stuff.”

“Tangerine sounds like a girly color.”

“Well considering I'm a girl, I take no offense to that :P”

“Pinch the pigskin.”

“Pinch the pigskin.”

“Hell, do it three times.”

“report back after you've done a few bpacking trips in it...i've always thought these would be good bping cars...some friends of mine (non bpers) have one and love everything about it except for the way the doors work”

“I would think it would be a bit too heavy to carry in a backpack.”

“Isn't the AWD system in the Element set up to send 100% of the power to the front wheels until slippage is detected?

If so, that sucks balls. Shoulda bought a Subaru.”

“That's how it works. The idea is to keep friction down for better gas mileage. A lot of the AWD systems work that way now, however some have a 4 wheel drive lock button and it'll drive all four wheels up to about 20 mph. The Toyota RAV 4 works that way.”

“Dub's element carried a lot of firewood in the back :)”

“The Element is 4wd, not AWD, people mistake it for AWD because the 4 they put on the back looks like an A. The front wheels pump fluid back to a clutch box and the rear differential pumps fluid back to the clutch box, anytime there is a difference of 100rpm on either side of the clutch the pressure increases and kicks on the 4wd. Just as my aunts Subaru loses traction if a front and a rear wheel both are slipping the Element is geared the same--no locking or limited slip differentials. It's basically an urban 4x4 like Subaru which is designed to give you traction on wet or slick surfaces, they aren't designed for any real off roading.

As far as the E as a backpacking vehicle. It can haul 4 adults very comfortable with all of their gear in the back. The nice thing about the E is that the back seats are higher than the front so the rear seated people see out the windshield, they also have the same amount of room as the front people even when their seats are all the way back. All the seats lay flat to form a double bed, you can sleep on them with a thermarest but I usually just blow up a walmart bed and place on top. Lots of room.

”

“The best thing about the E for backpacking is the interior. The seats are covered with FXC (fabric for xtreme conditions) and they are waterproof and stainproof. There is no carpeting so all of the surfaces are easily wiped down and cleaned after muddy backpacking trip. Contrary to popular belief, you can't hose them out, in fact on your walk through they will warn against it. But nothing bad about taking a bucket and a sponge at it!”

“all i want to know is, if i am in this car will I die going backwards down a icy mountain?”

“Dub, why? Is there a risk excess water will drip through and cause problems?”

“It might flip over Mapes! JK”

“Sarge, supposedly there is electronics under the floorboards and while the floor is waterproof, the sides where it meets the walls are not and water will just pool and then run over there. The subwoofer is also located on the floor up front. You could probably take some silicon and seal the entire vehicle floor around the edges and then you could probably spray it out. I know I had to get floormats for it because last winter snow would melt from my boots and form pools of water on the floor and slosh around while I drove and then freeze back when I stopped.”

“tango do you remeber when scorches car tried to kill us a few years ago? then she got an SUV and that was good (not on gas but good on death black ice)”

“The Element is 4wd, not AWD, people mistake it for AWD because the 4 they put on the back looks like an A. The front wheels pump fluid back to a clutch box and the rear differential pumps fluid back to the clutch box, anytime there is a difference of 100rpm on either side of the clutch the pressure increases and kicks on the 4wd. - Dub

Interesting. I looked up the operation and it is cool how they engineered it. It's too bad Honda doesn't offer LSDs on at least the rear like Subaru does.”

“Mutt, please keep the drug references off of TT.”

“You're right Sarge. I'm such a DOPE. I should be STONED to death. Or at least NEEDLE me. Maybe strung up HIGH.


(I could go on...)”

“COOL...a dwarf hearse...(LOL)

I looked at the Subaru..but I ended up with the Tacoma becuase I am tired of riding with the smell of my Firefighting equipment in the back end of my Jeep. Its nice to be able to sling it into the rear of the truck.”