Temptation is working on me. I have been steadfast in wanting to the the EX AWD 5spd manual in Orange. A local dealer called to tell me that an EX AWD automatic has arrived in the color I want and it's mine if I should decide to take the plunge. Fickle me. What should I do ?? Most of you seem very happy with your automatic trans. I really haven't heard anyone say anything too bad about the power. I must be backsliding and desparate. HELP !!!!!!!! :?

LittleDogBox
Arlington, Va.

Yes. I highly recomend the automatic. The power is great. I traded a v8 for the element and on a highway trip this last weekend I did not miss the power. It has great get up and go and eats up the hills. I also recomend the ex over the dx. the all wheel drive is amazing. I like the improvements over the girlfriends crv. Once you drive the auto you will be sold.

I think only you can answer this one. I get so much fun out of shifting the E 5-speed that I wouldn't even consider the auto - Honda manual transmissions are great and the short throw of the E shifter is cool as hell (guess that's kind of a contradiction).

It's hard to resist that "gotta have it" temptation, though. I really wanted 4WD, but my car came in and I just couldn't resist.

Very tough call...

Take it for a test drive.

Figure out if you can wait. If you can, do, if you can't, get it now. :D

I love my automatic.

I'm for the auto too. Plenty of power and simple to use, especially in town if you have a lot of stop and go traffic. Wouldn't trade it. It is also rated for higher gas milage. :wink:

My point of view is that the day I find myself either not liking to drive standard or incapable of doing so, I will truly know I am old. :twisted:

I have been waiting for four weeks and four days for my 5-speed EX. I wouldn't make the switch to an automatic unless Honda definitively said there were no 5-speeds available in Canada, which they have assured me is not the case!

I am very much agreed on the point of the EX vs. the DX. There are features that the EX has that can't be added in afterwards, and features I consider very attractive.

Regardless, this is personal choice. If you have doubts about it now, resolve them for yourself. :D

Iskie

Well I went to my local dealer and took out the Orange element EX automatic trans. Awful night to be test driving anything. It was freezing out and dark. It just didn't go well at all. :(
I still want the Element but this one just didn't get in my blood like the 5 speed DX did. I really tried to talk myself into taking the plunge. I figured that I live in an area that has a LOT of stop and go traffic and this is what I should get. But honestly I didn't enjoy driving it as much. I noticed more things about it I didn't like than things I did. I didn't notice anything wrong with the 5 speed manual when I test drove it a while back. I guess I was in love. Tonite was just a blind date and I came away feeling kinda of empty.
I may go back tomorrow in the daylight to give it another go but I don't think I will feel any different. I feel I am rushing to do this because I need a vehicle by Memorial Day weekend for my trip. I guess I may have to put out big bucks for a rental truck or not go at all to the Outer Banks. I still have my heart set on the 5 speed manual EX AWD.
Too bad vehicles are soooo expensive to rent, but I guess it is better than having payments for 5 years for something thats not exactly what I want.
Still torn.........I guess I should just chill. My dealer said that they aren't taking orders for the Manual EX until March. Production will begin in May I believe and I should either get one in late May if I am really lucky or sometime in June. Well at least I know they are coming out for sure, just not fast enough for me. I just found out to rent a Dodge Durango for 10 days with unlimited mileage costs a 1000 bucks :shock: That would be money I could have put down on the Element. :cry:

LittleDogBox
Arlington,Va.

As far as stop and go driving is concerned, I find I have better control over my vehicle with the 5-speed than with the automatic. I think of it as good exercise for my left leg to be on and off the clutch. It does not bother me that much - i do about 35 km (20 miles) of it every day each way.

I'd like the AWD, but I am going to be quite happy without it as well. I have managed a rear-wheel drive pickup for 13 years w/o AWD or 4WD after all.

Yeah spending money on rental vehicles sucks. There is much of a way around that.

Get your order in when you can on the 5-speed EX AWD. Therey will be filled in a rough order of placement, I am sure. :D

Iskie

OR you could get a 5spd 2 wheel drive right now..

You are looking at forgoing the 5 spd, I chose to forgo the 4 wheel drive.
Front wheel drive does well 95% of the time, and I'm not going on the beach anyway. I just enjoy driving 5 speeds, and Honda makes a little beauty.

I thought the two wheel drive was rear whee, not front. Could be wrong. Anyway, I get the impression you feel about 5 speed the way I use to feel about horse power. I though that I had to have a truck with 200 plus horse because of my highway travel. I knew I was wrong when I drove the girlfriend 147 horse crv. The power was fine. As for control, with the gearing in the auto and the overdrive button I have more control on ice and snow. Here in Canada it snow 11.5 months out of the year :wink:

The 2wd Element is front wheel drive. The 4wd spends 99% of it's life as a front wheel drive.

The problem with a 5 speed is, on your morning drive, it is hard to shift when your drinking coffee, smoking, reading the paper, shaving and making notes in you pda while talking on the phone. Or is this just the guy driving next to me this morning. :evil:

[quote:b29ff16ec6="boneheadz"]The problem with a 5 speed is, on your morning drive, it is hard to shift when your drinking coffee, smoking, reading the paper, shaving and making notes in you pda while talking on the phone. Or is this just the guy driving next to me this morning. :evil:[/quote:b29ff16ec6]


Hey I can do all that while shifting ( except for the shaving part ). Just kidding. :lol: People who do all that , and they do, should be hauled off to jail for a weekend. There they will have plenty of time to make their calls and write in their PDA's. :twisted:

LittleDogBox
Arlington,Va.

I wanted an EX 4wd. Circumstances would not let me wait for the 5sp 4wd so I got the 2wd. I test drove several Elements and am very glad I got the 5spd. The pickup is so much better than the autos. (Although the automatics were peppier than other brand automatics I've tried.) My gas mileage is much better too. I am getting close to 26 mpg now, it has been improving with each fillup.

Don't believe everything your dealer tells you either. There is a site that will hunt them down for you. I have to look it up, but that is how I found mine when the dealer told me it would take months to get my SO EX. I found one, called that dealer, took it home that night! The first dealer just didn't want to do a dealer swap is my guess.

You'll love it no matter which one you get!

I am going to tell them that I do not want the auto EX AWD and they can keep my $500 deposit for the 5speed manual EX when they start coming out. Man, it is so hard not to be impulsive, but they say good things come to people who wait. I'M WAITING :roll:

LittleDogBox
Arlington,Va.

What do we have to do to close this deal today?

Let me run this by the General Manager..

You know we aren't making any money on this deal...

We'd go out of business if we gave everyone a deal like this...

You know they're raising the price on these things next month..

Just come on in and will talk about it :cry:

"It's the end of quarter/Fiscal Year and I have not met my quota yet." Yeah, we use the same sort of things in software sales as well.

Iskie