Did the All-Season Floor Mats installation last night, and thought I'd share my experiences.

First, yes, I did install the Floor Mat anchors. There have been at least a couple times in the past with other vehicles where I have had a sliding driver's floor mat slip up under the gas or brake and nearly cause an accident. No sense in taking chances when you have anchors available.

Second, being a male, I didn't read the instructions throughly, and ended up cutting out all four floor "projections". Be sure to either read the instructions before brandishing your X-acto knife, or make sure to only cut the "projections" nearest to the doors plus the other one by the driver's seat. I'm thinking I will fill up the unused plastic grommet with a screw and rubber washer (to hopefully seal the hole from moisture) for now until I can come up with a better use for it.

Third, there is an extra section of rubber in the middle-front of the front floor mat that isn't mentioned in the installation instructions. I thought at first it was intended to slip underneath of the subwoofer. Nada. It's too thick to slide under, even after I managed to pop off the subwoofer cover (breaking the plastic rivets on each side in the process). I discovered the metal housing of the subwoofer is almost flush with the flooring, so there's really nowhere for the rubber mat to go.

I finally decided to just let the extra rubber fold up and around the front bottom of the subwoofer (the edge meets the lower edge of the speaker grille). While cutting out that extra section is certainly an option, I passed on it for now, concerned that removing that section would make the middle of the mat too weak.

Oh, and if you too manage to break those little rivets, either while trying to install the floor mats or while tinking with something else, Dorman (http://www.dormanproducts.com) makes 1/4" nylon rivets (Part #45612) that work perfectly as replacements (and are designed to be easily removed, unlike the originals). I found my replacement rivets at my local Advance Auto Parts for about $2.50 for the pair.

One appearance observation: the All-Season Floor Mats really alter the look and feel of the interior of the Element, much like the side steps do the exterior. In sum, they make the Element seem more "rugged". You may want to see the mats in a dealer vehicle or another owner's Element before buying them. I'm not crazy about the look, but I bought them as an extra measure of protection and convienence (the same reasons I bought the side steps).

The January revision of the instructions for the all-season mat install specifically state that the center piece should be cut out when installing in an EX. (It's posted around here somewhere) They mat didn't seem as though it was over-stressed after cutting out the piece.

I was working with the November 2002 version of the installation instructions that came with the floor mats. For now, I'm leaving the mat "as-is", although I may eventually decide to cut out the extra rubber section if I find it's interfering with the subwoofer, etc.

Found a solution to covering/filling the extra grommet I inadvertently exposed. Picked up some #10 x 3/4 sheet metal screws and some #10 x 1/2 bonded sealing washers. The washers are large enough to cover the hole around the grommet, plus seal it from moisture. I'm thinking I will use them on the three mat anchors as well.

Someone mentioned elsewhere that simply screwing in the self-tapping screws without cutting out the "projections" works, too. In hindsight, I think I would have done it that way, as that would make for a better seal behind the mat anchors.

I cut out the rubber piece in the centewr section of the front floor mat. Fits very well and was easy to cut using a #11 Xacto knife blade.

Couldn't see paying $100 for floor mats! Bought the gray all season floormats from WalMart for $8.99 each. The ones sold for the Civic fit perfectly with no cutting. To "install" just throw them in!