[WilliamB]

:?:

My wife drives around all day in our brand new Element EX 4WD. She claims to have seen and spoken to fellow Element drivers.....yes they are starting to appear everywhere......that have a 4WD logo in script under the element wording on the rear of their rides.
This logo is identical to the Silver metal Element plate on the rear of the vehicle. She has asked these lucky riders and the response has been yes our Element has 4WD!
I have yet to see one of these rare Elements or pin down their owners to find out what's up with that? But whats up with that? We all know the 4WD AWD issue. I thought I was getting a true 4WD car when we purchased but now I'm just confused.
Can anyone help me out?

 

[travelingmatt2003]

Anyone who responds to the question "does your element have four wheel drive" with the answer "yes" is confused to the nature of the question almost as much as the person that asked it.

Your car does not have Four Wheel Drive (Meaning all 4 wheels turn simultaneously under power), a la Jeep.

Your car does not have All-Wheel Drive (Meaning all 4 wheels turn simultaneously sharing a fraction of the power), a la Subaru.

Your car has 'Real Time' four wheel (Meaning two wheels turn under power, and a computer decides which two they should be depending on conditions). Most of the time, conditions dictate the front two wheels turn under power.

Your car has "variable location two wheel drive". That Honda likes to call "RT4WD".

If you haven't read the stories about people being 1 wheel on the pavement, 3 wheels on the grass, foot on the gas and not going anywhere, you should look into it. I went for the gas mileage of a true 2WD manual, if 4WD was worth the 3 grand, I would have bought an X-terra.

Sorry if it sounds curt, most assuredly the tone should be "empathetic apology".

peace

 

[zarathustra]

The tone sounded authoritarian! lol

 

[Slowhand]

I saw one post about 3 wheels on the grass. I have seen many about how the Element got through the snowy winter.

 

[Hawaiian E]

The badge under the element was probably the ones from the passport that you can buy online. There has been interest in it from other people in putting it on. Even an AWD badge is for sale. But as someone said, they don't have 4WD, and probably neither do you. Unless of course they modified their E a la monster garage...

 

[WilliamB]

Thank you sooo much for straightening me (and my wife) out "Traveling Matt"! Nice name Traveling Matt!
Of course my college educated and not so confused wife as you'd like to think is not up on the 4WD AWD RTAWD ?WD issue as seasoned element heads such as yerself.
However, I have been reading some of the threads about this issue and you must concur that Honda has made it rather confusing.
Tell me that the dealer you purchased your ride from did NOT try to tell you that the Element had 4 wheel drive! (Mine did - shame on him).
What is even more concerning is the person(s) placing 4WD emblems or H2 emblems on their rides. Why would you want to mislead someone and/or misrepresent what your car really is? :lol: :lol:

 

[thesometimesregret]

Well put!

 

[travelingmatt2003]

An understandable diparity, perhaps ellaboration is in order.

The Element relies on a 'viscous coupling' rear differential, which in times of slip creates a pressure which, since liquids cannot compress, serves to force the other axle into turning - vis a vis, all wheel drive.

However, this requires that the front axle loses traction first, before the rear engages. BMW has a highly sophisticated computer to detect levels of slip, and to engage the rear wheels actively before the actual slipping occurs, but our beautiful suicide doors harbor no such mechanism - I misspoke by not identifying our system as physical rather than electronic. It is true that power is directed in proportion to the rear wheels, however any power that is directed to the front wheels is, in actuality, not being used until control is again engaged. When control is again engaged, power to the rear wheels is lost by physical reduction of pressure to the rear differential.

There is a wonderful "4WD 101" site from the guy who runs an access station to the Rubicon trail. Check it out -

http://4x4abc.com/4WD101/awd.html

 

[firetruck41]

Good job catching your mistake Matt. I was going to point out that it is a mechanical system not electonic, like a limited slip differential between front and rear.

 

[square]

[quote:8dec72d9e3="WilliamB"]:?:

My wife claims to have seen Element ...that have a 4WD logo in script under the element wording on the rear of their rides.
This logo is identical to the Silver metal Element plate on the rear of the vehicle. ...I thought I was getting a true 4WD car when we purchased but now I'm just confused.
Can anyone help me out?[/quote:8dec72d9e3]

Check the Genuine Factory Honda-Acura accessories web site:http://www.handa-accessories.com/

4WD emblem, red on black $15.33

 

[cbradsh1]

Straight from The Element Overview hondacars.com :

<IMG SRC="http://www.hondacars.com/images/banners/2003/element/engineering_photos/photo_03_large.jpg" ALIGN="right">

The Real Time™ 4WD system was selected to match Element's expected usage at the beach, and on rough, wet, snowy or slippery roads. Even when equipped with Real Time 4WD, the Element normally operates in front-wheel-drive mode. However, if either of the front wheels begins to lose traction, the system automatically engages a multi-plate clutch, which transmits torque to the rear wheels for added traction. When normal traction is resumed, the system reverts back to front-wheel drive.

 

[Clunie]

AWD nameplate

If you'd like to badge your Element, go to a Toyota Dealer and purchase the AWD symbol used on the back of a Sequoia... Its a simple peel and stick, looks nice on the right side, fills in that naked spot. Now that i'm used to it, I can't imagine it not being there... (Other E's look a little bare!)

As to the All wheel Drive, we get buried in snow up here in Nova Scotia. and I've owned several, the AWD system is a HUGE advantage on roads loaded with snow or slush. I often pass stuck cars on my cities many steep streets.

 

[Farther]

We got stopped by the Oregon State Police while crossing the Siskiyou Pass on the OR/CA border during poor weather. At first the officer was not going to let us by. We did eventially convince her that the Element was in fact 4WD (RT4WD) and we got through. After that I installed a 4WD chrome letters from http://chromeemblems.com/ind-letters-numbers.aspx