HONDA ELEMENT
Fancy a Honda with boxy looks? Don't crave for Element; Crossroad can do the tricks instead
-.Is that a new Dodge pickup with carbon-fibre canopy?
Oh, no, it's not even a pickup, and it's certainly not a Dodge. It's the Honda Element, a compact SUV - or crossover in Euro speak - born and raised in the land of Obama and McCain. The rear end and the roof is just painted black rendering it a false truck canopy look. This one is already the mid-life update, as a 2009 model, of the original that came since 2003.
- Oh, now I can see it looks like the Honda Crossroad you guys wrote about last year.
Similar in looks, yes, and it shares the same platform with the CR-V as well. As with the Crossroad and CR-V, the Element is available as FWD and 4WD.
- So, who's higher in the pecking order?
 |
 |
| The Element’s interior is more conventional than in other new Hondas. |
The Element has only two doors, but provides decent space for four. |
The CR-V. Which means the Element is an entry SUV model in the US with prices just over B700,000 for the base front-wheel-drive model.
- Why, tell me, do Americans love boxy cars?
Umm... it's a cultural thing, Europeans prefer egg-shape and the Japanese also love cute boxes. With the Japanese boxes, there's a practical side to it as space is at a premium, so tall boxes offer better room for the same road space. As for the Americans with their vast road spaces, well they're just Americans. Nah, for them an SUV would look cool if it has a bit of the original Hummer look to it as that is the icon of all things macho. Of course, the Element here is much watered down but it still has a silhouette of a much more rugged car.
- How much watered down?
Well, a proper American car needs to have a V8 with around 5.0-litre, but this one has half as many cylinders and 2.4-litre displacement. Yes, it's the same engine found in our CR-V, but there's only 166 horses to make the exhaust emissions cleaner. As we said, there's FWD and full-time 4WD to choose from, and with five-speed manual or automatic. But you won't find little gear lever mounted on steering column as per typical American car of old, instead it's a proper stick on the dash just like in our CR-V.
- Isn't it tiny?
For the US, maybe. It's 4,300mm long, 1,816mm wide and 1,788mm high with 2,575mm wheeelbase - shorter in length and wheelbase compared to the CR-V, nearly as wide but much taller. That tall stance is needed to give more interior space to the otherwise limited legroom, so the sitting postures are very upright.
- Any clever tricks?
Yes, in fact, its selling point is not the pseudo-Hummer look but its practicality. For a start, there's no B-pillar and there although there are only two doors, there are rear access panels just like the open-cab pick-ups we get in Thailand. The rear door open upwards like in the CR-V. Then there are 64 ways to fold, flip, split and even take some seats out.
- Ah, so this should attract baby boomers?
Uh possibly if they're small people, but they target more towards the young with active lifestyle as the car is good for carrying leisurely stuff like bikes, barbeque stove and a dozen crates of beer There's a range-topper called the SC tuned for "sportier" looks and driving despite available with just FWD.
- What other cars is it up against?
More conventional four-door SUV/MPV like the bigger Dodge Nitro, Chevy HHR and Ford Escape.
- Tell me, is it coming to Thailand?
No, the Element is for America. The Japanese get their's as the Crossroad and that's why the Thai grey market has brought it in at around B2.5m apiece, as how you correctly pointed out in the beginning.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Next
