The Honda CR-V is an excellent all-around compact SUV. It’s spacious, fuel-efficient, boasts an upscale interior and is built to last.
But there are some places you wouldn’t want to take a CR-V.
If you load it up with muddy camping gear after a weekend in the woods, you might continue to find dirt chunks long after you’ve scrubbed out the floor mats and cleaned the carpeted cargo area. Would your band’s amps and instruments fit the way you’d like? Would a painter — anyone from a house painter to an artist — want to mess up that interior with their tools of the trade?
What if a version of the current CR-V had clamshell-style doors with no B-pillar in the center of each side, creating a huge loading space when the second row of seats is folded down? Or maybe those rear seats fold up and away for a giant cargo area. And say Honda replaced that carpeted floor with a rugged, textured composite floor you could hose out and covered all the seats with water- and stain-resistant seat covers.
Beyond the option of all-wheel drive, give this version of the CR-V the Honda TrailSport treatment, and it could even be a sweet ride for overland driving.
Does that have echoes of the old Honda Element? That’s what I’m suggesting.
The current CR-V platform, plus a tailored mix of Honda’s tech and innovations, would make this a fantastic new Honda Element.
What the Honda Element was
Honda sold the Element from 2003 to 2011, and it was a niche vehicle back then.
Credit: SPECIAL
Credit: SPECIAL
Looking unlike anything Honda had built before, the Element had a lot of what I described above. It was based on the same platform as the second-generation CR-V, but it seemed like a totally different vehicle.
Its versatile interior, rock-solid reliability and unique looks appealed to everyone from surfers to artists and photographers with loads of gear. Honda’s all-wheel-drive system made it easy to get to the beach or out in the dirt, pretty much anywhere that wasn’t rocky. It wasn’t a high-volume seller at the time, but it developed a cult following.
Thanks to Honda’s proven reliability, there are still plenty of examples on the road that have racked up hundreds of thousands of miles.
Fast-forward to today. There is much higher demand for vehicles with moderate off-road capability. Look at the popularity of Subaru’s Wilderness trim level or the off-road prowess of the Ford Bronco Sport. Even the Toyota Sienna minivan has a Woodland Edition.
People want to go exploring, and they’re looking for the vehicle to do it.
What it could be
Consumer demand has changed, and so has the CR-V.
The current generation is almost 15 inches longer than the 2011 Element on a nearly 5-inch-longer wheelbase. Honda is known for its fantastic interior packaging, with clever storage and efficient use of space. Why couldn’t a new Element carry mountain bikes and more inside with the liftgate closed?
And if there was a TrailSport package? Now, torque-vectoring all-wheel drive would be supplemented with Honda’s Intelligent Traction System, plus skid plates and rugged roof racks. And the TrailSport’s off-road-tuned suspension, increased ground clearance and all-terrain tires.
With the availability of hybrid power, plus some additional charge ports for tire inflators, this Element could go off the beaten path for days at a time.
The current CR-V is more powerful and more fuel-efficient too. The Element had a 2.4-liter, 4-cylinder engine with 166 horsepower and 161 pound-feet of torque. The 2024 CR-V’s base 1.5-liter, turbo-4 engine has 190 horsepower and 179 pound-feet of torque. This modern-day Element could use the CR-V’s 204-horsepower hybrid power train, with 247 pound-feetl of torque, while getting fantastic fuel economy. Hybrid power was never an option in the original Element.
More power, more space and more capability at a time when there’s more demand for vehicles like this. A new Element wouldn’t have to be a high-volume seller to be profitable. Those who want this capability are willing to pay extra.
Allyson Harwood is a veteran automotive writer and car reviewer who writes about cars, trucks and SUVs for Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader. She previously wrote for Motor Trend, Truck Trend and others.
The Steering Column is a weekly consumer auto column from Cox Automotive. Cox Automotive and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are owned by parent company, Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises.
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