February 27, 2007 - Honda's Element hit the market before the whole "crossover" fad took over the U.S. auto industry, so it was initially marketed as a "light" SUV. Its tall stance, plastic fenders and "Real Time 4WD" gave many buyers the impression that this Honda was designed to tackle rough terrain just like a "real" truck-based SUV. The fact that the Element came with a rubber-lined interior (able to be washed out by a hose and everything) only added to the boxy Honda's pseudo "outdoorsy" image.

But as we all know, Honda's Element is basically a front-drive automobile. It can't crawl over rocks nor can it tow any boats; the Element just can't do the things that a "real" SUV can do. But let's be honest here: SUV owners don't go off-road or tow boats; they live in the cities and do "city-people" things like go drive for a cup of coffee. Given this reality, Honda made a "street" version of its boxy people mover for 2007. This newest Element street concept - conveniently called the Element SC - sheds its fake outdoorsman image in favor of a look that's more "street".

We must say that the Element SC looks a hell of a lot better in its street clothes. Everything from the exterior trim to the dull gray plastic fenders are now color-matched to the body; the nose of the Element gets a unique front fascia complete with tuner-approved projector headlights; the ride height is lowered by 20 mm and the whole package rides on 18-inch rims. The Element SC even gets its own exclusive color - "Root Beer Metallic". Don't let the thought of "brown" paint turn you off of this car; it looks damn good in person. As we drove it around town, our box-hating friends still didn't have anything good to say about the Element SC, but we got the thumb's-up from more than one xB driver.

Speaking of Scion xBs: if we have learned anything from Toyota's box, it would be that box-shaped rides feel huge inside. It feels like we have acres of room inside the Element SC; this Honda boasts a more than generous amount of headroom and has more than decent hip, shoulder and leg room. With our Element SC being the "street" Honda box, the entire interior is now carpeted which makes things seem a whole lot nicer inside. The interior is Honda-perfect, meaning that the fit, finish and design of the dash and all associated switchgear is about as good as it gets.


We like the SC's black-on-black interior color scheme, but we could do without the orange-colored trim. Same goes for the orange "tribal" patterns on the upholstery. But these things are so minor - especially in contrast to what the Element SC gets right - we are easily able to overlook them. The multi-configurable back seats are cool, but they're heavy and not super-easy to use. Outward visibility is great and makes it easier to maneuver the boxy Honda through tight spaces. Standing just a hair over six feet tall and preferring to sit bolt-upright and close to the steering wheel, we still found that it was quite a huge reach for the sun visor. We don't see how those gangsta lean-driving shorter folk will be able to roll in the Element SC and not have the sun get into their eyes. We should also add that lowering this sun visor kills almost all forward visibility.

The Element SC rides and drives exactly like any other front-drive Honda. The chassis is incredibly well-composed over all surfaces; things just feel "tight" and it's actually difficult to upset the balance of the car in normal driving conditions. Before we hopped into the Element, we thought that its 2.4-liter 166-horsepower inline four would be too weak to propel the box with any kind of authority, but the Element SC is pretty damn peppy. Our Element SC test car came equipped with the five-speed manual, so perhaps our aggressive shift pattern is responsible for our Element SC's lively acceleration.


We said that the Element drives just like any other front-drive Honda, so that means that torque steer rears its ugly head under acceleration. We're not talking about horrible Eclipse-like levels of the front wheels wanting to do their own thing, but it is noticeable. Still, Honda has been able to dial in this engine/chassis combination so that any and all torque steer is easily managed. Just like every other Honda vehicle we've ever been in, the Element SC is a very easy vehicle to drive.

The Element SC may not be the fastest, most luxurious or prettiest vehicle we've ever been in, but we can't help but like the damn thing. We're predisposed to liking Honda vehicles, and the Element SC reminds us why: it's a well-built vehicle that's easy yet engaging to drive. Don't let the four-cylinder engine turn you off; the Element SC is the best CUV we've ever driven.