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Honda Element

4724 messages,  Last post on Jul 06, 2012 at 6:27 PM

You are in the Honda Element Forum.

What is this discussion about? Honda Element, Hatchback, SUV

Messages Page 469 of 473

#4677 of 4724 Re: 2009 Honda Element [micweb] by ragets

Aug 11, 2008 (7:53 am)

Replying to: micweb (Aug 05, 2008 4:23 pm)
These are the ratings for the 2006 Element:
 
http://www.safercar.gov/portal/site/safercar/menuitem.db847bd57e3dc1f885dfc38c35- a67789/?vgnextoid=c95df2905bf54110VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCRD
 
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=294
 
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=173
 
These are the ratings for the 2007 Honda Element:
 
http://www.safercar.gov/portal/site/safercar/menuitem.db847bd57e3dc1f885dfc38c35- a67789/?vgnextoid=c95df2905bf54110VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCRD
 
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=173
 
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=865
 
The 2006 Honda Element, from the NHSTA, got 5-stars for all seating positions. The only problem was for a Higher Likelihood of Head Injury, which was cured with the 2007 Honda Element with the side curtain airbags. Which is why I bought the 2007 Element.
 
3-Star is not that great. Especially with a car that already comes with Side Curtain Airbags. My brother bought a 2005 Pontiac Vibe. It does not have side curtain Airbags but it also achieved a 3-Star Crash rating. I'd rather have 5 and know that I have at least done something for myself if I get in to a crash and that my passengers also will be safer.
With a side impact rating of 3-Star you have the likelyhood of 11 percent to 20 percent chance of serious injury. But with 5-star: 5 percent or less chance of
serious injury.
http://www.safercar.gov/staticfiles/DOT/safercar/pdf/BASC2008.pdf
 
Also what you have to do is compare the numbers on the safercar.gov website. I put them at the top. Compare the numbers and see how much more the Fit's are. If you compare it that way you will see that the Element is Safer.
 
The Fit also does not have Electronic Stability Control. The Element Does.
 
Don't get me wrong the Fit is a nice car. But in the eyes of safety, the Element wins. If your looking into buying an Element I would go with the 2007one and up. Because it has the side curtain airbags, ESC and anti-whiplash headrests.

#4678 of 4724 New Accessories by ragets

May 05, 2009 (7:36 am)

Hello everyone. I just bought OEM Honda Side Steps and a Hunter Brush Guard for my 2007 Honda Element EX 4wd. I'll post some pics once I receive them and put them on.
 
I was just wondering if anyone has already put these on themself and have any tips for me. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

#4679 of 4724 Re: New Accessories [ragets] by ragets

May 06, 2009 (12:25 pm)

Replying to: ragets (May 05, 2009 7:36 am)
I also just bought the tail light guards for my element too. Does anyone else have these on their Element? If so, any help with installation would be very useful. Thanks.

#4680 of 4724 Installed Accessories by ragets

May 18, 2009 (8:06 pm)

Well I went ahead and received my accessories and had a friend of mine install them for me. He did all 98% of it and I did like 2% of it. LOL, I wasn't much help anyway here is how we did it and how long it took and some obstacles we faced and had to overcome:
 
Tail Light Guards - eBay - $69 + FREE shipping
The directions (which weren't that great) said it would take about 10-15 minutes to complete. Well.... it took us about 15 minutes for each. It was relatively easy but just takes a little time. First you take out the two screws that hold the tail light in place. Then all you do is pop out the taillight. Then we placed the bracket around the piece that pops the tail light in. Pop the taillight back in. Then fit the tail light guard over the tail light and bolt in all the screws. make sure they are on correctly or they WILL scratch your tail gate and hatch. Even when they are on as tight fitting as they can they still leave a tiny scratch but hey, its worth it! They look great!
 
Side Steps - HandA Accessories - $285 + $52.78 shipping
Next we did the side steps. These are the OEM Side steps. We just followed the instructions that came with them and they went on relatively easy. They look great and took about an hour and a half to put them on.
 
