Honda Element MPG Quest!

[JJMunoz]

Hey, guys!

I used to frequent this forum a lot with my '94 Civic DX that I copied and performed a bunch of Basjoos style mods on a few years ago! I was getting mid 50's to low 80 MPG in it before the motor popped twice, but I got rid of it and bought a 2002 Insight 5 speed and haven't been on the forum in a while.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ead-10318.html

I recently bought a 2008 Element and realized how atrocious the fuel efficiency is in it so I'm on a sort of quest to realize much better MPG gains again with it!




Bought an Ultragauge for it, removed the roof rails, the side steps, smaller antenna, 55 PSI in tires, and there's a sixth gear awaiting installation in the trans for a claimed 800 RPM drop on the highway Dreamy!

Currently getting around 32 MPG but my goal is 40! We shall see.. Good to be back!

[vskid3]

32MPG in that brick is a pretty good start! Taller 6th gear sounds interesting.

I used to hate the Element (mostly because of the looks), but they've really grown on me the last couple years. Now they almost look alright and the utility factor is amazing. I wish they had come out with a hybrid or electric version.

[Daox]

Welcome back!

Sounds like you already got a good start on the mods. I'd throw a grill block on it asap too.

[MetroMPG]

Yup, welcome back!

What's the top gear swap all about?

As a former Insight owner, you must know aero is the boxy-shaped elephant in the room here. Any more plans in that department?

[JJMunoz]

Originally Posted by vskid3

32MPG in that brick is a pretty good start! Taller 6th gear sounds interesting.

I used to hate the Element (mostly because of the looks), but they've really grown on me the last couple years. Now they almost look alright and the utility factor is amazing. I wish they had come out with a hybrid or electric version.

Thanks! The utility is why I bought it. I don't think there's a more versatile car out there. It does so many cool things!

I did a lot of research into other cars before making the final decision. It took me about 6 months. It was either going to be the Volvo V70R, the Ford Flex or this. The other two are definitely more appealing in the visual and performance department, but finding a manual V70R with low miles is like finding a unicorn in the desert and the Flex was about triple the price of the Element for a twin turbo and 3 more seats. Honda engineering, versatility and practicality took over and here we are!

Originally Posted by Daox

Welcome back!

Sounds like you already got a good start on the mods. I'd throw a grill block on it asap too.

Thanks! I just bought some ABS plastic again so I may consider doing a grill block soon. However, one thing irks me a bit; I never fully confirmed this but when the head gasket on the Civic blew the first time, I had been running a grill block for a while and a quite restrictive one at that. I would notice up hills at times the engine temperature gauge would rise a bit but I never got it running super hot or anything. However, when I pulled the head on the motor after the first head gasket leak, I noticed some distinct pitting on one particular cylinder sleeve (obviously the source of the leak as the piston was cleaner than the rest) and wondered if it had been due to the installation of the grill block, overheating, etc. The motor did have about 220k on it when it went the first time. Same issue the second time.

However, I do have the Ultragauge now and only had an MPGuino in the Civic, so I could monitor the coolant temperature more closely if I install a block. It's definitely in the back of my mind! 6th gear first, though.

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Yup, welcome back!

What's the top gear swap all about?

As a former Insight owner, you must know aero is the boxy-shaped elephant in the room here. Any more plans in that department?

Thanks! Some people on the Element forums realized that since it's just a K-series motor in the Element that you could probably swap the 6th running gear from the Acura TSX into the 5 Speed trans. There's actually empty space on both the main and countershafts for the 6th gear. Kind of odd Honda didn't offer the option as some people who have done the swap claim a 5 MPG improvement. The original forum post is here:

Element 6 speed MT Conversion Plans/Parts - Honda Element Owners Club Forum

It's been proven to work fine in FWD and AWD applications and some have even gone as far as to change the differential as well for a slightly taller final drive (seems you can only do that on FWD, though). I have the parts now, but I'm not willing to do it in my driveway in the cold so I'm waiting for a lift to open up. haha

But I've inspected the underbody and that could DEFINITELY use some help in the aero department. I'm planning to cover the indentations in the front bumper where the fog lights would go and probably run a low ABS plastic diverter in the front. My old Civic was just a boat tail short of Basjoos crazy so, I might wind up going down that path again..haha There's a lot of room in the wheel wells for some covers!

