The purpose of this thread will be to discuss anything and everything Element related. Instead of making a new thread for every question and maybe getting lucky enough to get a response, this thread will be an ongoing project (similar to the monster military, gun, photography, aquarium, road bike, and anime threads in GDD) to discuss anything and everything related to the Element.

Got an '03 and you added new tires and want to show them off and give feedback? Do it here
Looking to buy a new 2010 Element and have questions? Post them here

This type of thread probably wouldn't be possible in a Civic variety, but should do quite well since there is only a hand full of Element owners here on the board.

So anyway, start posting my fellow E owners.

To start things off, what are you guys running as far as tires go for the winter time? I'm going with a set of Firestone Winterforce tires mounted on a separate set of steel rims I bought just for North Dakota winters.

 

Working on trying to get my OEM stereo to play nice with my aftermarket amp. Got the 4 door channels working fine using a PAC converter, but the sub channel is being an *******.
Had a PAC SNI-35 hooked to it but it would cut the signal wayyy too much. So I'm going to try running a set of spliced RCAs from the sub channel to the amp to see if that works.
Will report back with results.

 

Great idea for a thread but I think we are the only two people with elements here lol. I have posted a bunch on element owners club but i cant take that forum.

I have a 2008 Element EX 4wd 5MT. Alabaster Silver Metallic. All stock except some OEM Honda All Season mats and a ProClip set up for my cell phone.

For this winter I will still be running the OEM Goodyear Wrangler HP's. I know they get horrible reviews but compared to what I used to drive (99 civic si, dropped with summer tires) this thing is amazing in the snow.

Picture when I got it brand new and stock.

 

Nice E. I had the option to get the silver one, but decided to go with the Kiwi instead. The car is different, so I wanted a color that was different as well. I love the hell out of mine.

**Stereo update**
The RCA splicing thing worked like a charm. The Sub works great and I love it. I dropped a kicker 6.5" sub in the stock enclosure, cut all the baffling out with a dremmel tool and sealerd the port and siliconed the hell out of the seam between the two halves to make a nice sealed box.

It now has a bit more punch than the weak stock sub had. Today I'm going to try to remount my stock a-pillars with the new infinity tweeters mounted in the stock location. Then it's off to try to find a place to mount the Alpine PDX-5 amp that powers it all. No real room under the seats because of all the damn airbag wiring garbage under there, so I think I may mount it on the back of the driver's seat.

 

i might be purchasing a '03 E with a stick shift and 4wd. i have a feeling im gonna fall in love with it.

 

Congrats. Getting a good deal on it?
LX, DX, EX? What color?

 

went searching on the website tonight, was not on there but its in the local auto shopper. its a green 2003.

 

Looking to get a trailer set up for my element. I dont plan on towing too much. A 4x8 utility trailer with maybe 500 lbs in it. I am up in the air about going OEM honda hitch or aftermarket. I really like the fact the OEM honda one is OEM. The thing is its only a class I. Not that I plan to tow a lot but it would be nice to just have a beefier hitch right? What would you recomend? Thanks

 

I'd stay away from the OEM Honda one if I were you.
Couple reasons I say that...

1) It's too damn expensive. Just no other way to put that. You can damn near get TWO hitches from U-Haul for the price you'll pay for the rinky dink OEM one.

2} There are way more accessory options for a 2" receiver than there are for a 1 1/4" one. I have a hitch mounted bike rack on my E. I love the thing to death and it has a bit of a wobble to it even in a 2" receiver. I couldn't imagine the amount of sloppiness it would have in a 1 1/4" one. Actually I don't think they even make that rack for the smaller receivers.

You're not going to be able to max out the tow rating of a 5,000 lb Class-3 hitch with it being strapped to a unibody Element. But it's nice to have something a bit beefier back there. I've seen a lot of people go to U-Haul and had them install a U-Haul stickered Class-3 hitch installed for about $150 out the door.

You can look around online for a Class-3 Valley or Curt hitch. Valley makes the hitches for U-Haul, they just slap their sticker over the Valley logo. Ebay sometimes has decent deals as well. The install on them is pretty straight forward. But honestly, if you can get one installed at U-Haul for $150....do it.

Here's my Curt 2" Class 3 installed on my Kiwi.

 

Thanks for the response. I have been google searching a ton lately and decided against the OEM one. Like you said it is soooo expensive compared to aftermarket ones. Also it is way too small even though Im not towing anything big.

My concern is not with the hitch being strong enough as much as it is with the mounting being strong enough. I saw someone say they had a hitch rip out from the car (granted I think it was a really cheap one that didnt go to the frame rails). Is the element beefy enough? I am just paranoid about towing something and then ripping out the whole back of the car lol.

