Lines of the Honda Element

The Honda Element is a SUV everyone is familiar with, and that’s mostly because of it’s outward appearance. It’s boxy, yes, but it’s also very smooth. Weather your own one or not, there’s something about the design that draws wveryone’s eye.

When we first began designing our custom rooftop platform Element rack, we wanted it to compliment the lines of the vehicle. This not only meant paying attention to the angles, but also the height. Since Element’s already have a tall ceiling, we wanted to make the rack as low-profile as possible. From our initial drawing above, we determined that the side-panels of the rack should reference the same angles as the windshield and rear hatch.

The end result was a shape and construction that preserved the Element look. We kept the height increase to a minimum by using a combination of steel and aluminum. Steel side-panels to allow the lowest profile, without giving up strength, and aluminum crossbars and wind faring to cut weight.