I admit that I'm a novice car person, so this may be a stupid question, but oh well.

I'm about to hit 700 miles on my new E. Today is the first day I have driven in any real amount of rain. When I got to my parking garage at work, I had some smoke/steam coming out of the tip of the hood. I am hoping this is because of the design of the E, and that it's just something I can expect in a good rain.. I'd just like someone to confirm this for me as everything has been wonderful so far. The vehicle doesn't seem to be overheating or anything. I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Thanks!

Haven't driven through rain, but I did drive through snow and snow did blow under the hood and accumulated near the front.
I'd imagine rain would blow under as well.
As long as you don't see steam on dry days, i wouldn't worry aboot it.

My guess is you had just driven through a puddle and splashed a little water up under the hood, wheel wells, etc. Sounds like steam from a bit of water on hot engine parts to me..........

Hi There,

Yeah, I noticed the same thing the first time I took my E to a high-pressure touchless car wash. All that spray at the front grille & condenser really billowed out a lot of steam one the cycle was all done. I was a little astonished myself - but then just chalked it up as another unique trait of my E.

Boat Drinks!

-DJ

Yeah, when I drove through the rain, I had some steam coming out of my engine.

It didnt sound or drive like anything was wrong, so I chalked it up to water on the engine.

Nothing to worry about. As everyone has said, when snow/water get inside it will melt/dry from the heat. I have seen this on other cars as well.

My Element steamed up when ever I took it through a car wash. I dont know if Honda designs the car to run that hot, but I can say, I have never seen another car do that before. 8)

One of the things I noticed about my E before I even bought it was that there are NO wheel wells per se. You can see the tires from the engine compartment (and vice/versa).

Water surely splashes up on the exhaust manifold and engine block.

yes I agree. The wheel wells have openings that lead to engine and exhaust. water then splashes on hot components. Wouldnt worry about it. Only if its not raining and or havnt driven through any puddles.