2007 Honda Element SC Unveiled

Our Very Own spdrcr5 (Larry) Gives Us His Take

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New York City, NY (4.13.6 EOC Coverage)

American Honda introduced an all new 2007 Element today at the NY Auto Show. It is the 2007 Element SC Prototype.

I talked with many people from Honda PR and Honda R&D America; including Catalin Matei; Senior Designer for the Element. He designed the Element SC exterior including the wheels. Art St. Cyr, the Engineer for Large Projects was also there, he is responsible for the overall Element project. Aleck Brownstein with Honda PR will be at the Big E-vent in St Louis this year and I was able to spend time talking with him as well.

There are so many changes to the 2007 Honda Element SC Prototype. I will try and touch on every one of them. If I leave anything out please don’t hesitate to post questions on the forum and I will answer them to the best of my ability.

As the vehicle sits right now it is 90% of what the actual production Element SC will be when it is released this fall. They wouldn’t release specifics as far as price or date of release. They wouldn’t discuss the wheel size for production either.

What makes the SC Prototype different from the Element we have come to know and love since 2002? The most obvious change is the SC is now 100% covered in paint. There are no gray or black plastic panels anywhere. The parts that are currently plastic whether painted or not on the 2006 Element are still plastic on the SC, but the plastic itself is different. It seems to be lighter actually; someone even mentioned the material was changed.

The next most obvious change is the height of the SC; it is lowered 3” through suspension changes and just under 1” in roof height by reducing the height of the roof garnish. The mounting points are still there for roof racks and from the looks of it the Honda rack as well as the Yakima and Thule racks should still mount just fine. The plastic filler pieces are different though because of the change in height so watch for that if you decide to get an SC and use a roof rack.

The wheels on the SC are custom one-off pieces. They are 21x8 wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 245/35ZR21 tires. The production SC won’t come with 21” wheels but my guess is they will be 18”-20” in size. Beneath these beautiful 5 spoke wheels are 4 piston Brembo brakes paint matched to the SC along with 15” cross-drilled and vented rotors front and rear.

The headlights are changed for 2007 as well. They have integrated the side lights into the headlights, so the fenders no longer have the triangle lights behind the front wheels. That cleans the fender up nicely. The headlights are the same design as in the current Honda Pilot; called Projector Headlights. The foglights are not as recessed as the current fogs and are square and are better integrated into the front end. The lower grille has slightly better protection but still not great protection. The upper grille is now almost entirely covered in smoked plastic. At the very bottom of the upper grille is where air will enter. According to Catalin the upper grille isn’t even needed as all of the required air comes in through the lower grille.

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