Houston Honda dealer

Reader’s Question:

I’ve heard so much about the 2008 Honda element. What makes it impressive?

Carl

Houston, TX

Jump into the firm, relatively flat front seats, and starter up. Don’t forget to depress the clutch (all the way down!) or the car won’t start. Sitting relatively high, you have a great view of the road and the surroundings in front. The large side mirrors are helpful, but the rear view mirror is useless … a rear vision camera might help prevent running over things shorter than the lower edge of the rear windows. The dash is somewhat futuristic with its blend of shiny plastic trim and embossed plastic and vinyl. Though the Honda dash looks nice, you’ll see inconsistent gaps between surfaces and release marks on the plastic trim pieces.

Overall, the Element SC is a pleasure to drive … acceleration is brisk for a 166-hp vehicle that weighs 3,500 lbs. Imagine driving it into the highways of Houston. After driving a Chrysler PT Cruiser for a few days right after the Element, I appreciated the sharper steering and solid structure of the Honda. Just be prepared for a firmly suspended vehicle that transmits bumps back to the driver. The rear is independently-suspended and I expected better bump absorption than a solid axle. Maybe there’s not enough weight at the rear… who knows? Realizing the hop-happy rear-end, I had to be careful going over speed bumps. Otherwise boxes in the rear cargo get more air time than my 8-year old cousin getting to know her new box-spring mattress.

Wind noise is apparent as the windshield is almost vertical, and the side mirrors are large rectangular books in the path of the wind.