Hunter Brush Guard - eBay - $180 +$50 shipping
The instructions that came with these might as well not have even came with them. Nothing was labeled and took us about 20 minutes to even find out what we needed to do. We bolted on the headlight guards to the main piece first. Next we found the pieces of the plastic that we needed to cut out to find the holes to bolt the guard on to. We almost thought the pieces were not going to bolt on because of 2 reasons: 1) On the drivers side the bracket piece almost didn't have the right spacing for the hole on the frame. 2) On the passenger side the radiator was bolted or connected on the frame by the holes on the frame. So we had to move that to get the main unit connected. That took a while. After that we connected the main unit to the big brackets connected to the frame of the car and turned it up so it was in the correct position on the front of the car. then we took off the two caps under the hood near where the headlight is bolted in. Everything was tightened up and is extremely sturdy. It will not even move when shook. It is very nice. In all, for the brush guard, it took about 4 hours to complete.
 
My Element looks AWESOME now, in my opinion. I already had a few Element owners turning their heads watching, just on my 10 minute drive back home. It almost looks like a totally different vehicle. I really am liking it a lot!

#4681 of 4724 CCM Offroad Honda Element 3" Lift Kit by ragets

Aug 26, 2009 (10:33 am)

Check out what I just found: http://www.ccmoffroad.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=18
 
You can see a better picture of the Element here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HONDA-ELEMENT-3-LIFT-KIT-2003-2009-4WD-2WD-EX-LX-- - SC_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem3ca5102b0bQQitemZ2604673- - 37995QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_987wt_939
 
I have been waiting for one of these for months. 3" is a little more than I wanted. I was looking for more of a 2" lift but this one looks pretty sweet. I am really considering buying this for my Element.
 
Has anyone else bought one of these or a kit like these? Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

#4682 of 4724 Re: CCM Offroad Honda Element 3" Lift Kit [ragets] by ateixeira

Aug 26, 2009 (11:11 am)

Replying to: ragets (Aug 26, 2009 10:33 am)
Pretty neat.
 
Foresters had lift kits like that, 2" lift from springs, another 2" by adding spacers to the base.
 
2" was no problem, but folks that lifted them the full 4" had troubles with the transmissions - difficulty shifting and getting in to gears. The angle of the rear driveshaft changes dramatically with a 4" lift.
 
My concern with an Element would be the same - tolerances are fairly tight for these unibody based vehicles.

#4683 of 4724 Re: CCM Offroad Honda Element 3" Lift Kit [ateixeira] by ragets

Aug 28, 2009 (9:27 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (Aug 26, 2009 11:11 am)
thanks for your reply!
I talked to someone that did a lift on his, he used this CCM Offroad lift kit. He hasn't had any promblems with his yet, and he has had his for quite a while. No problems with shifting. The only thing he said is that once you get it done you have to find a place that can give it a really good 4 wheel alignment. That was about it. His looks so awesome. I can't wait till I can get it done on my Element

#4684 of 4724 Re: CCM Offroad Honda Element 3" Lift Kit [ragets] by ateixeira

Aug 28, 2009 (9:39 am)

Replying to: ragets (Aug 28, 2009 9:27 am)
Good luck. Take pics and share them later, that ought to look pretty cool when it's done.

#4685 of 4724 Re: CCM Offroad Honda Element 3" Lift Kit [ateixeira] by ragets

Aug 28, 2009 (9:59 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (Aug 28, 2009 9:39 am)
I sure will. I m probably going to wait till my warranty runs out and then get it done. i don't want to void my warranty right now. Probably by next summer I will have it done.
If anyone else has any other suggestions or anything, please post them.
 
Thanks

#4686 of 4724 Element Rear Hatch by fisheriiijs

Sep 07, 2009 (11:02 am)

Has anyone modified the lower gate so that it swings out rather than down? I'm looking at a Element to transport a power wheelchair using a Bruno lift arm. The Element would be perfect if the lower rear hatch didn't act like a tail gate.

Messages Page 469 of 473

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