So some more questions...

What wiring are you using? I think i may still use the OEM wiring and get an aftermarket hitch?

Are the u haul/valley/curt hitches all equal quality or are some better then others?

 

There was a well documented "hitch ripping" incident, but it turned out that it was one of those that mounted to the spare tire well somehow and ripped the hell out of the sheet metal. Overloading was involved too I believe.

The Element is rated at 1,500 lbs towing and 150 lb tongue weight I believe.

Tongue weight rule of thumb is normally 10-15% of the tow capacity of the vehicle.

The Curt and Valley hitches mount to the rails that run along the underside of the body. They use some pretty beefy hardware to hold things in place. I really wouldn't worry about one being better than another since you won't be coming anywhere near the max towing capacity of the hitch using an Element.

I haven't had any issues at all with mine. I checked the bolts 6 months after I installed it and they were all still snug as the day I put the hitch on. Curt makes some great stuff.

As far as wiring, I don't have anything in mine right now since the only reason I use the hitch is to mount my bike carrier. Although I may be looking at running some wiring in the near future.

If you do decide that you need wiring for your trailer, go the OEM route. It's about as simple as it gets, it's designed to work with the vehicle, and best of all, it's all plug 'n play. True, you'll have to fork out a few more bucks than you would for a splice and dice kit, but well worth it IMO.

 

Here's a link to a wiring harness that will plug into the OEM plugs for all '07+ Elements
http://www.etrailer.com/p-118465.htm...eid=2008203594

 

thanks for all the info i am going to pick up a hitch.

another question, did you do any performance mods? is there anything faily cheap that may help a little? how are drop in filters? i know k series get some decent power from a reflash but i am not sure if the element engine (k24a8) is compatable with kpro.

 

is the Element D the only swapped or highly modified Element?

i feel that anyone considering getting some real "go" out of this platform is strictly honda and serious about performance. when anyone mentions doing anything extraordinary with the Element, they get a response like "slap a turbo on it." has anyone even done that?

 

Get on youtube and search for the "hellement".

 

what up got a element sc, check it out on cardomain, beanzhonda92

 

Oh yeah, it's crappy out


On a side note, the Firestone Winterforce tires I installed are unbelievable. The traction I get out of these is far more superior than any other winter tire I've ever ran up here during the winter. And for the price, you can't beat them. I'm running them in a 225-70-R16 on aftermarket steel wheels, and for $67/tire you can't beat them. I highly recommend them to anybody out there looking for dedicated snow tires.

And as far as the whole TPMS sensor and VSA system not working if you don't get them reprogrammed to your car thing goes.....it's a myth. I've tested this over and over now, and aside from the TPMS light being on, there are no ill effects from not getting the sensors reprogrammed for $70 at the dealership. Put a piece of tape over the light if it really bugs you and be done with it. That's what I did.

 

Hi, quick easy question for you element owners, are the fenders on the newer painted fender elements still plastic? Are some of the painted fenders plastic and some steel?
Can the steel fenders be swapped out for plastic ones?


I like the vehicle for its utility and I would prefer to have the plastic fenders.

Thanks

 

They're still plastic.

 

I've been considering a used Element. Some questions...

1) I like the looks of the SC better, but it doesn't have AWD. How does the FWD Elements get around in colder climates (I live in the Midwest and we get some harsh winters).
2) What kind of gas mileage are you guys getting?
3) How does it drive/handle/ride?

There's an 07 Element SC (Root Beer Metallic) 5 spd with just under 50k miles here at a Chevy stealership for $14,999. Good deal?

Thanks

 

Need more pitchars.

 

BUMP.
And mods, can we get this moved over to the Element section since we now have one?

 

I must have the grandpa element here, 2003 bought it with 5 miles now have 245,000 miles, fwd, auto.
Have question, ac not working cool enough, still blowing, but when I went to recharge the low side psi was 100, too high, cause for hot air. How can I get it lowered to working range? Now the park brake wants to stick, need to use over ride to get out of park. Is my old faithful getting an electronic brain phart?

 

When you got that reading of 100 psi on the low side, was this with the compressor running? Because if the compressor wasn't running and the system was equalized, at 86 degrees, 134a is at 100 psi. If it was indeed running and you still saw 100 psi on the low side, you've got some serious overcharge issues. Take the car to an AC mechanic and have them completely recover the old refrigerant, pull a good vacuum on the system and recharge with the proper amount.

As far as your parking brake issues go....I have no idea. Mine's a manual.

 

Super excited, as long as it doesnt sell in the next 2 days, Im picking up a Orange 03 ex 4wd! hope to be adding to this thread very soon.