First off, the Element was designed for college kids. Not for large families. In fact, when I asked the salesperson why the heck the skylight was in the back, he said it was for when you were on the beach and needed to change your bathing suit, you could stand up and not flash anyone.

Second, The element is a real-time AWD. What this means is it is primarily a FWD car until one of the front tires slip, then it transfers power to one of the rear wheels. That means that 90% of the time or more, it will only be a FWD car. My girlfriend and I were looking at it as well, and really besides that, the only difference between a 2WD EX and AWD EX is the skylight in the back. I told her it wasn't worth an extra $3k. The difference between a 5spd 2WD EX and AWD EX ends up being almost $4k i think.

BTW, if you are deadset on an AWD 5 spd it's coming out in the fall.