Re: Crappy gas mileage
It is hard to say since so many others are having far better performance. I, for example, get between 19 and 23 mpg depending on the mix of highway and local suburban driving. My average is about 21. Also, your Element is well broken in. I have seen a few posts similar to yours in the last couple days, on hondaelement.org, but those seem to be new owners with cars less than 300 miles.
It might help some to know a little more on your situation. Do you have a roof rack? Are there carriers or other items being carried on the roof? Do you carry a lot of cargo in the Element? You mention you and your partner. Do you use it for business? What kind of Business? A lot of short trips carrying items and stopping and going. Any situations where you might have the car parked a lot with the engine running? Steep terrain or rugged conditions? City driving with a lot of stop and go or stuck in traffic jams?
Some may think they need to accelerate hard because the Element has a small engine. It doesn't really need that much to get going. Watch how much pressure you put on the gas. Not saying that you have a lead foot or anything but I, have noticed, myself, sometimes over accelerating. Someone gave some advice once that I thought was great. I quote it a lot. Try accelerating as though you have a raw egg under the pedal. Accelerating more gradual, trying not to break the egg if you know what I mean.
Do you have Manual or Automatic Transmission. If you drive a lot of highway you would want Overdrive on, with the automatic. Someone posted to turn it off and if the engine revs than it is an indication that it is useful for your driving situations. I have done that a couple times and found that there can be a 500 to 1000 rpm difference (drop) when it is on. That would save you some gas if you are driving long distances of steady or continuous speed with limited stops or changes of speed. If a lot of slow driving or stop and go, you might turn it off so that the engine isn't shifting too often. Keep alert to if the engine is running fast. With the Automatic, there is a small button on the AT shifter to turn OD On/Off. Use cruise control when driving on the highway or long stretches where you don't have frequent stops. I find that helps sometimes.
I do a lot of driving on roads that are 2 lanes in each direction and with dedicated turn lanes... with long stretches without stoplights or where the signals are synchronized. If I hit one on green and set my cruise to the legal limit, I usually hit all the lights on green. Unless traffic is heavy and there is a lot of traffic waiting at cross streets. When approaching a red light, I will usually cancel the cruise and let off the gas. I will coast down in speed, in case the light should turn for me. If it does, I will hit resume. Otherwise I will, of course, stop. By pacing myself or coasting down, I can usually drive an entire trip home from my Girlfriends place, (20 miles), without having to stop once. That might improve your performance a little.
Lastly, I don't recall you mentioning. Have you taken the car to a mechanic or the dealer to see if there is something set wrong with the car or out of tune.... I don't know how it works but they should be able to analyze it on a computer to see if there are any problems that can be addressed.