Oh! I did buy some side mirror cameras, add-a-circuit kits and two 3" LCD monitors to get rid of those humongous side mirrors! Waiting til it gets a bit warmer out to dive into that project too.

The only other post I saw on here about someone modding an Element for hypermiling mostly involved the dude getting yelled at so I'm kind of starting from scratch here in Element world haha Although the bag of hypermiling tricks is large and I've not plunged deep enough into it, yet!

[Hip001]

Originally Posted by JJMunoz

Thanks! The utility is why I bought it. I don't think there's a more versatile car out there. It does so many cool things!

I did a lot of research into other cars before making the final decision. It took me about 6 months. It was either going to be the Volvo V70R, the Ford Flex or this. The other two are definitely more appealing in the visual and performance department, but finding a manual V70R with low miles is like finding a unicorn in the desert and the Flex was about triple the price of the Element for a twin turbo and 3 more seats. Honda engineering, versatility and practicality took over and here we are!



Thanks! I just bought some ABS plastic again so I may consider doing a grill block soon. However, one thing irks me a bit; I never fully confirmed this but when the head gasket on the Civic blew the first time, I had been running a grill block for a while and a quite restrictive one at that. I would notice up hills at times the engine temperature gauge would rise a bit but I never got it running super hot or anything. However, when I pulled the head on the motor after the first head gasket leak, I noticed some distinct pitting on one particular cylinder sleeve (obviously the source of the leak as the piston was cleaner than the rest) and wondered if it had been due to the installation of the grill block, overheating, etc. The motor did have about 220k on it when it went the first time. Same issue the second time.

However, I do have the Ultragauge now and only had an MPGuino in the Civic, so I could monitor the coolant temperature more closely if I install a block. It's definitely in the back of my mind! 6th gear first, though.




Thanks! Some people on the Element forums realized that since it's just a K-series motor in the Element that you could probably swap the 6th running gear from the Acura TSX into the 5 Speed trans. There's actually empty space on both the main and countershafts for the 6th gear. Kind of odd Honda didn't offer the option as some people who have done the swap claim a 5 MPG improvement. The original forum post is here:

Element 6 speed MT Conversion Plans/Parts - Honda Element Owners Club Forum

It's been proven to work fine in FWD and AWD applications and some have even gone as far as to change the differential as well for a slightly taller final drive (seems you can only do that on FWD, though). I have the parts now, but I'm not willing to do it in my driveway in the cold so I'm waiting for a lift to open up. haha

But I've inspected the underbody and that could DEFINITELY use some help in the aero department. I'm planning to cover the indentations in the front bumper where the fog lights would go and probably run a low ABS plastic diverter in the front. My old Civic was just a boat tail short of Basjoos crazy so, I might wind up going down that path again..haha There's a lot of room in the wheel wells for some covers!

Oh! I did buy some side mirror cameras, add-a-circuit kits and two 3" LCD monitors to get rid of those humongous side mirrors! Waiting til it gets a bit warmer out to dive into that project too.

The only other post I saw on here about someone modding an Element for hypermiling mostly involved the dude getting yelled at so I'm kind of starting from scratch here in Element world haha Although the bag of hypermiling tricks is large and I've not plunged deep enough into it, yet!

Whatever happened to the Element progress? 30mpg is amazing in the E! My 2006 EX awd automatic best so far is 25.5mpg. Im thinking the 5speed or 6speed swap can get the most mpg.

[oil pan 4]

Aero mods would probably give the most mpg.